By Diane Lee (WSPA)
Your cell phone is the key to a lot of private information. But a lot of people download apps without realizing it could open the door to hackers.
A new report by Trustwave Global Security finds 98% of apps have at least one vulnerability that could give cyber criminals access to your device.
Patrick Carter with the healthcare tech company Chart Span says the company uses the highest level of encryption for both stored and transferred data, but not every app maker does.
“The vulnerabilities are that they don’t use encryption when they are sending information or receiving information and so it’s very easy when someone is sitting next to you on their laptop computer to actually see what your password is, what your user name is, the data you’re sending back and forth,” said Carter.
Carter says if you don’t read the whole fine print, at least look for these key phrases that indicate encryption.
1. “Secure Socket Layering” or SSL
2. AES 128 (or higher).
Also, don’t let apps remember passwords, and make sure they’re longer than 8 characters.
Finally, avoid using public wifi or bluetooth, and install anti-virus software on your phone. You may not think hackers are after your mobile, but neither did the first computer users decades ago.
