7 Tips to Protect Your Smartphone from Getting Hacked

There’s little rest for your hard-working smartphone. If you’re like many professionals today, you use it for work, play, and a mix of personal business in between. Now, what if something went wrong with that phone, like loss or theft? Worse yet, what if your smartphone got hacked? Let’s try and keep that from happening to you. 

Globally, plenty of people pull double duty with their smartphones. In Spain, one survey found that 55% of people use the same phone for a mix of personal and and work activity. The same survey showed that up to half of people interviewed in Japan, Australia, and the U.S. do so as well, while nations like the UK and Germany trailed at 31% and 23% respectively. 

Whether these figures trend on the low or high end, the security implications remain constant. A smartphone loaded with business and personal data makes for a desirable target. Hackers target smartphones because they’re often unprotected, which gives hackers an easy “in” to your personal information and to any corporate networks you may use.  It’s like two hacks with one stone.  

Put simply, as a working professional with a smartphone, you’re a high-value target.  

Protect your smartphone from being hacked 

As both a parent and a professional, I put together a few things you can do to protect your smartphone from hacks so that you can keep your personal and work life safe: 

1. Add extra protection with your face, finger, pattern, or PIN. 

First up, the basics. Locking your phone with facial ID, a fingerprint, pattern or a pin is your most basic form of protection, particularly in the event of loss or theft. (Your options will vary depending on the device, operating system, and manufacturer.) Take it a step further for even more protection. Secure the accounts on your phone with strong passwords and use two-factor authentication on the apps that offer it, which doubles your line of defense.    

2. Use a VPN. 

Or, put another way, don’t hop onto public Wi-Fi networks without protection. A VPN masks your connection from hackers allowing you to connect privately when you are on unsecure public networks at airports, cafes, hotels, and the like. With a VPN connection, you’ll know that your sensitive data, documents, and activities you do are protected from snooping, which is definitely a great feeling given the amount of personal and professional business we manage with our smartphones. 

3. Stick to the official app stores for your apps.

Both Google Play and Apple’s App Store have measures in place to help prevent potentially dangerous apps from making it into their stores. Malicious apps are often found outside of the app stores, which can run in the background and compromise your personal data like passwords, credit card numbers, and more—practically everything that you keep on your phone. Further, when you are in the app stores, look closely at the descriptions and reviews for apps before you download them. Malicious apps and counterfeits can still find their way into stores, and here are a few ways you can keep those bad apps from getting onto your phone.    

4. Back up the data on your phone. 

Backing up your phone is always a good idea for two reasons: 

• First, it makes the process of transitioning to a new phone easy by transferring that backed up data from your old phone to your new phone. 
• Second, it ensures that your data stays with you if your phone is lost or stolen—allowing you to remotely wipe the data on your lost or stolen phone while still having a secure copy of that data stored in the cloud.  

Both iPhones and Android phones have straightforward ways of backing up your phone regularly. 

5. Learn how to lock or wipe your phone remotely in case of emergency. 

Worst case scenario—your phone is gone. Really gone. Either it’s hopelessly lost or got stolen. What now? Lock it remotely or even wipe its data entirely. While that last bit about wiping the phone seems like a drastic move, if you maintain regular backups as mentioned above, your data is secure in the cloud—ready for you to restore. In all, this means that hackers won’t be able to access you, or your company’s, sensitive information—which can keep you out of trouble and your professional business safe. Apple provides iOS users with a step-by-step guide for remotely wiping devices, and Google offers up a guide for Android users as well. 

6. Get rid of old apps—and update the ones you keep. 

We all download apps, use them once, and then forget they are on our phone. Take a few moments to swipe through your screen and see which ones you’re truly done with and delete them along with their data. Some apps have an account associated with them that may store data off your phone as well. Take the extra step and delete those accounts so any off-phone data is deleted.  

The reason for this is that every extra app is another app that needs updating or that may have a security issue associated with it. In a time of data breaches and vulnerabilities, deleting old apps is a smart move. As for the ones you keep, update them regularly and turn on auto-updates if that’s an option. Updates not only introduce new features to apps, but they also often address security issues too. 

7. Protect your phone. 

With so much of your life on your phone, getting security software installed on it can protect you and the things you keep on your phone. Whether you’re an Android owner or iOS owner, mobile security software can keep your data, your shopping, and payments secure. 

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How to Know If Your Phone Has Been Hacked

“My phone’s been hacked!” Words you probably don’t want to hear or say. Ever.  

Yes, a smartphone can get hacked just like any other device. And they make prize targets as well. Loaded as they are with personal and financial information, access to payment apps, files, photos, and contacts, bad actors have plenty to gain by tapping into your smartphone.   

How do bad actors pull it off? They have several attack vectors they can choose from.  

• They can hide malware in bogus apps that they post as free downloads in app stores. Spyware, ransomware, and adware are typical types of malware that get distributed this way. 
• They can also install it themselves by getting physical access to your phone.  
• Sometimes, bad actors along the smartphone supply chain have loaded malware onto entirely new smartphones so that they come with malware preinstalled, right out of the box.  
• And as always, phishing attacks by email, text, and other messaging apps remain popular as well. 

Today’s attackers have gotten cagier as well. It used to be that a hacked phone would run sluggishly or hot after it got infected by malware. The battery might have drained quickly as well. That was because the malware ate up system resources, created conflicts with other apps, and used your data or internet connection to pass along your personal information—all of which could make your smartphone feel a little off. That still might be the case with some mobile malware today, yet much of it works far more efficiently. The old telltale physical signs of a hacked phone might not present themselves at all. 

However, you can spot several indications that might indicate your phone has been hacked. 

How do I know if my phone has been hacked?  

A few examples follow. Note that these might be signs of a hacked phone, yet not always.  

• Popups suddenly appear on your phone: If you’re seeing more popup ads than usual or seeing them for the first time, it might be a sign that your phone has been hit with adware—a type of malicious app that hackers use to generate revenue by distributing ads without the consent of the user. Furthermore, those ads might be malicious in nature as well. They might take you to pages designed to steal personal information (which is a good reminder to never tap or click on them).   
• Mysterious apps, calls, or texts appear: A potential telltale sign that your phone has been hacked is the appearance of new apps that you didn’t download, along with spikes in data usage that you can’t account for. Likewise, if you see calls in your phone’s call log that you didn’t make, that’s a warning as well.  
• You run out of data or see unknown charges pop up: Big red flag here. This is a possible sign that a hacker has hijacked your phone and is using it to transfer data, make purchases, send messages, or make calls via your phone.  
• You have issues with your online accounts: Phones infected with spyware can skim account credentials and then transmit them to the hacker behind the attack. This could lead to credit and debit fraud. In some cases, hackers will hijack an account altogether by changing the password and locking out the original owner. If you spot unusual charges or can no longer log into your accounts with your password, a hacked phone might be the cause—among others.  

What do I do if my phone is hacked?  

Install and run online protection software on your smartphone if you haven’t already. From there, delete any apps you didn’t download, delete risky texts, and then run your mobile security software again.  

If you still have issues, wiping and restoring your phone is an option. Provided you have your photos, contacts, and other vital info backed up in the cloud, it’s a relatively straightforward process. A quick search online can show how to wipe and restore your model of phone.  

Lastly, check your accounts and your credit card statements to see if any unauthorized purchases have been made. If so, you can go through the process of freezing those accounts and getting new cards and credentials issued. Further, update your passwords for your accounts with a password that is strong and unique to prevent further theft.   

Tips to keep your phone from getting hacked   

To help keep your phone from getting hacked in the first place, there are a few relatively easy steps you can take. Inside of a few minutes, you can find yourself much safer than you were before.   

1. Use comprehensive security software on your phone. Over the years, we’ve gotten into the good habit of using this on our computers and laptops. Our phones? Not so much. Installing online protection software gives you the first line of defense against attacks, plus several of the additional security features mentioned below. 
2. Stay safer on the go with a VPN. One way that crooks can hack their way into your phone is via public Wi-Fi, such as at airports, hotels, and even libraries. These networks are public, meaning that your activities are exposed to others on the network—your banking, your password usage, all of it. One way to make a public network private is with a VPN, which can keep you and all you do protected from others on that Wi-Fi hotspot.  
3. Use a password manager. Strong, unique passwords offer another primary line of defense. Yet with all the accounts we have floating around, juggling dozens of strong and unique passwords can feel like a task—thus the temptation to use (and re-use) simpler passwords. Hackers love this because one password can be the key to several accounts. Instead, try a password manager that can create those passwords for you and safely store them as well. Comprehensive online protection software like ours will include one.
4. Avoid public charging stations. Charging up at a public station seems so simple and safe. However, some hackers have been known to “juice jack” by installing malware into the charging station. While you “juice up,” they “jack” your passwords and personal info. So what to do about power on the road? You can look into a portable power pack that you can charge up ahead of time or run on AA batteries. They’re pretty inexpensive and can prevent malware from a public charging station.  
5. Keep your eyes on your phone. Preventing the actual theft of your phone is important too, as some hacks happen because a phone falls into the wrong hands. This is a good case for password or PIN protecting your phone, as well as turning on device tracking so that you can locate your phone or wipe it remotely if you need to. Apple provides iOS users with a step-by-step guide for remotely wiping devices, and Google offers up a guide for Android users as well.  
6. Stick with trusted app stores. Stick with legitimate apps stores like Google Play and Apple’s App Store, which have measures in place to review and vet apps to help ensure that they are safe and secure. And for the malicious apps that sneak past these processes, Google and Apple are quick to remove malicious apps when discovered, making their stores that much safer.
7. Keep an eye on app permissions. Another way hackers weasel their way into your device is by getting permissions to access things like your location, contacts, and photos—and they’ll use sketchy apps to do it. So check and see what permissions the app is asking for. If it’s asking for way more than you bargained for, like a simple game wanting access to your camera or microphone, it might be a scam. Delete the app and find a legitimate one that doesn’t ask for invasive permissions like that. If you’re curious about permissions for apps that are already on your phone, iPhone users can learn how to allow or revoke app permission here, and Android can do the same here.
8. Update your phone’s operating system. Together with installing security software is keeping your phone’s operating system up to date. Updates can fix vulnerabilities that hackers rely on to pull off their malware-based attacks—it’s another tried and true method of keeping yourself safe and your phone running great too.

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iPhone Update — Apply It Now If You Haven’t Already

Apple recently issued an urgent iPhone update, iOS version 16.5.1. If you haven’t updated yet, you should. 

Owners of iPads should update to iOS 16.5.1 as well. 

The update contains two critical security fixes that prevent bad actors from executing malicious code on iPhones and iPads.  

One of the fixes addresses an issue with the kernel of the device—the core code that runs iPhones and iPads. Apple reported that the issue could allow an app to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges. With those privileges, a malicious appp could attack the device at the root level. The other addresses an issue with the operating system’s WebKit, which, if uncorrected, could process maliciously crafted web content. 

You can update to iOS 16.5.1 now by going to Settings > General > Software Update. 

The update is available for:  

• iPhone 8 and later. 
• iPad Pro (all models). 
• iPad Air 3rd generation and later. 
• iPad 5th generation and later. 
• iPad mini 5th generation and later. 

Protecting your iPhone 

Keeping your operating system current on your iPhone, and all your devices, provides a strong foundation for protection. In addition to adding new features, updates often include fixes focused on security. In this case, a couple of critical security fixes. 

You have a few options for keeping on top of security updates: 

1. Turn on automatic updates. This will ensure that your device is running the latest and greatest version of the operating system. Additionally, you can turn on automatic updates for all your apps as well. Together, they will take the work out of keeping things current.
2. Check for updates yourself. Even with automatic updates turned on, you might experience slightly delayed access to the latest update. In some cases, updates get rolled out to batches of users at a time to prevent download servers from getting overwhelmed. However, manually checking for updates will provide access to the latest version regardless of where you stand in the rollout queue. This way, if you see a news story about a critical update, you can still download it right away.
3. Use online protection software for your phone. Protection like our McAfee+ plans include a Wi-Fi & System Scan feature that notifies you when you need to update iOS. It can also take the guesswork out of whether you are current or not—and keep you in the loop if you miss the news of an important update. McAfee+ offers far more protection from there. It now includes our WebAdvisor extension, which warns you of sketchy phishing links and unsafe downloads. Privacy protection and identity protection come included as well, along with a VPN for a more secure connection. 

Keep safe. Keep your iOS (and your apps) current. 

