A smartphone is actually nothing more than a mobile computer that you also use to make calls. And so your mobile phone is just as susceptible to viruses as your other equipment. How do you protect your phone and the phone of your staff?
Various studies have shown that hackers and cybercriminals are increasingly targeting the mobile market and that steps are being taken in cracking SIM cards and mobile software. The German researcher Karsten Nohl, for example, concluded on the basis of a three-year study with a thousand SIM cards that one in eight SIM cards can be cracked. As soon as such a SIM card has been cracked, text messages can be intercepted and telephone calls can be diverted and monitored.
And research by telecommunications company Alcatal-Lucent shows that 0.5 percent of mobile devices are infected with malware. And that will only increase. What can you do about spam , malware, spyware and viruses on your phone?
How does a virus settle?
Viruses can nestle in your mobile phone in different ways. Via a leak in your operating system , software that runs on your phone or rogue apps. Such a rogue app pretends to be an official app, but once you accept and download it, you allow the rogue app to perform certain actions on your phone.
A virus can also enter your phone the old-fashioned way: via an attachment of an e-mail. Now it is not the case that your phone immediately freezes when you open a photo file with a virus, but as soon as you connect your phone to a computer, you do infect it.
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Bluetooth
One of the first viruses for the mobile phone was the Cabir virus in 2005. The virus infected your phone via Bluetooth, which also infected every Bluetooth device in your area. Cabir.A was not harmful to phones, hackers mainly wanted to demonstrate the vulnerability of mobile phones.
Risks
That idealistic goal of hackers has now given way to a financial goal, the experts know from the Cybercrime white paper by MKB Servicedesk. What do hackers achieve with a virus on your phone?
They can access files and listen to text messages and phone calls through your phone. For example, with that information they can extort you. Or they can use your phone for paid text messages or expensive calls abroad.They can use your phone for a botnet and carry out web attacks with it.They can access your financial information. For example, via the purchases you make in an AppStore, via the app you use for internet banking and via the login code of your DigiD.
How do you protect your mobile phone?
Put a mobile version of a virus scanner on your phone. Such a program can protect your phone and other mobile devices from viruses. There are various providers of such a virus scanner. AVG, Kapersky, F-Secure, Norton, Max Mobile Security and NQ Mobile Security for example. The iPhone's closed operating system IOS is less susceptible. However, it is not impossible that your iPhone will get a virus, so install an anti-virus app on that too.Secure your smartphone with a strong password . And don't share that password with others.Always check if you are on a secure WiFi network when connecting to the internet in a public place. This can be done, for example, via hotspotvinden.nl, but also simply by asking the staff of the public place where you are.Install updates for your phone regularly. This prevents vulnerabilities in your operating system. These updates are available through the supplier's website.Before downloading a new app, always check if you have the official version. For example, check the corresponding website to see which company belongs to it and only download the app that comes from that company.Prevent automatic file transfers via Bluetooth and the internet by adjusting this in your settings.Check your phone bills for strange or unexpected amounts.When installing an app, pay attention to which rights and permissions you grant. It's not strange that Buienradar asks you for permissions for your location, but that a game app asks for permissions for your passwords: that's crazy.
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