What’s on your phone?

According to Simform, the average person has 40 applications installed on their phone. Almost 90% of the time there are only about 20 of those 40 that are actually being used.

This leaves a significant amount of your device laden with software that could have malicious intent. You could be at risk on releasing sensitive data such as:

• Phone calls

• Text/picture/video messages

• Email (both personal and corporate)

• Web browsing history

• Passwords

• Location data

If you are looking for an example of an application that could be a security transgressor, look no further than TikTok. The Guardian published an in-depth article that calls to attention the threat that TikTok could pose to information security.

What can you do to better secure your device?

• Uninstall applications that are not used often.

• Only install applications that are approved through their respective App Stores (Apple/Google).

• Research the applications you wish to install and only enable permissions that they absolutely require.

• Make a habit of reviewing your applications monthly, including how much data is being sent/received from each. If you see a significant amount of data being received/transmitted on a seldom used application, perform you due diligence to ensure it is safe to continue to use it.

• Check you children’s phones/devices for questionable applications and take action, when necessary.

Electronic security is everyone’s individual concern.

Stay safe!

Very respectfully,

Justin