Aside from using online protection software, keeping your device current offers a strong defense from hacks and attacks. Updates to your operating system and apps will fix security issues and loopholes—the very sorts of things that bad actors are quick to exploit. 

You can keep current quite easily, thanks to automatic updates. Yet keeping an eye on the news remains important as well. If you catch word of an important update, grab it right away. No need to wait. 

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Parent’s Guide: 8 Ways to Help Your Teen Combat Distracted Driving

Read this statement, then read it again: Just five distracted seconds at 55 mph is equivalent to driving the length of a football field with your eyes closed. This alarming truth from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), highlights the need for parents to address the issue of distracted driving with their teens.  

Additional distracted driving statistics are mind-blowing. According to the NHSTA, 77 percent of drivers admitted to using their phones while driving, 74 percent used their map app, 56 percent read emails or texts, 27 percent updated or checked their social media accounts, and shockingly, 19 percent of drivers—equivalent to one in five—engaged in online shopping while driving. 

In the United States, distracted driving has become a leading cause of fatal crashes, accounting for 25 to 30 percent of all fatal crashes. Furthermore, overall highway fatalities have increased by 22 percent, as reported recently by The Los Angeles Times, which attributed this rise to the allure of technology turning our cars into “candy stores of distraction.” 

Passenger/Peer Distractions 

While technology plays a significant role in distracted driving, other everyday choices and factors can also contribute to accidents. Eating while driving, managing a lively pet in the car, navigating unfamiliar streets, and even talking with peer passengers can distract young drivers. Studies have shown that crash risk doubles when teens drive with one peer passenger and quadruples with three or more teen passengers.  

In the throes of summer, it’s a great time for parents to have a conversation with their teen drivers about the dangers of distracted driving and texting while driving. Here are some important topics to discuss and tips to help keep your kids safe on the road: 

Safe Driving Tips for Teens 

1. Put the phone away: Encourage every family member, including parents, to put their phones out of reach while driving. Setting this example will demonstrate the importance of focusing on the road and minimizing distractions. 
2. Lead by example: Parents are the most influential role models for young drivers. Turn off phone notifications, stow your phone away, and prioritize safe driving habits. Your actions speak louder than words, so make sure to set clear guidelines and follow them consistently.  
3. No selfies or videos: Everyone’s crazy for TikTok videos and Insta reels, which is why this point is so important. Discuss the risks of taking selfies or recording videos while driving. Encourage your teen to resist the urge to engage in any social posting or activities that may distract them from driving. This also applies to passengers who might distract the driver. 
4. Establish clear rules: Every family is unique, so establish clear rules that make sense for your family regarding device use and driving. Discuss expectations and consequences, such as losing phone or car privileges, if the rules are broken. 
5. Use tech to limit tech: Consider utilizing apps or devices that monitor your teen’s driving behavior. These tools can track speed, location, hard braking, and sudden acceleration. Using these tools together allows you to address concerns and areas for improvement. Most smartphones offer built-in Drive Safe modes, and there are also apps available that block incoming texts or track phone activity. Some parents have even opted for dash cams to for monitoring teen driving behavior. McAfee’s Parental Controls, McAfee+ Ultimate allows you view your kids’ device activity, locate them on a live map, and receive automated notifications when they enter or leave familiar places. Tracking can also help parents avoid calling while kids are driving.  
6. Be proactive: Engage your teen in conversations about real-life driving scenarios, such as dealing with aggressive or angry drivers, navigating dicey weather conditions, or handling peer pressure while in a vehicle. Help them understand the risks involved and some appropriate responses in different situations. 
7. Keep on talking: Communication is crucial. Regularly discuss safe driving habits with your teen and maintain an open line of communication about their driving experiences. By building trust, you can make a significant impact on their driving behavior. 
8. Speak up as a passenger: Teach your teen how to advocate for safe driving when they are passengers in other vehicles. Encourage them to ask friends (or any age of driver—even a parent) to put away their devices while driving. Helping them find their voice in these situations can save lives. 

Remember, developing good (or better) habits takes time, effort, consistency, and parental involvement in teen driving. Preventing distracted driving with positive behavior change won’t happen overnight. Repeat yourself when it comes to road safety without apologies. Giving your child rules and expectations demonstrates love. By making some of these shifts, hopefully, you will worry less, raise wiser drivers, and improve safety for everyone on the roads.   

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Anyone Can Try ChatGPT for Free—Don’t Fall for Sketchy Apps That Charge You

Anyone can try ChatGPT for free. Yet that hasn’t stopped scammers from trying to cash in on it.  

A rash of sketchy apps have cropped up in Apple’s App Store and Google Play. They pose as Chat GPT apps and try to fleece smartphone owners with phony subscriptions.  

Yet you can spot them quickly when you know what to look for. 

What is ChatGPT, and what are people doing with it? 

ChatGPT is an AI-driven chatbot service created by OpenAI. It lets you have uncannily human conversations with an AI that’s been programmed and fed with information over several generations of development. Provide it with an instruction or ask it a question, and the AI provides a detailed response. 

Unsurprisingly, it has millions of people clamoring to use it. All it takes is a single prompt, and the prompts range far and wide.  

People ask ChatGPT to help them write cover letters for job interviews, make travel recommendations, and explain complex scientific topics in plain language. One person highlighted how they used ChatGPT to run a tabletop game of Dungeons & Dragons for them. (If you’ve ever played, you know that’s a complex task that calls for a fair share of cleverness to keep the game entertaining.)  

That’s just a handful of examples. As for myself, I’ve been using ChatGPT in the kitchen. My family and I have been digging into all kinds of new recipes thanks to its AI. 

Sketchy ChatGPT apps in the App Store and Google Play 

So, where do the scammers come in? 

Scammers, have recently started posting copycat apps that look like they are powered by ChatGPT but aren’t. What’s more, they charge people a fee to use them—a prime example of fleeceware. OpenAI, the makers of ChatGPT, have just officially launched their iOS app for U.S. iPhone users and can be downloaded from the Apple App Store here. The official Android version is still yet to be released.  

Fleeceware mimics a pre-existing service that’s free or low-cost and then charges an excessive fee to use it. Basically, it’s a copycat. An expensive one at that.  

Fleeceware scammers often lure in their victims with “a free trial” that quickly converts into a subscription. However, with fleeceware, the terms of the subscription are steep. They might bill the user weekly, and at rates much higher than the going rate. 

The result is that the fleeceware app might cost the victim a few bucks before they can cancel it. Worse yet, the victim might forget about the app entirely and run up hundreds of dollars before they realize what’s happening. Again, all for a simple app that’s free or practically free elsewhere. 

What makes fleeceware so tricky to spot is that it can look legit at first glance. Plenty of smartphone apps offer subscriptions and other in-app purchases. In effect, fleeceware hides in plain sight among the thousands of other legitimate apps in the hopes you’ll download it. 

With that, any app that charges a fee to use ChatGPT is fleeceware. ChatGPT offers basic functionality that anyone can use for free.  

There is one case where you might pay a fee to use ChatGPT. It has its own subscription-level offering, ChatGPT Plus. With a subscription, ChatGPT responds more quickly to prompts and offers access during peak hours when free users might be shut out. That’s the one legitimate case where you might pay to use it. 

In all, more and more people want to take ChatGPT for a spin. However, they might not realize it’s free. Scammers bank on that, and so we’ve seen a glut of phony ChatGPT apps that aim to install fleeceware onto people’s phones. 

How do you keep fleeceware and other bad apps off your phone?  

Read the fine print. 

Read the description of the app and see what the developer is really offering. If the app charges you to use ChatGPT, it’s fleeceware. Anyone can use ChatGPT for free by setting up an account at its official website, https://chat.openai.com. 

Look at the reviews. 

Reviews can tell you quite a bit about an app. They can also tell you the company that created it handles customer feedback.  

In the case of fleeceware, you’ll likely see reviews that complain about sketchy payment terms. They might mention three-day trials that automatically convert to pricey monthly or weekly subscriptions. Moreover, they might describe how payment terms have changed and become more costly as a result.  

In the case of legitimate apps, billing issues can arise from time to time, so see how the company handles complaints. Companies in good standing will typically provide links to customer service where people can resolve any issues they have. Company responses that are vague, or a lack of responses at all, should raise a red flag. 

Be skeptical about overwhelmingly positive reviews. 

Scammers are smart. They’ll count on you to look at an overall good review of 4/5 stars or more and think that’s good enough. They know this, so they’ll pack their app landing page with dozens and dozens of phony and fawning reviews to make the app look legitimate. This tactic serves another purpose: it hides the true reviews written by actual users, which might be negative because the app is a scam. 

Filter the app’s reviews for the one-star reviews and see what concerns people have. Do they mention overly aggressive billing practices, like the wickedly high prices and weekly billing cycles mentioned above? That might be a sign of fleeceware. Again, see if the app developer responded to the concerns and note the quality of the response. A legitimate company will honestly want to help a frustrated user and provide clear next steps to resolve the issue. 

Steer clear of third-party app stores. 

Google Play does its part to keep its virtual shelves free of malware-laden apps with a thorough submission process, as reported by Google. It further keeps things safer through its App Defense Alliance that shares intelligence across a network of partners, of which we’re a proud member. Further, users also have the option of running Play Protect to check apps for safety before they’re downloaded. Apple’s App Store has its own rigorous submission process for submitting apps. Likewise, Apple deletes hundreds of thousands of malicious apps from its store each year. 

Third-party app stores might not have protections like these in place. Moreover, some of them might be fronts for illegal activity. Organized cybercrime organizations deliberately populate their third-party stores with apps that steal funds or personal information. Stick with the official app stores for the most complete protection possible.  

Cancel unwanted subscriptions from your phone. 

Many fleeceware apps deliberately make it tough to cancel them. You’ll often see complaints about that in reviews, “I don’t see where I can cancel my subscription!” Deleting the app from your phone is not enough. Your subscription will remain active unless you cancel your payment method.  

Luckily, your phone makes it easy to cancel subscriptions right from your settings menu. Canceling makes sure your credit or debit card won’t get charged when the next billing cycle comes up. 

• On iPhones and iOS devices, learn how to cancel App Store subscriptions here. 
• Android users can learn how to cancel Google Play subscriptions here. 

Be wary. Many fleeceware apps have aggressive billing cycles. Sometimes weekly.  

The safest and best way to enjoy ChatGPT: Go directly to the source. 

ChatGPT is free. Anyone can use it by setting up a free account with OpenAI at https://chat.openai.com. Smartphone apps that charge you to use it are a scam. 

How to download the official ChatGPT app 

You can download the official app, currently on iOS from the App Store 

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Make Your Smart Home a Secure Home Too: Securing Your IoT Smart Home Devices

It’s only a smart lightbulb. Why would anyone want to hack that? 

Great question. Because it gets to the heart of security matters for your IoT smart home devices.  

Internet of Things (IoT) devices have certainly made themselves at home in recent years. Once a novelty, they’ve become far more commonplace. The numbers bear that out. Recent research indicates that the average U.S. household has 20.2 connected devices. Europe has 17.4 on average, while Japan trails at 10.3. 

Of course, those figures largely account for computers, tablets, phones, and internet-connected smart TVs. Yet the study uncovered a sizable jump in the presence of other smart devices.  

Comparing 2022 to 2021, smart homes worldwide had: 

• 55% more cameras. 
• 43% more smart doorbells. 
• 38% more home hubs. 
• 25% more smart light bulbs. 
• 23% more smart plugs. 
• 19% more smart thermostats. 

Consider that connected devices in the home rose just 10% globally during the same timeframe. It’s clear that IoT smart home device ownership is on the upswing. Yet has security kept up with all that growth? 

Poor security and consumer IoT smart home devices 

That security question brings us back to the lightbulb.  

An adage in security is this: if a device gets connected, it gets protected. And that protection has to be strong because a network is only as secure as its weakest link. Unfortunately, many IoT devices are indeed the weakest security links on home networks.  

Some recent research sheds light on what’s at stake. Cybersecurity teams at the Florida Institute of Technology found that companion apps for several big brand smart devices had security flaws. Of the 20 apps linked to connected doorbells, locks, security systems, televisions, and cameras they studied, 16 had “critical cryptographic flaws” that might allow attackers to intercept and modify their traffic. These flaws might lead to the theft of login credentials and spying, the compromise of the connected device, or the compromise of other devices and data on the network.  

