August is the last month of summer and also the beginning of the homestretch for back-to-school planning. It’s also time to seriously start thinking about securing your smartphone and to vet the apps that are already on your phone. Selecting top mobile security apps for your device should be at the top of your to do list.
Security researchers believe that a serious vulnerability known as the master key flaw, could be present in 99% of Android devices. This flaw has the capability to allow an attacker to hijack any legitimate appwithout modifying its digital signature.
San Francisco-based Bluebox Security discovered the Android master key flaw, which could give miscreants full access to all data and applications stored on victims’ devices, as well as take over functions like making phone calls, sending text messages, recording calls and using the phone’s camera. —SCMagazine
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If you own an Android and the device manufacturer or your mobile carrier has not notified you about this flaw; scan your device with this free app from BlueHost to see if your phone is vulnerable. If your device is not patched, this app will provide you with the information on how to contact the device manufacturer. This app will also perform a partial device integrity check and it will search for other malicious apps that areleveraging this vulnerability.
Hackers are smart. They finagle ways to release malicious apps into the App Store or Google Play; and are quite adept in the art of social engineering too. The goal of securing your device is to cover all your security bases before the bad guys can out you.
Read more about top mobile security apps at the Cocoon Blog.
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