Over the years, our research teams at McAfee Labs have uncovered similar security vulnerabilities in other IoT devices like smart coffee makers and smart wall plugs.  

Vulnerabilities such as these have the potential to compromise other devices on the network. 

Let’s imagine a smart lightbulb with poor security measures. As part of your home network, a motivated hacker might target it, compromise it, and gain access to the other devices on your network. In that way, a lightbulb might lead to your laptop—and all the files and data on it. 

So yes, someone might be quite interested in hacking your lightbulb. 

Botnets: another reason why hackers target smart devices 

One Friday morning in 2016, great swathes of the American internet ground to a halt. 

Major websites and services became unresponsive as internet directory services got flooded with millions and millions of malicious requests. As such, millions and millions of people were affected, along with public agencies and private businesses alike. Behind it, a botnet. An internet drone army of compromised IOT devices like digital video recorders and webcams. 

Known as the Mirai botnet, its initial purpose was to target Minecraft game servers. Essentially to “grief” innocent players. Yet it later found its way into other hands. From there, it became among the first high-profile botnet attacks on the internet. 

Botnet attacks can be small and targeted, such as when bad actors want to target a certain business (or game servers). And they can get as large as Mirai did. Regardless of size, these attacks rely on compromised devices. Consumer IoT devices often get targeted for such purposes for the same reasons listed above. They can lack strong security features out of the box, making them easy to enlist in a botnet. 

In all, the threat of botnets makes another strong case for securing your devices. 

How to protect your smart home network and IoT devices 

To put a fine point on it, security in your smart home is an absolute must. And you can make your smart home far more secure with a few steps. 

Grab online protection for your smartphone. 

Many smart home devices use a smartphone as a sort of remote control, and to gather, store, and share data. So whether you’re an Android owner or an iOS owner, protect your smartphone so you can protect the things it accesses and controls—and the data stored on it too. 

Don’t use the default—Set a strong, unique password. 

One issue with many IoT devices is that they often come with a default username and password. This could mean that your device and thousands of others just like it share the same credentials. That makes it easy for a hacker to access to them because those default usernames and passwords are often published online.  

When you purchase any IoT device, set a fresh password using a strong method of password creation. Likewise, create an entirely new username for additional protection as well. 

Use multi-factor authentication. 

Banks and other online services commonly offer multi-factor authentication to help protect your accounts. In addition to using a username and password for login, it sends a security code to another device you own (often a mobile phone). It throws a big barrier in the way of hackers who try to force their way into your device with a password/username combination. If your IoT devices support multi-factor authentication, consider using it with them too.  

Secure your internet router too. 

Another device that needs good password protection is your internet router. Make sure you use a strong and unique password as well to help prevent hackers from breaking into your home network. Also consider changing the name of your home network so that it doesn’t personally identify you.  

Fun alternatives to using your name or address include everything from movie lines like “May the Wi-Fi be with you” to old sitcom references like “Central Perk.” Also check that your router is using an encryption method, like WPA2 or the newer WPA3, which will keep your signal secure. 

Upgrade to a newer internet router. 

Older routers might have outdated security measures, which might make them more prone to attacks. If you’re renting yours from your internet provider, contact them for an upgrade. If you’re using your own, visit a reputable news or review site such as Consumer Reports for a list of the best routers that combine speed, capacity, and security. 

Update your apps and devices regularly. 

In addition to fixing the odd bug or adding the occasional new feature, updates often fix security gaps. Out-of-date apps and devices might have flaws that hackers can exploit, so update regularly. If you can set your smart home apps and devices to receive automatic updates, select that option so that you’ll always have the latest. 

Set up a guest network specifically for your IoT devices. 

Just as you can offer your guests secure access that’s separate from your own devices, you can create an additional network on your router that keeps your computers and smartphones separate from IoT devices. This way, if an IoT device is compromised, a hacker will still have difficulty accessing your other devices on your primary network that hosts your computers and smartphones. 

Purchasing IoT smart home devices (with security in mind) 

You can take another strong security step before you even bring that new smart device home. Research.  

Unfortunately, there are few consumer standards for smart devices. That’s unlike other household appliances. They must comply with government regulations, industry standards, and consumer-friendly standards like Energy Star ratings. So, some of the research burden falls on the buyer when it comes to purchasing the most secure devices. 

Here are a few steps that can help: 

1) Check out trusted reviews and resources. 

A positive or high customer rating for a smart device is a good place to start, yet purchasing a safer device takes more than that. Impartial third-party reviewers like Consumer Reports will offer thorough reviews of smart devices and their security, as part of a paid subscription. 

Likewise, look for other resources that account for device and data security in their writeups, such as the “Privacy Not Included” website. Run by a nonprofit organization, it reviews a wealth of apps and smart devices based on the strength of their security and privacy measures. 

2) Look up the manufacturer’s track record. 

Whether you’re looking at a device made by a well-known company or one you haven’t heard of before, a web search can show you if they’ve had any reported privacy or security issues in the past. And just because you might be looking at a popular brand name doesn’t mean that you’ll make yourself more private or secure by choosing them. Companies of all sizes and years of operation have encountered problems with their smart home devices.  

What you should look for, though, is how quickly the company addresses any issues and if they consistently have problems with them. Again, you can turn to third-party reviewers or reputable news sources for information that can help shape your decision. 

3) Look into permissions.  

Some smart devices will provide you with options around what data they collect and then what they do with it after it’s collected. Hop online and see if you can download some instructions for manuals for the devices you’re considering. They might explain the settings and permissions that you can enable or disable.  

4) Make sure it uses multi-factor authentication.  

As mentioned above, multi-factor authentication provides an additional layer of protection. It makes things much more difficult for a hacker or bad actor to compromise your device, even if they know your password and username. Purchase devices that offer this as an option. It’s a terrific line of defense.  

5) Look for further privacy and security features. 

Some manufacturers are more security- and privacy-minded than others. Look for them. You might see a camera that has a physical shutter that caps the lens and blocks recording when it’s not in use. You might also find doorbell cameras that store video locally, instead of uploading it to the cloud where others can potentially access it. Also look for manufacturers that call out their use of encryption, which can further protect your data in transit. 

If a device gets connected, it gets protected 

Even the smallest of IoT smart home devices can lead to big issues if they’re not secured. 

It only takes one poorly secured device to compromise everything else on an otherwise secure network. And with manufacturers in a rush to capitalize on the popularity of smart home devices, sometimes security takes a back seat. They might not thoroughly design their products for security up front, and they might not regularly update them for security in the long term.  

Meanwhile, other manufacturers do a fine job. It takes a bit of research on the buyer’s part to find out which manufacturers handle security best. 

Aside from research, a few straightforward steps can keep your smart devices and your network safe. Just as with any other connected device, strong passwords, multi-factor authentication, and regular updates remain key security steps. 

For a secure smart home, just remember the adage: if a device gets connected, it gets protected. 

The post Make Your Smart Home a Secure Home Too: Securing Your IoT Smart Home Devices appeared first on McAfee Blog.

Mobile Spyware—How You Can Keep Stalkers Off Your Phone

When you wind up with mobile spyware, you may wind up with a stalker on your phone. 

In its most malicious forms, mobile spyware can steal information like text messages and photos, capture passwords as you tap them in, secretly turn on your microphone or camera for recording, and track your movements using GPS.  

Figuratively speaking, it’s like going about your day with a stalker peering over your shoulder.  

If that doesn’t sound creepy enough, it can get worse. More than just providing attackers with a live feed of your activity, spyware can record and archive your actions. From there, it can “phone home,” meaning it sends stolen information back to cybercriminals so they can hoard it for later use. 

That stolen information can lead to identity fraud and theft, such as when a cybercriminal raids your existing bank accounts, sets up entirely new lines of credit in your name, or impersonates you in several other ways. In darker scenarios, stolen photos, files, and information can lead to blackmail and harassment. 

Without question, a case of mobile spyware can get serious quite quickly. Yet, it is highly preventable when you know how it can end up on your phone—and the steps you can take to keep that from happening. 

How do phones get mobile spyware? 

Malicious apps. They account for much of mobile spyware today. 

Whether they’re downloaded from a third-party app store or even from Google Play or Apple’s App Store, the ruse remains the same: a malicious app poses as legitimate app. These apps may present themselves as games, wallpapers, productivity apps, exercise apps, utility apps, and even security apps. Instead, they’re loaded with spyware.   

Google Play does its part to keep its virtual shelves free of malware-laden apps with a thorough submission process as reported by Google and through its App Defense Alliance that shares intelligence across a network of partners, of which we’re a proud member. Further, users also have the option of running Play Protect to check apps for safety before they’re downloaded.   

Apple’s App Store has its own rigorous submission process for submitting apps. Likewise, Apple deletes hundreds of thousands of malicious apps from its store each year. 

Yet, bad actors find ways to sneak malware into the store. Sometimes they upload an app that’s initially innocent and then push malware to users as part of an update. Other times, they’ll embed malicious code such that it only triggers once it’s run in certain countries. They will also encrypt malicious code in the app that they submit, which can make it difficult for reviewers to sniff out.   

Unique to Android phones, Android gives people the option to download apps from third-party app stores. These stores may or may not have a thorough app submission process in place. As a result, they can be far less secure than Google Play. Moreover, some third-party app stores are fronts for organized cybercrime gangs, built specifically to distribute malware, making third-party download that much riskier. 

Other ways spyware can end up on your phone 

Someone can install it directly.  

In this case, a bad actor needs physical access to your phone. If they know the passcode or if the phone is unlocked, they can tamper with the phone’s settings and install the spyware themselves. This requires access, time, and effort, yet some bad actors certainly take this approach.  

Surprisingly, we’ve also seen cases where malware comes pre-installed on phones. A recent case estimated that some 9 million smartphones had spyware installed in them somewhere along the supply chain. Reportedly, the spyware could steal personal information from the phone or possibly take it over entirely for a short stretch of time. 

You can spot signs of tampering on an Android phone by heading to Settings and searching for “Install Unknown Apps.” If you see any sources that you didn’t set to the “On” position or a third-party website you don’t recognize, it indicates that apps from outside official app stores could have been installed in the device. Such apps are generally riskier than apps from official sources like Google Play. While not an outright indication of spyware, you should set those to “Off.” 

On an iPhone, directly installing spyware takes a bit more effort. Typically, it requires “jailbreaking” the phone. This process tampers with the operating system and removes software restrictions so the iPhone can access third-party app stores and download unapproved apps. Both are highly risky activities and the reason why Apple’s iOS enforces such restrictions in the first place.  

Put plainly, “jailbreaking” is not safe. 

In the hands of bad actors, they can install an app called “Cydia” on a jailbroken iPhone. Cydia is an unapproved app store that offers potentially dangerous modifications and apps. If you spot Cydia on your iPhone, it’s certain sign of tampering. 

The signs of mobile spyware 

Not long ago, you could often see or even feel if your smartphone was infected with spyware. It could run hot, like it was left out on blanket at the beach, because the spyware ate up computing cycles while it ran in the background. It could drain batteries or lead to sluggish performance. That’s not always the case anymore. Spyware has become leaner and more efficient in recent years, so cybercriminals can better mask their attacks. 

Some signs that are better indicators of spyware include: 

Spikes in data use.

Whether through your phone’s data connection or through a Wi-Fi connection, unexpected increases in usage could be a sign that your phone is communicating with a third party. 

Difficulty logging into your accounts the first time.

A phone infected with spyware may communicate your activity to a third party, rather than to the legitimate login. The legitimate site or service never receives the first login attempt, forcing you to log in again. 

Difficulty logging into your accounts at all.

This may be a sign that a cybercriminal already hacked your password, logged in under your name, and then changed the password to one of their own. (Note that this could also be a sign of a compromised or stolen password and not necessarily a sign of spyware.) 

Other apps like antivirus and online protection software get shut down.

Some types of spyware can gain administration-level privileges to your phone and drop its defenses, leaving you yet more vulnerable. 

You spot signs of fraud or theft.

Above we mentioned how cybercriminals use spyware to gain login credentials to banks and credit cards, and even steal personal items like files and photos. If you spot any unusual activity or find yourself threatened with demands, it’s possible that spyware could be a possible cause among others. 

Seven steps to protect yourself from mobile spyware 

1. Update your phone’s operating system.  

Along with installing security software, keeping your phone’s operating system up to date can greatly improve your security. Updates can fix vulnerabilities that hackers rely on to pull off their malware-based attacks. It’s another tried and true method of keeping yourself safe—and for keeping your phone running great too.  

2. Avoid third-party app stores.  

As mentioned above, Google Play has measures in place to review and vet apps to help ensure that they are safe and secure. Third-party sites may very well not, and they may intentionally host malicious apps as part of a front. Further, Google is quick to remove malicious apps from their store once discovered, making shopping there safer still.  

3. Review apps carefully. 

Check out the developer—have they published several other apps with many downloads and good reviews? A legit app typically has quite a few reviews, whereas malicious apps may have only a handful of (phony) five-star reviews. Lastly, look for typos and poor grammar in both the app description and screenshots. They could be a sign that a hacker slapped the app together and quickly deployed it.  

4. Go with a strong recommendation. 

Yet better than combing through user reviews yourself is getting a recommendation from a trusted source, like a well-known publication or from app store editors themselves. In this case, much of the vetting work has been done for you by an established reviewer. A quick online search like “best fitness apps” or “best apps for travelers” should turn up articles from legitimate sites that can suggest good options and describe them in detail before you download.  

5. Keep an eye on app permissions. 

Another way hackers weasel their way into your device is by getting permissions to access things like your location, contacts, and photos—and they’ll use malicious apps to do it. If an app asks for way more than you bargained for, like a simple puzzle game that requests access to your camera or microphone, it might be a scam. On Android, recent spyware usually requests REQUEST_IGNORE_BATTERY_OPTIMIZATIONS permission to execute the malicious behavior in the background. If you see behaviors like these, delete the app.  

6. Tidy up. 

Remove old, unused, and underused applications that could be future vectors of attacks. 

Along this line, we’ve seen where mobile applications change ownership (whether they get sold or others take over its operations), and the new owners don’t have the same standard operating procedures as the founders. 

7. Lock your phone—and keep an eye on it too. 

As mentioned above, some bad actors will install spyware on phones themselves. However, this requires access, time, and effort to pull off. Locking your phone and always keeping it close can help prevent bad actors from infecting your phone this way.  

8. Protect your phone. 

Comprehensive online protection software can secure your phone in the same ways that it secures your laptops and computers. Installing it can protect your privacy, keep you safe from attacks on public Wi-Fi, and automatically block unsafe websites and links, just to name a few things it can do. 

 

The post Mobile Spyware—How You Can Keep Stalkers Off Your Phone appeared first on McAfee Blog.

“Where Did I Leave My Phone?” Protecting Your Phone from Loss and Theft

Maybe you know that sinking feeling all too well. “Where did I leave my phone?” 

The minutes pass as you search around the house, then you head into the garage to look between the driver’s seat and console of your car. No luck. So it’s back into the house where you turn over every couch cushion. Still nothing. Maybe panic is too strong a word, but you’re starting to get a little worried. 

Then comes the relief. You found it. 

But what if your smartphone really was lost? Or worse yet, stolen? 

Not a pretty thought. But you can put protections in place that can help you recover your phone—or remotely erase it if it indeed gets lost for good. A few up-front steps is all it takes. 

Before your phone gets lost or stolen, protect yourself with the basics.  

Preparation is everything. If your phone gets lost or stolen, you’ll want to act quickly. You’ll also want the reassurance that you have measures in place that can help you find it, recover it, or even erase it as needed. These steps can get you set up so you exactly that. 

Lock your phone. 

Locking your phone is one of the most basic smartphone security measures you can take. Trouble is, few of us do it. 

Our recent global research showed that only 56% of adults said that they protect their smartphone with a password, passcode, or other form of lock. In effect, an unlocked phone is an open book to anyone who finds or steals a phone. It gives them unfettered access to everything on it.  

And that likely includes: 

• Personal data, such as photos, emails, texts, voicemails, and contact information. 
• Location data, possibly for family members who share their location with you.  
• Financial apps, for banks, credit cards, and other accounts. 
• Payment apps, for transferring money to friends and making payments online. 
• Social media apps, which make up a big part of a person’s online identity. 
• Medical and wellness apps, each loaded with personal health data and information. 

Now, imagine that into the wrong hands. That might lead to financial fraud, identity theft, and even more egregious crimes like stalking and extortion. Not to mention doxing, which involves maliciously posting someone else’s photos, files, and information online for all to see. 

Setting up a lock screen is easy. It’s a simple feature found on iOS and Android devices. iPhones and Androids have an auto-lock feature that will lock your phone after a certain period of inactivity. Keep this time on the low end, one minute or less, to help prevent unauthorized access. 

We suggest using a PIN or passcode rather than using a gesture to unlock your phone. They’re more complex and secure. Researchers proved as much with a little “shoulder surfing” test. They looked at how well one group of subjects could unlock a phone after observing the way another group of subjects unlocked it. 

They found that that “Six-digit PINs are the most elusive attacking surface where a single observation leads to only 10.8% successful attacks, improving to 26.5% with multiple observations. As a comparison, six-length Android patterns, with one observation, suffered 64.2% attack rate and 79.9% with multiple observations.” 

Biometric locks like fingerprints and facial IDs are a practical option as well. Yet they present some security issues. With effort, fingerprints can get copied, such as by lifting them off a pane of glass or other things you touch. Facial ID can open a phone even when the owner’s eyes are closed. Again with some effort, a thief or bad actor can open the phone by placing it by the sleeping owner’s face. Note that these are more extreme cases, yet you should be aware of them when determining how you lock your phone.  

Turn on “Find My Phone.” 

Another powerful tool you have at your disposal is the find my phone feature made possible thanks to GPS technology. The “find my” feature can help you pinpoint your phone if your lost or stolen phone has an active data or Wi-Fi connection and has its GPS location services enabled. Even if the phone gets powered down or loses its connection, it can guide you to its last known location. 

Setting up this feature is easy. Apple offers a comprehensive web page on how to enable and use their “Find My” feature for phones (and other devices too). Android users can get a step-by-step walkthrough on Google’s Android support page as well. 

Back up your stuff in the cloud. 

Thanks to cloud storage, you might be able to recover your photos, files, apps, notes, contact information, and more if your phone is lost or stolen. Android owners can learn how to set up cloud backup with Google Drive here, and iPhone users can learn the same for iCloud here.  

Write down your phone’s unique ID number. 

Here come a couple of acronyms. IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) or MEID (Mobile Equipment Identifier) are two types of unique ID numbers assigned to smartphones. Find yours and write it down. In case of loss or theft, your mobile carrier, police department, or insurance provider might ask for the information to assist in its return or reimbursement for loss. 

• For Android phones, you can find it in Settings à About Phone. 
• On iPhones, you can find it in Settings à General à About. 

More ways to protect your smartphone from loss or theft. 

Beyond digital security measures, plenty of loss and theft prevention falls on you. Treat your phone like the desirable item it is. That’s a big step when it comes to preventing theft. 

Keep your phone close. 

And by close, we mean on your person. It’s easy to leave your phone on the table at a coffeeshop, on a desk in a shared workspace, or on a counter when you’re shopping. Thieves might jump on any of these opportunities for a quick snatch-and-grab. You’re better off with your phone in your pocket or zipped up in a bag that you keep close. 

Secure your bags and the devices you carry in them. 

Enterprising thieves will find a way. They’ll snatch your bag while you’re not looking. Or they might even slice into it with a knife to get at what’s inside, like your phone.  

Keep your bag or backpack close. If you’re stopping to grab a bite to eat, sling the handles through a chair leg. If you have a strong metal carabiner, you can use that too. Securing your bag like that can make it much tougher for a thief to walk by and swipe it. For extra security, look into a slash-resistant bag. 

Stay aware. 

Thieves will also look for an easy mark. People who appear a little distracted, lost, or even dozing off. Aside from securing your bags, keep an eye on your surroundings. Look at people and smile, walk with purpose, and generally put across an air of confidence. Behavior like this sends a clear signal to thieves—you’re aware. That might be enough for them to pass you up. 

Consider what you’re carrying—and where you carry it. 

If you have a credit card and ID holder attached to the back of your phone, you might want to remove your cards from it. That way, if your phone gets snatched, those important cards won’t get snatched as well. Take a pass on keeping things in your back pocket. Use your front pocket where it’s much more difficult for a thief to pick your pocket.  

And if the unfortunate happens, know how to remotely, track, lock or erase your phone. 

In the event of your phone getting lost or stolen, a combination of device tracking, device locking, and remote erasing can help protect your phone and the data on it.  

Different device manufacturers have different ways of going about it. But the result is the same—you can prevent others from using your phone, and even erase it if you’re truly worried that it’s in the wrong hands or gone for good. Apple provides iOS users with a step-by-step guide, and Google offers up a guide for Android users as well.  

Apple’s Find My app takes things a step further. Beyond locating a lost phone or wiping it, Find My can also mark the item as lost, notify you if you’ve left it behind, or trigger a sound to help you locate it. (A huge boon in that couch cushion scenario!) Drop by Apple’s page dedicated to the Find My app for more details on what you can do on what devices, along with instructions how. 

Take these steps as well if your phone gets lost or stolen. 

1. Contact your mobile provider. They can suspend service to your phone if needed. 
2. File a police report. Theft is theft. Report it. I could help get your phone back if it’s found. Also, insurance companies may require a police report number if you file a claim. 
3. Change your passwords. Mail, social media, payment, and other apps may be accessible to anyone who can open your phone. Change the passwords to any important accounts or apps you have on your phone right away.   

All is not lost. 

With preparation and prevention, you can give yourself reassurance if your phone gets lost or stolen. You have plenty of recovery options, in addition to plenty of ways to prevent bad actors from getting their hands on the sensitive info you keep on it. 

The post “Where Did I Leave My Phone?” Protecting Your Phone from Loss and Theft appeared first on McAfee Blog.

How to Avoid Phishing Attacks on Your Smartphones and Computers

Ping, it’s a scammer! 

The sound of an incoming email, text, or direct message has a way of getting your attention, so you take a look and see what’s up. It happens umpteen times a week, to the extent that it feels like the flow of your day. And scammers want to tap into that with sneaky phishing attacks that catch you off guard, all with the aim of stealing your personal information or bilking you out of your money.  

Phishing attacks take several forms, where scammers masquerade as a legitimate company, financial institution, government agency, or even as someone you know. And they’ll come after you with messages that follow suit: 

• “You have a package coming to you, but we’re having a problem with delivering it. Please click here to provide delivery information receive your package.” 
• “We spotted what may be unusual activity on your credit card. Follow this link to confirm your account information.” 
• “You owe back taxes. Send payment immediately using this link or we will refer your case to law enforcement.” 

You can see why phishing attacks can be so effective. Messages like these have an urgency to them, and they seem like they’re legit, or they at least seem like they might deal with something you might care about. But of course they’re just a ruse. And some of them can look and sound rather convincing. Or at least convincing enough that you’ll not only give them a look, but that you’ll also give them a click too. 

And that’s where the troubles start. Clicking the links or attachments sent in a phishing attack can lead to several potentially nasty things, such as: 

• A phony login page where they scammer tries to steal account credentials from you. 
• A malware download that can install keylogging software for stealing passwords and other information as you type. 
• Spyware that hijacks information on your device and secretly sends it back to the scammer. 
• Ransomware that holds a device and its data hostage until a fee is paid. (By the way, never pay off a ransomware threat. There’s no guarantee that payment will release your device and data back to you.) 

However, plenty of phishing attacks are preventable. A mix of knowing what to look for and putting a few security steps in place can help you keep scammers at bay. 

What do phishing attacks look like? 

How you end up with one has a lot to do with it.  

There’s a good chance you’ve already seen your share of phishing attempts on your phone. A text comes through with a brief message that one of your accounts needs attention, from an entirely unknown number. Along with it is a link that you can tap to follow up, which will send you to a malicious site. In some cases, the sender may skip the link and attempt to start a conversation with the aim of getting you to share your personal information or possibly fork over some payment with a gift card, money order, rechargeable debit card, or other form of payment that is difficult to trace and recover. 

In the case of social media, you can expect that the attack will come from an imposter account that’s doing its best to pose as one of those legitimate businesses or organizations we talked about, or perhaps as a stranger or even someone you know. And the name and profile pic will do its best to play the part. If you click on the account that sent it, you may see that it was created only recently and that it has few to no followers, both of which are red flags. The attack is typically conversational, much like described above where the scammer attempts to pump you for personal info or money. 

Attacks that come by direct messaging apps will work much in the same way. The scammer will set up a phony account, and where the app allows, a phony name and a phony profile pic to go along with it. 

Email gets a little more complicated because emails can range anywhere from a few simple lines of text to a fully designed piece complete with images, formatting, and embedded links—much like a miniature web page.  

In the past, email phishing attacks looked rather unsophisticated, rife with poor spelling and grammar, along with sloppy-looking layouts and images. That’s still sometimes the case today. Yet not always. Some phishing emails look like the real thing. Or nearly so. 

Examples of phishing attacks 

Case in point, here’s a look at a phishing email masquerading as a McAfee email: 

There’s a lot going on here. The scammers try to mimic the McAfee brand, yet don’t quite pull it off. Still, they do several things to try and be convincing.  

Note the use of photography and the box shot of our software, paired with a prominent “act now” headline. It’s not the style of photography we use. Not that people would generally know this. However, some might have a passing thought like, “Huh. That doesn’t really look right for some reason.”  

Beyond that, there are a few capitalization errors, some misplaced punctuation, plus the “order now” and “60% off” icons look rather slapped on. Also note the little dash of fear it throws in at the top of the email with mention of “There are (42) viruses on your computer.”  

Taken all together, you can spot many email scams by taking a closer look, seeing what doesn’t feel right, and then trusting you gut. But that asks you to slow down, take a moment, and eyeball the email critically. Which people don’t always do. And that’s what scammers count on. 

Similar ploys see scammers pose as legitimate companies and retailers, where they either ask you to log into a bogus account page to check statement or the status of an order. Some scammers offer links to “discount codes” that are instead links to landing pages designed steal your account login information as well. Similarly, they may simply send a malicious email attachment with the hope that you’ll click it. 

In other forms of email phishing attacks, scammers may pose as a co-worker, business associate, vendor, or partner to get the victim to click a malicious link or download malicious software. These may include a link to a bogus invoice, spreadsheet, notetaking file, or word processing doc—just about anything that looks like it could be a piece of business correspondence. Instead, the link leads to a scam website that asks the victim “log in and download” the document, which steals account info as a result. Scammers may also include attachments to phishing emails that can install malware directly on the device, sometimes by infecting an otherwise everyday document with a malicious payload. 

Email scammers may also pose as someone you know, whether by propping up an imposter email account or by outright hijacking an existing account. The attack follows the same playbook, using a link or an attachment to steal personal info, request funds, or install malware. 

How to avoid phishing attacks 

While you can’t outright stop phishing attacks from making their way to your computer or phone, you can do several things to keep yourself from falling to them. Further, you can do other things that may make it more difficult for scammers to reach you. 

1. Pause and think about the message for a minute. 

The content and the tone of the message can tell you quite a lot. Threatening messages or ones that play on fear are often phishing attacks, such angry messages from a so-called tax agent looking to collect back taxes. Other messages will lean heavy on urgency, like the phony McAfee phishing email above that says your license has expired today and that you have “(42)” viruses. And during the holidays, watch out for loud, overexcited messages about deep discounts on hard-to-find items. Instead of linking you off to a proper ecommerce site, they may link you to a scam shopping site that does nothing but steal your money and the account information you used to pay them. In all, phishing attacks indeed smell fishy. Slow down and review that message with a critical eye. It may tip you off to a scam. 

2. Deal directly with the company or organization in question. 

Some phishing attacks can look rather convincing. So much so that you’ll want to follow up on them, like if your bank reports irregular activity on your account or a bill appears to be past due. In these cases, don’t click on the link in the message. Go straight to the website of the business or organization in question and access your account from there. Likewise, if you have questions, you can always reach out to their customer service number or web page. 

3. Consider the source. 

When scammers contact you via social media, that in of itself can be a tell-tale sign of a scam. Consider, would an income tax collector contact you over social media? The answer there is no. For example, in the U.S. the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) makes it quite clear that they will never contact taxpayers via social media. (Let alone send angry, threatening messages.) In all, legitimate businesses and organizations don’t use social media as a channel for official communications. They have accepted ways they will, and will not, contact you. If you have any doubts about a communication you received, contact the business or organization in question directly and follow up with one of their customer service representatives.  

4. Don’t download attachments. And most certainly don’t open them. 

Some phishing attacks involve attachments packed with malware like the ransomware, viruses, and keyloggers we mentioned earlier. If you receive a message with such an attachment, delete it. Even if you receive an email with an attachment from someone you know, follow up with that person. Particularly if you weren’t expecting an attachment from them. Scammers will often hijack or spoof email accounts of everyday people to spread malware. 

5.Hover over links to verify the URL. 

On computers and laptops, you can hover your cursor over links without clicking on them to see the web address. Take a close look at the addresses the message is using. If it’s an email, look at the email address. Maybe the address doesn’t match the company or organization at all. Or maybe it looks like it almost does, yet it adds a few letters or words to the name. This marks yet another sign that you may have a phishing attack on your hands. Scammers also use the common tactic of a link shortener, which creates links that almost look like strings of indecipherable text. These shortened links mask the true address, which may indeed be a link to scam site. Delete the message. If possible, report it. Many social media platforms and messaging apps have built-in controls for reporting suspicious accounts and messages. 

6. Go with who you know. 

On social media and messaging platforms, stick to following, friending, and messaging people who you really know. As for those people who contact you out of the blue, be suspicious. Sad to say, they’re often scammers canvassing these platforms for victims. Better yet, where you can, set your profile to private, which makes it more difficult for scammers select and stalk you for an attack. 

7. Remove your personal information from sketchy data broker sites. 

How’d that scammer get your phone number or email address anyway? Chances are, they pulled that information off a data broker site. Data brokers buy, collect, and sell detailed personal information, which they compile from several public and private sources, such as local, state, and federal records, plus third parties like supermarket shopper’s cards and mobile apps that share and sell user data. Moreover, they’ll sell it to anyone who pays for it, including people who’ll use that information for scams. You can help reduce those scam texts and calls by removing your information from those sites. Our Personal Data Cleanup scans some of the riskiest data broker sites and shows you which ones are selling your personal info.  

8. Use online protection software. 

Online protection software can protect you in several ways. First, it can offer safe browsing features that can identify malicious links and downloads, which can help prevent clicking them. Further, it can steer you away from dangerous websites and block malware and phishing sites if you accidentally click on a malicious link. And overall, strong virus and malware protection can further block any attacks on your devices. Be sure to protect your smartphones in addition to your computers and laptops as well, particularly given all the sensitive things we do on them, like banking, shopping, and booking rides and travel. 

What is phishing? Now you know, and how you can avoid it. 

Once phishing attacks were largely the domain of bogus emails, yet now they’ve spread to texts, social media, and messaging apps—anywhere a scammer can send a fraudulent message while posing as a reputable source. 

Scammers count on you taking the bait, the immediate feelings of fear or concern that there’s a problem with your taxes or one of your accounts. They also prey on scarcity, like during the holidays where people search for great deals on gifts and have plenty of packages on the move. With a critical eye, you can often spot those scams. Sometimes, a pause and a little thought is all it takes. And in the cases where a particularly cagey attack makes its way through, online protection software can warn you that the link you’re about to click is indeed a trap.  

Taken all together, you have plenty of ways you can beat scammers at their game. 

The post How to Avoid Phishing Attacks on Your Smartphones and Computers appeared first on McAfee Blog.

How to Limit Location Tracking on Your Phone

We all know that our phones know a lot about us. And they most certainly know a lot about where we go, thanks to the several ways they can track our location. 

Location tracking on your phone offers plenty of benefits, such as with apps that can recommend a good restaurant nearby, serve up the weather report for your exact location, or connect you with singles for dating in your area. Yet the apps that use location tracking may do more with your location data than that. They may collect it, and in turn sell it to advertisers and potentially other third parties that have an interest in where you go and what you do.  

Likewise, cell phone providers have other means of collecting location information from your phone, which they may use for advertising and other purposes as well. 

If that sounds like more than you’re willing to share, know that you can do several things that can limit location tracking on your phone—and thus limit the information that can potentially end up in other people’s hands. 

How do Smartphones Track Your Movements? 

As we look at the ways you can limit location tracking on your phone, it helps to know the basics of how smartphones can track your movements. 

For starters, outside of shutting down your phone completely, your phone can be used to determine your location to varying degrees of accuracy depending on the method used:  

• GPS: The Global Positioning System, or GPS as many of us know it, is a system of satellites operated by the U.S. government for navigation purposes. First designed for national defense, the system became available for public use in the 1980s. It’s highly accurate, to anywhere between nine to 30 feet depending on conditions and technology used, making it one of the strongest tools for determining a phone’s location. This is what powers location services on cell phones, and thus can help an app recommend a great burger joint nearby. 
• Cell towers: Cell phone providers can track a phone’s location by the distance it is to various cell phone towers and by the strength of its signal. The location information this method provides is a bit coarser than GPS, providing results that can place a phone within 150 feet. It’s most accurate in urban areas with high densities of cell phone towers, although it does not always work well indoors as some buildings can weaken or block cell phone signals. One of the most significant public benefits of this method is that it automatically routes emergency services calls (like 911 in the U.S.) to the proper local authorities without any guesswork from the caller. 
• Public Wi-Fi: Larger tech companies and internet providers will sometimes provide free public Wi-Fi hotspots that people can tap into at airports, restaurants, coffeehouses, and such. It’s a nice convenience but connecting to their Wi-Fi may share a phone’s MAC address, a unique identifier for connected devices, along with other identifiers on the smartphone. Taken together, this can allow the Wi-Fi hosting company to gather location and behavioral data while you use your phone on their Wi-Fi network. 
• Bluetooth: Like with public Wi-Fi, companies can use strategically placed Bluetooth devices to gather location information as well. If Bluetooth is enabled on a phone, it will periodically seek out Bluetooth-enabled devices to connect to while the phone is awake. This way, a Bluetooth receiver can then capture that phone’s unique MAC address. This provides highly accurate location information to within just a few feet because of Bluetooth’s short broadcast range. In the past, we’ve seen retailers use this method to track customers in their physical stores to better understand their shopping habits. However, more modern phones often create dummy MAC addresses when they seek out Bluetooth connections, which helps thwart this practice. 

Now here’s what makes these tracking methods so powerful: in addition to the way they can determine your phone’s location, they’re also quite good at determining your identity too. With it, companies know who you are, where you are, and potentially some idea of what you’re doing there based on your phone’s activity. 

Throughout our blogs we refer to someone’s identity as a jigsaw puzzle. Some pieces are larger than others, like your Social Security number or tax ID number being among the biggest because they are so unique. Yet if someone gathers enough of those smaller pieces, they can put those pieces together and identify you. 

Things like your phone’s MAC address, ad IDs, IP address, device profile, and other identifiers are examples of those smaller pieces, all of which can get collected. In the hands of the collector, they can potentially create a picture of who you are and where you’ve been. 

What Happens to Your Location Information That Gets Collected? 

What happens to your data largely depends on what you’ve agreed to.  

In terms of apps, we’ve all seen the lengthy user agreements that we click on during the app installation process. Buried within them are terms put forth by the app developer that cover what data the app collects, how it’s used, and if it may be shared with or sold to third parties. Also, during the installation process, the app may ask for permissions to access certain things on your phone, like photos, your camera, and yes, location services so it can track you. When you click “I Agree,” you indeed agree to all those terms and permissions.  

Needless to say, some apps only use and collect the bare minimum of information as part of the agreement. On the other end of the spectrum, some apps will take all they can get and then sell the information they collect to third parties, such as data brokers that build exacting profiles of individuals, their histories, their interests, and their habits.  

In turn, those data brokers will sell that information to anyone, which can be used by advertisers along with identity thieves, scammers, and spammers. And as reported in recent years, various law enforcement agencies will purchase that information as well for surveillance purposes. 

Further, some apps are malicious from the start. Google Play does its part to keep its virtual shelves free of malware-laden apps with a thorough submission process as reported by Google and through its App Defense Alliance that shares intelligence across a network of partners, of which we’re a proud member. Android users also have the option of running Play Protect to check apps for safety before they’re downloaded. Apple has its own rigorous submission process for weeding out fraud and malicious apps in its store as well. 

Yet, bad actors find ways to sneak malware into app stores. Sometimes they upload an app that’s initially clean and then push the malware to users as part of an update. Other times, they’ll embed the malicious code so that it only triggers once it’s run in certain countries. They will also encrypt malicious code in the app that they submit, which can make it difficult for reviewers to sniff out. These apps will often steal data, and are designed to do so, including location information in some cases. 

As far as cell phone service providers go, they have legitimate reasons for tracking your phone in the ways mentioned above. One is for providing connectivity to emergency service calls (again, like 911 in the U.S.), yet others are for troubleshooting and to ensure that only legitimate customers are accessing their network. And, depending on the carrier, they may use it for advertising purposes in programs that you may willingly opt into or that you must intentionally opt out of. 

Ways to Limit Tracking on Your Smartphone 

We each have our own comfort level when it comes to our privacy. For some, personalized ads have a certain appeal. For others, not so much, not when it involves sharing information about themselves. Yet arguably, some issues of privacy aren’t up for discussion, like ending up with a malicious data-stealing app on your phone.  

In all, you can take several steps to limit tracking on your smartphone to various degrees—and boost your privacy to various degrees as a result: 

1. Switch your phone into Airplane Mode. Disconnect. Without a Wi-Fi or data connection, you can’t get tracked. While this makes you unreachable, it also makes you untraceable, which you may want to consider if you’d rather keep your whereabouts and travels to yourself for periods of time. However, note that iPhones have a feature called “Find My Network” that helps track lost devices, even when they are powered off or disconnected. 
2. Turn off location services altogether. As noted above, your smartphone can get tracked by other means, yet disabling location services in your phone settings shuts down a primary avenue of location data collection. Note that your maps apps won’t offer directions and your restaurant app won’t point you toward that tasty burger when location services are off, but you will be more private than with them on.  
3. Provide permissions on an app-by-app basis. Another option is to go into your phone settings and enable location services for specific apps in specific cases. For example, you can set your map app to enable location services only while in use. Other apps, you can disable location services entirely. Yet another option is to have the app ask for permissions each time. Note that this is a great way to discover if apps have defaulted to using location services without your knowledge when you installed them. On an iPhone, you can find this in Settings à Privacy & Security à Location Services. On an Android, go to Settings à Locations à App Locations Permissions. 
4. Delete old apps. And be choosy about new ones. Fewer apps mean fewer avenues of potential data collection. If you have old, unused apps, consider deleting them, along with the accounts and data associated with them. Also, steer clear of unofficial app stores. By sticking with Google Play and Apple’s App Store, you have a far better chance of downloading safe apps thanks to their review process. Check out the developer of the app while you’re at it. Have they published several other apps with many downloads and good reviews? A legit app typically has quite a few reviews, whereas malicious apps may have only a handful of (phony) five-star reviews. 
5. Turn off Bluetooth while not in use. You can keep passive location-sniffing techniques from logging your location by disabling your phone’s Bluetooth connectivity when you aren’t using it.  
6. Use a VPN. A VPN can make your time online more private and more secure by obscuring things like your IP address and by preventing snoops from monitoring your activity.  
7. On iPhones, look into using Private Relay. Apple’s Private Relay is similar to a VPN in that it changes your IP address so websites you visit can’t tell exactly where you are. It works on iOS and Macs as part of an iCloud+ subscription. Yet there is one important distinction: it only protects your privacy while surfing with the Safari browser. Note that as of this writing, Apple Private Relay is not available in all countries and regions. If you travel somewhere that Private Relay isn’t available, it will automatically turn off and will notify you when it’s unavailable and once more when it’s active again. You can learn more about it here and how you can enable it on your Apple devices. 
8. Stash your phone in a Faraday bag. You can purchase one of these smartphone pouches online that, depending on the model, can block Bluetooth, cellular, GPS, RFID, and radio signals—effectively hiding your phone and that prevent others from tracking it.   
9. Opt out of cell phone carrier ad programs. Different cell phone carriers have different user agreements, yet some may allow the carrier to share insights about you with third parties based on browsing and usage history. Opting out of these programs may not stop your cell phone carrier from collecting data about you, but it may prevent it from sharing insights about you with others. To see if you participate in one of these programs, log into your account portal or app. Look for settings around “relevant advertising,” “custom experience,” or even “advertising,” and then determine if these programs are of worth to you.  

More privacy on mobile 

There’s no way around it. Using a smartphone puts you on the map. And to some extent, what you’re doing there as well. Outside of shutting down your phone or popping into Airplane Mode (noting what we said about iPhones and their “Find My Network” functionality above), you have no way of preventing location tracking. You can most certainly limit it. 

For yet more ways you can lock down your privacy and your security on your phone, online protection software can help. Our McAfee+ plans protect you against identity theft, online scams, and other mobile threats—including credit card and bank fraud, emerging viruses, malicious texts and QR codes. For anyone who spends a good portion of their day on their phone, this kind of protection can make life far safer given all the things they do and keep on there. 

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How to Remove Viruses from Your Android Phone

So, can Android phones get viruses and malware? The answer is yes, and likewise you can do several things to spot and remove them from your phone. 

A couple things make Android phones attractive to cyber criminals and scammers. First, they make up about half of all smartphones in the U.S. and roughly 71% worldwide. Second, while its operating system gives users the flexibility to install apps from multiple apps markets, it also makes the operating system more vulnerable to tampering by bad actors. Also, Android has a more fragmented ecosystem with multiple device manufacturers and different versions of the operating system. As a result, each may have different security updates, and consistency will vary depending on the carrier or manufacturer, which can make Android phones more vulnerable to threats. 

So, just like computers and laptops, Android phones are susceptible to attack. And when you consider how much of our lives we keep on our phones, the importance of protecting them can’t be overstated. Steps truly are called for. With a look at how viruses and malware end up on Androids, you’ll see that you have several ways of keeping you and your phone safe. 

The top culprit: Malicious Android apps 

When it comes to viruses and malware on Android phones, malicious apps are often to blame. They’ll disguise themselves in many ways, such as utility apps, wallpaper apps, games, photo editors, and so on. Once installed, they’ll unleash their payload, which can take several forms: 

• Adware that floods your phone with pop-ups and clicker malware that simulates clicking on ads, which generates ad revenue for views and clicks on ads—and which can steal personal information as well.  
• Spyware that tracks your activity and can potentially harvest personal information like usernames and passwords. 
• Billing and subscription fraud, which uses several types of tricks to overcharge for services or subscribe to other services that you don’t want. In some cases, an app will offer a free trial and then charge excessive subscription fees after the trial ends.  
• Banking trojans that use sophisticated techniques to skim login credentials or hijack sessions, which then let bad actors steal money from your accounts. 
• CoinStealers and fake wallets can steal your crypto wallet credentials or seed and take control of the funds. 
• Ransomware and phone locker attacks, while less common, lock away personal info and files on the phone then demand payment for them to be released (payment being no guarantee that the hacker will actually unlock the phone). 

Google Play does its part to keep its virtual shelves free of malware-laden apps with a thorough submission process as reported by Google and through its App Defense Alliance that shares intelligence across a network of partners, of which we’re a proud member. Further, users also have the option of running Play Protect to check apps for safety before they’re downloaded.  

Yet, bad actors find ways to sneak malware into the store. Sometimes they upload an app that’s initially clean and then push the malware to users as part of an update. Other times, they’ll embed the malicious code so that it only triggers once it’s run in certain countries. They will also encrypt malicious code in the app that they submit, which can make it difficult for reviewers to sniff out.  

Beyond Google Play, Android allows users to download apps from third-party app stores, which may or may not have a thorough app submission process in place. Moreover, some third-party app stores are actually fronts for organized cybercrime gangs, built specifically to distribute malware.  

How do I know if my Android phone has a virus or is infected?  

You might spot the signs rather quickly. Sometimes, you might not. Some malware can make your phone run poorly, which may indicate a technical issue, yet it can also be a symptom of a hacked phone. Others work quietly in the background without you knowing it. Either way, both cases provide good reasons to run regular scans on your phone. 

Let’s look at some possible signs: 

Sluggish performance, battery drain, and a hot phone  

Malware has a way of taking up resources and eating up battery life as it furiously does its work in the background. For example, adware or clicker malware can hijack your phone and tap the central processing unit to run the complex calculations needed to mine cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, thus putting high stress on your device. In a way, it’s like having a second person using your phone at the same time as you are. This can make your phone hot to the touch, like it’s been sitting in the sun, because the stress malware puts on your phone could cause it to overheat. 

Popup ads suddenly appear on your phone.  

Adware is annoying as it sounds, and potentially even more malicious in nature. If popup ads suddenly pepper your phone, it may be malware that distributes ads without your consent, which can generate revenue for rogue developers (they can get paid per view and per click). Worse yet, adware can also collect personal information and browsing history from your phone, which bad actors can then sell—a major invasion of your privacy.    

Mysterious apps, calls, calendar events or texts crop up in your history.  

A potential telltale sign that your phone has been compromised is the appearance of new apps that you didn’t download, along with spikes in data usage that you can’t account for. Likewise, if you see calls in your phone’s history that you didn’t make, that’s a warning as well.  

You run out of data or see unknown charges appear on your bill.  

Like an overdraft statement or seeing a suspicious charge your bank statement, this is a possible sign of malware installed on your device and is using it to perform subscriptions scam or premium SMS messages to unsolicited services. 

How to avoid malware and viruses on your Android phone 

Broadly, you can take two big steps toward keeping you and your phone safer from attack. The first is to keep a critical eye open as you use your phone. Malware authors rely on us to trust what we see a little too quickly, such as when it comes time to download that new app or tap on a link in a phishing email that looks legitimate, yet most certainly isn’t upon closer inspection. Slow down and scrutinize what you see. If something seems fishy, don’t tap or interact with it. 

The second big step is to use online protection software on your Android phone. In addition to providing strong antivirus protection and removal, it has further features that protect you against identity theft, online scams, and other mobile threats—including credit card and bank fraud, malicious texts, sketchy links, and bogus QR codes.  

With that, here are a few more steps you can take: 

• Update your phone’s operating system. Along with installing security software, keeping your phone’s operating system up to date can greatly improve your security. Updates can fix vulnerabilities that hackers rely on to pull off their malware-based attacks. It’s another tried and true method of keeping yourself safe—and for keeping your phone running great too. 
• Avoid third-party app stores. As mentioned above, Google Play has measures in place to review and vet apps to help ensure that they are safe and secure. Third-party sites may very well not, and they may intentionally host malicious apps as part of a front. Further, Google is quick to remove malicious apps from their store once discovered, making shopping there safer still. 
• Review apps carefully. Check out the developer—have they published several other apps with many downloads and good reviews? A legit app typically has quite a few reviews, whereas malicious apps may have only a handful of (phony) five-star reviews. Lastly, look for typos and poor grammar in both the app description and screenshots. They could be a sign that a hacker slapped the app together and quickly deployed it. 
• Go with a strong recommendation. Yet better than combing through user reviews yourself is getting a recommendation from a trusted source, like a well-known publication or from app store editors themselves. In this case, much of the vetting work has been done for you by an established reviewer. A quick online search like “best fitness apps” or “best apps for travelers” should turn up articles from legitimate sites that can suggest good options and describe them in detail before you download. 

• Keep an eye on app permissions. Another way hackers weasel their way into your device is by getting permissions to access things like your location, contacts, and photos—and they’ll use malicious apps to do it. If an app asks for way more than you bargained for, like a simple game wanting access to your camera or microphone, it may be a scam. Delete the app.  

Stay on guard against mobile malware 

Scammers have put Android phones in their crosshairs. And for some time now. While phishing emails and smishing texts with sketchy links persists as avenues of attack, a popular form of attack comes by way of malicious app downloads. One reason why is that malicious apps disguise themselves so well, as a utility or game you really want on your phone. You’re more apt to tap “Install” when you’re actively shopping for an app than to tap on a link in an unsolicited email or text. 

Yet as with so many of today’s online attacks, a combination of good sense and strong online protection software can prevent viruses and malware from ending up on your phone. Slowing down and putting preventative measures in place goes a long way toward keeping what’s arguably your most important device far more secure. 

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McAfee 2023 Consumer Mobile Threat Report

Smartphones put the proverbial world in the palm of your hand—you pay with it, play with it, keep in touch with it, and even run parts of your home with it. No wonder hackers and scammers have made smartphones a target. A prime one. 

Each year, our Consumer Mobile Threat Report uncovers trends in mobile threats, which detail tricks that hackers and scammers have turned to, along with ways you can protect yourself from them. For 2023, the big trend is apps. Malicious apps, more specifically.  

Malicious and fake apps 

Malicious apps often masquerade as games, office utilities, and communication tools. Yet now with the advent of a ChatGPT AI chatbot and the DALL-E 2 AI image generator, yet more AI-related malicious apps have cropped up to cash in on the buzz. 

And money is what it’s all about. Hackers and scammers generally want your money, or they want your data and personal info that they can turn into money. Creating fraudulent ads, stealing user credentials, or skimming personal information are some of the most common swindles that these apps try. Much of this can happen in the background, often without victims knowing it. 

How do these apps end up on people’s phones? Sometimes they’re downloaded from third-party app stores, which may not have a rigorous review process in place to spot malicious apps—or the third-party store may be a front for distributing malware-laden apps. 

They also find their way into legitimate app stores, like Apple’s App Store and Google Play. While these stores indeed have review processes in place to weed out malicious apps, hackers and scammers have found workarounds. Sometimes they upload an app that’s initially clean and then push the malware to users as part of an update. Other times, they embed the malicious code so that it only triggers once it’s run in certain countries. They will also encrypt bad code in the app that they submit, which can make it difficult for stores to sniff out.  

In all, our report cites several primary ways how hackers and scammers are turning to apps today: 

• Sliding into your DMs: 6.2% of threats that McAfee identified on Google during 2022 were in the communication category, mainly malware masqueraded as SMS and messaging apps. But even legitimate communication apps can create an opportunity for scammers. They will use fraudulent messages to trick consumers into clicking on a malicious link, trying to get them to share login credentials, account numbers, or personal information. While these messages sometimes contain spelling or grammar errors or use odd phrasing, the emergence of AI tools like ChatGPT can help scammers clean up their spelling and grammar mistakes, making it tougher to spot scam messages by mistakes in the content. The severity of these Communication threats is also evident in the volume of adults (66%) who have been messaged by a stranger on social media, with 55% asked to transfer money. 
• Taking advantage of Bring Your Own Device policies: 23% of threats that McAfee identified were in the app category of tools. Work-related apps for mobile devices are great productivity boosters—categories like PDF editors, VPNs, messaging managers, document scanners, battery boosters, and memory cleaners. These types of apps are targeted for malware because people expect the app to require permissions on their phone. Scammers will set up the app to ask for permissions to storage, messaging, calendars, contacts, location, and even system settings, which scammers to retrieve all sorts of work-related information.  
• Targeting teens and tween gamers with phones: 9% of threats that McAfee identified were casual, arcade, and action games. Malicious apps often target things that children and teens like, such as gaming, making videos, and managing social media. The most common types of threats detected within the gaming category in 2022 were aggressive adware—apps that display excessive advertisements while using the app and even when you’re not using it. It’s important to make sure that kids’ phones are either restricted from downloading new apps, or that they’re informed and capable of questioning suspicious apps and identifying fraudulent ones. 

How you can avoid downloading malicious and fake apps 

For starters, stick with legitimate apps stores like Google Play and Apple’s App Store, which have measures in place to review and vet apps to help ensure that they are safe and secure. And for the malicious apps that sneak past these processes, Google and Apple are quick to remove malicious apps once discovered, making their stores that much safer. 

1) Review with a critical eye.

As with so many attacks, hackers rely on people clicking links or tapping “download” without a second thought. Before you download, take time to do some quick research. That may uncover some signs that the app is malicious. Check out the developer—have they published several other apps with many downloads and good reviews? A legit app typically has quite a few reviews, whereas malicious apps may have only a handful of (phony) five-star reviews. Lastly, look for typos and poor grammar in both the app description and screenshots. They could be a sign that a hacker slapped the app together and quickly deployed it. 

2) Go with a strong recommendation.

Yet better than combing through user reviews yourself is getting a recommendation from a trusted source, like a well-known publication or from app store editors themselves. In this case, much of the vetting work has been done for you by an established reviewer. A quick online search like “best fitness apps” or “best apps for travelers” should turn up articles from legitimate sites that can suggest good options and describe them in detail before you download. 

3) Keep an eye on app permissions.

Another way hackers weasel their way into your device is by getting permissions to access things like your location, contacts, and photos—and they’ll use sketchy apps to do it. So, check and see what permissions the app is requesting. If it’s asking for way more than you bargained for, like a simple game wanting access to your camera or microphone, it may be a scam. Delete the app and find a legitimate one that doesn’t ask for invasive permissions like that. If you’re curious about permissions for apps that are already on your phone, iPhone users can learn how to allow or revoke app permission here, and Android can do the same here. 

4) Protect your smartphone with security software.

With all that we do on our phones, it’s important to get security software installed on them, just like we install it on our computers and laptops. Whether you go with comprehensive online protection software that secures all your devices or pick up an app in Google Play or Apple’s App Store, you’ll have malware, web, and device security that’ll help you stay safe on your phone.  

5) Update your phone’s operating system.

Together with installing security software, keeping your phone’s operating system up to date can help to keep you protected from most malware. Updates can fix vulnerabilities that hackers rely on to pull off their malware-based attacks—it’s another tried and true method of keeping yourself safe and your phone running great too. 

Protecting yourself while using apps 

Who can you trust? As for scammers who use legitimate communications apps to lure in their victims, McAfee’s Mobile Research team recommends the following: 

• Be suspicious of unsolicited emails, texts, or direct messages and think twice before you click on any links. 
• Ensure that your mobile device is protected with security solutions that includes features to monitor and block potentially malicious links, such as the web protection found in our own online protection software. 
• Remember that most of these scams work because the scammer creates a false sense of urgency or preys on a heightened emotional state. Pause before you rush to interact with any message that is threatening or urgent, especially if it is from an unknown or unlikely sender. 
• If it’s too good to be true, it probably is. Whether it’s a phony job offer, a low price on an item that’s usually expensive, a stranger promising romance, or winnings from a lottery you never entered, scammers will weave all kinds of stories to steal your money and your personal information. 

Get the full story with our Consumer Mobile Threat Report 

The complete report uncovers yet more mobile trends, such as the top mobile malware groups McAfee identified in 2022, predictions for the year ahead, ways you can keep your children safer on their phones, and ways you can keep yourself safer when you use your phone for yourself and for work.  

The full report is free, and you can download it here. 

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When Does My Child Really Need A Phone?

Deciding when to give your child a phone is not an easy task. Should you wait until they start high school or until they catch public transport home alone from school? Or, should 10 be the magic age when they become official phone owners? Or do hold off as long as you can until you can no longer bear their moaning that everyone else has one except for them!! 

How I Made The Decision 

When my boys were younger (and I knew a little less), we had a family ‘understanding’ that when the boys started Year 5, they would receive a (very cheap and likely second hand) phone. Up until Year 5, my boys would go to after-school care. Somehow, turning 10 and entering Middle School meant after-school care wasn’t really that ‘cool’ anymore, so instead they required a phone so they could safely catch the train home by themselves. The fact that they could also use these devices to play games and talk to their friends was of course, only a secondary consideration for them!  

That was how we managed the phone situation but let me assure you, almost every other family we knew had a different approach. Some gifted their offspring the latest iPhones as soon as they were requested, others provided a phone but with no ‘credit’ so the devices could only be used to receive calls. Others chose to wait till Year 7 and beyond and made their kids pay for the phone plan out of their pocket money.  

Now, I’m a big fan of parents choosing what works best – no one knows a child quite like a parent does, right? But the problem is, deciding what’s right can be really overwhelming. So, I’ve put together a list of things to consider when making this all important decision. Once you’ve worked through these points, I am sure you’ll feel more confident to make a decision that works for both you and your child. 

How Responsible and Savvy Is Your Child? 

Having parented 4 very different boys, I am the first to confirm that every child grasps personal responsibility at different stages. Some kids just have a knack for losing things while others have the same lunchbox their entire school career! Some kids just get the consequence of spending money while others spend up big whilst gaming online, blissfully unaware of their bill.  

You child’s digital reputation should also be worth considering when making your decision. Some kids understand that their online behaviour forms a key part of their reputation while others will charge forth in a heated online exchange without thinking.  

I really believe there is a direct link between social smarts and a positive online experience. When a child can read a situation and instinctively know when to shut it down or withdraw, their online experience will be far more rewarding. If your child is slow to catch on to social cues, they may struggle with posting and communicating online.   

Will A Phone Really Help With Safety? 

When I was deliberating about giving my eldest son a phone, he really went hard with the safety argument – knowing it would appeal to my parental anxiety. So, I relented but he had to promise to answer when I called. And he did – usually!! But it’s worth pointing out that a device itself doesn’t guarantee safety. If your kids are travelling home from school, they still need to know how to cross the road, not to talk to strangers and to always lock the front door once home. A phone doesn’t teach this. But I personally did find it handy (and anxiety reducing) to be able to give them a quick call to give them a few reminders and ensure all was well. 

When my younger boys received their phones, tracking apps like Life 360 were available. I know, they are controversial but, personally I found these super helpful. Being able to see where they were after school and to ensure they were heading in the right direction on the train, brought me great comfort to me when I was beating away on my keyboard at work.  

Could A ‘Dumb Phone’ Or Parental Controls Help? 

If, after reading this, you’re thinking that your child really isn’t ready but still love the idea of being able to contact them, why not consider parental controls or a phone with limited features?  

Putting age-appropriate boundaries around what your child does on their device is what parental controls will do. If you decide that you don’t want them to download TikTok, play particular games or view certain categories of websites, then this maybe your answer. You can also choose to set limits on their daily screen time and block out times when their phone can’t be used. Check out McAfee’s SafeFamily parental controls for peace of mind. 

Or, instead, why not make a ‘dumb’ phone their only option? A basic dumb phone lacks the advanced functionality of most smartphones – think phones before the internet. This means you’ll be able to call and text them but will probably be more relaxed knowing they’re not researching the latest fads on TikTok!  

Some companies have designed dumb phones for kids that even have built in parental controls. Open Mobile has a SmartKids Phone with a built-in GPS tracker and SOS button and comes without a camera. It does have internet connectivity but parents can see which apps have been downloaded, restrict specific apps and nominate what days and times apps can be used. A perfect option for a tween or young teenager! 

Connection 

Now, before making your final decision, I think it’s essential to think about your child’s sense of connectedness. As adults, we all know that being part of a community and ‘belonging’ is critical to mental health and self-worth. And I would not be doing my job if I didn’t remind you of just how fabulous a phone can be for staying in touch with your people. Just take a moment to remember how essential devices were for survival during Covid lockdowns.  

So, over to you mums and dads. This is definitely one of the trickiest decisions you’ll make in your parenting journey but don’t forget that you know your child best. You’ve got this! 

The post When Does My Child Really Need A Phone? appeared first on McAfee Blog.

Protecting the Universal Remote Control of Your Life—Your Smartphone

Aside from using it for calls and texting, we use our smartphones for plenty of things. We’re sending money with payment apps. We’re doing our banking. And we’re using them to set the alarm, turn our lights on and off, see who’s at the front door, and for some of us, even start our cars. The smartphone is evolving, and in many ways, it’s become the “universal remote control” of our lives. And that means it needs protection. 

Truly, think about all that you do from the palm of your hand. Your phone connects you to so many essential things, it’s tough to think what the day would be like without it—or worse yet, if your phone got stolen or lost. Maybe you know the feeling. That rising panic when you misplace your phone and then the relief you feel when you find it.  

Yet you have plenty of ways you can protect yourself and your phone, not only from loss and theft but from hacks and attacks too. 

Five steps for a safer phone 

1. Install an online protection app  

Comprehensive online protection software can protect your phone in the same ways that it protects your laptops and computers. Installing it can protect your privacy, keep you safe from attacks on public Wi-Fi, and automatically block unsafe websites and links, just to name a few things it can do.  

2. Set your apps to automatically update 

Updates do all kinds of great things for gaming, streaming, and chatting apps, like add more features and functionality over time. Updates do something else—they make those apps more secure. Hackers will hammer away at apps to find or create vulnerabilities, which can steal personal info or compromise the device itself. Updates will often include security improvements, in addition to performance improvements.  

iPhones update apps automatically by default, yet you can learn how to turn them back on here if they’ve been set to manual updates. For Android phones, this article can help you set apps to auto-update if they aren’t set that way already. 

Much the same goes for the operating system on smartphones too. Updates can bring more features and more security. iOS users can learn how to update their phones automatically in this article. Likewise, Android users can refer to this article about automatic updates for their phones. 

3. Use a lock screen with a passcode, PIN, facial recognition, or pattern key 

Fewer people use a lock screen than you might think. A finding from our recent global research showed that only 56% of adults said that they protect their smartphone with a password or passcode. The problem with going unlocked is that if the phone gets lost or stolen, you’ve basically handed over a large portion of your digital life to a thief. Setting up a lock screen is easy. It’s a simple feature found in both iOS and Android devices. 

4. Learn how to remotely lock or erase a smartphone 

So what happens if your phone actually ends up getting lost or stolen? A combination of device tracking, device locking, and remote erasing can help protect your phone and the data on it. Different device manufacturers have different ways of going about it, but the result is the same—you can you’re your phone, prevent others from using it, and even erase it if you’re truly worried that it’s in the wrong hands or simply gone for good. Apple provides iOS users with a step-by-step guide, and Google offers up a guide for Android users as well.  

5. Steer clear of third-party app stores 

One way hackers work their way into smartphones is through malicious apps that pose as photo editors, VPNs, and games—yet are loaded with malware that spy on your activity or steal account information. Google Play and Apple’s App Store have measures in place to review apps to help ensure that they are safe and secure. Granted, cybercriminals have found ways to work around Google and Apple’s review process, yet they’re quick to remove malicious apps once discovered. Yet third-party app stores and websites likely have no such protections in place. In fact, some third-party sites may intentionally host malicious apps as part of a scam. Stick with the official app stores for a far safer phone. 

Protect the universal remote control of your life 

Truly, we hold so much in the palm of our hand. Our smartphones connect us to our friends and family, work and livelihoods, banking and finances, and even our homes and the smart devices in them. It’s no exaggeration to say that a good portion of daily life courses through our smartphones. And when we look at them that way, it puts the importance of protecting them in a whole new light.  

The post Protecting the Universal Remote Control of Your Life—Your Smartphone appeared first on McAfee Blog.

Start the New Year Right With This 3-Step Digital Detox

Pledging to follow healthier habits is consistently the most popular new year’s resolution. That January 1st promise looks different to everyone: snacking less often, going to the gym more often, drinking more water, drinking less soda, etc. This year, instead of a juice cleanse subscription, opt for a healthier habit that’s not an unappetizing shade of green: follow this digital detox, instead! In three easy steps, you can make great strides in improving your digital wellness. 

1. Update

There are various aspects of your digital habits that you should consider updating for a more private and safer online life. For starters, update your passwords. Do you reuse the same password for multiple online accounts? Doing so puts your personally identifiable information (PII) at great risk. For example, if a business with which you have an online shopping account is breached by a cybercriminal, your login and password combination could make it on the dark web, through no fault of your own. Then, through a brute force attack, a criminal could use that same password and username combo to walk into your banking or tax filing accounts.   

Remembering unique, complicated passwords and passphrases for your dozens of online accounts would be impossible. Luckily, there’s software that remembers them for you! It’s called a password manager, which acts as a vault for all your login information. Just remember one master password, and you can be confident in the security of your accounts and never have to deal with the hassle of forgetting passwords. 

Another aspect of updating you should adopt in 2023 is making an effort to always upgrade to the latest software updates on all your devices. The easiest way to do this is to turn on automatic updates. From there, you don’t need to take any further action! Apps and operating systems (like Apple, Android, and Windows) often release updates to patch security vulnerabilities. When you run outdated software, there’s a chance a cybercriminal could take advantage of that security gap. 

Finally, make sure that you keep updated on the latest security headlines. Consider setting up news alerts to notify you when a breach occurs at a company that you frequent or have an account with. Speed is often key in making sure that your information remains safe, so it’s best practice to have your finger on the pulse on the security news of the day. 

2. Connect

A new year digital detox can be a whole family affair. Connect with your family, anyone connected to your home network, and your elderly relatives to get everyone on the same page with security best practices. Here are some common online security snags people of all ages encounter: 

Social media oversharing.

Everyone has an oversharer on their newsfeed. Alert your family members of the dangers of posting too much about their personal life. When someone takes those “get to know you” quizzes and posts their answers, cybercriminals can use that post to take educated guesses at your passwords. Additionally, social engineers can tailor social media scams to specific people in order to increase the chances of tricking someone into sending money or sharing valuable personal or banking details. 

Falling for phishing.

While spam filters catch a lot of phishing emails, phishers are getting smarter by the day and are making their attempts more and more believable. Connect with your loved ones and make sure they know how to recognize phishing emails, texts, and social media direct messages. Telltale signs of a phishing message include:  

• Typos and grammar mistakes 
• Over-the-top language that makes you feel very angry, sad, or excited 
• Harsh consequences for not replying within a short timeframe 
• Requests for passwords or Social Security Numbers 
• Blurry logos 

If you’re ever unsure if a message is a phishing attempt, the best course of action is to just delete it. If the “sender” is a well-known institution, follow up with a phone call using the official customer service number listed on their website. The phisher may also claim to be someone you know personally. In that case, give the loved one in question a phone call. It’s a good excuse to reconnect and have a nice conversation! 

Visiting unsafe sites.

In the quest for free streams of the latest new show or movie, people often encounter unsafe sites that hide malware, spyware or other types malicious links and programs. Some types of malware can jump from one device to others connected to the same home Wi-Fi network. That’s why it’s important to make sure everyone under your roof practices excellent digital security habits. One wrong click could sink an entire household. Consider signing up your family for a safe browsing extension that can notify you when you stray onto a risky site. So, instead of putting your device at risk during movie night, connect with your friends or loved ones over one copy of a safely and officially purchased version. 

3. Balance

As with any new health regimen, immediately zooming from zero to a hundred will likely be overwhelming and result in failure. The same goes for adopting new digital safety habits. If you try to do too much at once, all the security measures you put in place will likely get in the way of your daily online activities. The more inconvenient it is, the more likely you may be to cut corners; thus, negating all the progress you’ve made. 

Being cybersafe doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy your connected devices to the fullest. It just means that you may need to act with more intention and slow down before volunteering personal details online or clicking on links.  

Supplement Your Digital Detox With McAfee+ 

To supplement your digital detox, consider signing up for McAfee+ Ultimate to make 2023 the year for a safer online you. McAfee+ Ultimate includes all the tools you need to live your best online life safely and privately, including a password manager, web protection, unlimited VPN and antivirus, and $1 million in identity theft coverage and restoration for peace of mind. 

Cheers to a digitally smart 2023! 

The post Start the New Year Right With This 3-Step Digital Detox appeared first on McAfee Blog.

How to Browse Privately on Your Phone

Your phone is likely a daily companion, giving you access to work emails, chats with friends, weather reports, and more — all in the palm of your hand. You can also use your phone for browsing online, looking up everything from your favorite recipes to your most-read media webpages. 

While being able to browse whenever and wherever you want is convenient, you might prefer that your phone doesn’t save all your online searches. For example, if you frequently let other people use your phone, you may not want them to have access to a history of your Google searches. In this case, you can use private browsing or “incognito mode.” 

This allows you to browse online without leaving any trace of your browsing activity on your mobile phone. Configuring your phone to use incognito mode can give you greater confidence while surfing online, as you’ll enjoy the peace of mind that comes with knowing your browser history isn’t recorded on your device.  

This article explains what incognito mode is and how you can set it up on your mobile phone. 

What is Incognito Mode?

Incognito mode allows you to browse online without leaving certain data on the device you’re using. Also referred to as private browsing mode, it makes sure there’s no record of your search engine history, websites you visited, and even login details (and related passcodes) on that device.  

As soon as you close the incognito web browser window, any cookies are erased and all these details disappear instead of being saved. 

That said, if you leave an incognito browser window open on your phone — and then hand your phone to someone else — they’ll be able to see the activity. So, if you want to make the most of incognito mode, make sure to close the browser window after every surfing session.  

Further, if you actively bookmark a page, it will be saved — even if you’re in incognito mode. Read on for some more caveats surrounding incognito mode and the extent of privacy it gives you. 

Is incognito mode really private browsing?

It’s important to note that incognito mode or private browsing mode is a device-specific privacy measure. It makes sure that your search and web browsing history isn’t visible on the device itself.  

However, your traffic and activity are both still visible to third parties beyond your device, such as your network admin, internet service provider (ISP), and the websites and search engines that you visit. 

Viewing in private or incognito mode also won’t disguise your unique IP address from these parties. Incognito mode further doesn’t secure your device against cyberthreats like hackers.  

That said, there are plenty of other tools you can use to safeguard your device against cybercriminals. For example, McAfee+ helps to secure your Wi-Fi connection, shield you from malicious websites or links, and detect malware. 

Can I Get Incognito Mode on my Phone?

You may already be familiar with incognito mode through your computer. For example, many people set up incognito mode through browsers like Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari, Microsoft Edge, or Internet Explorer.  

However, incognito mode isn’t just for computers — you can also use it on your phone’s web browsing apps. 

How to turn on incognito mode

The steps to setting up incognito mode are fairly straightforward. That said, it depends largely on which type of device you have.  

Setting up private browsing or incognito mode for an Android isn’t the same as setting it up for iOS. Read on to learn how to go incognito whether you’ve got an Apple iPhone or an Android phone like Samsung. 

Private browsing on your Android device

The process for setting up incognito mode also varies based on the browser you’re using. Here’s how to set it up in the Google Chrome browser for your Android (note that the Google Chrome app is the default browser for most Android phones): 

1. Open Chrome. 
2. Tap the three dots at the top-right corner of the screen. 
3. Tap “New incognito tab.” This will open up a new incognito window. 
4. Close the incognito window to end the incognito session. 

Remember, for Google Chrome’s incognito mode to do the trick, you need to close your browsing session after each use. If you leave the tab open and someone else uses your phone, they can see your activity. 

Private browsing on your iPhone 

For iPhones, the default browser is Safari. Here’s how to set up private browsing in Safari for your iPhone: 

1. Open Safari. 
2. Tap the tab icon at the bottom right of the screen (it looks like two overlapping squares). 
3. Tap “private” at the bottom-left of the screen. 
4. To exit private mode, tap “private” again. 

Again, remember to close your browser’s private tabs when you’re done surfing. This makes sure that cookies are deleted and the private session is safely hidden from your device’s history. 

Do certain apps offer incognito mode?

The above steps can help you set up incognito mode on your Apple or Android phone’s browser. However, you probably use your phone for much more than browsing.  

You might have apps for watching videos, getting driving directions, listening to music, and more. And the tips above will only protect your privacy when using the phone’s browser — not apps. 

That said, some apps offer their very own in-app incognito mode. Examples include YouTube, Google Maps, Spotify, and Instagram. Other apps simply offer the option of private sessions, requiring you to log in with a dedicated username and password if you’re going to use the app. These include Whatsapp, Dropbox, Amazon, PayPal, and Evernote.  

Some of these apps can even be configured so they’re only unlockable with touch ID or face ID. 

Enhance Your Device’s Security

Browsing in incognito or private mode on your phone allows you to surf online without leaving any trace of your search history on that specific device. However, it doesn’t block third parties like your internet service provider or network administrator from seeing what websites you’ve visited. Only your phone is affected. 

Incognito mode also doesn’t protect you against potential cyberthreats, like malware. To stay safe and browse with confidence, consider McAfee Mobile Security. It includes Wi-Fi privacy protection, browsing safeguards, shields against unauthorized third-party activities, and more — and it works for Android and iOS devices. Find out more. 

The post How to Browse Privately on Your Phone appeared first on McAfee Blog.

How to Tell Whether a Website Is Safe or Unsafe

Something looks a little … sketchy. Is that website safe or unsafe?  

Nowadays, it can take a bit work to tell. 

And that’s by design. Increasingly, hackers and scammers go to great pains when they create their malicious websites. They take extra steps to make their sites look legit, when in fact they’re anything but. Certainly, plenty of other hackers and scammers slap together malicious sites that still look a bit roughshod, which makes them easier to spot. 

So whether it’s a clever knockoff or a slapdash effort, unsafe websites of all kinds have several telltale signs you can spot. We’ll show you, and let’s start things off with what makes an unsafe website unsafe in the first place. 

What’s an unsafe website? 

Unsafe websites typically harbor one of two primary forms of attack—yet sometimes both: 

Malware: Hackers will use their sites to install malware on your device, often by tricking you into clicking or tapping on a download. They might tempt you with an offer, a prize, a show to stream—just about anything you might want to otherwise download. (Recently, we saw hackers installing malware on sites that offered to stream dubbed versions of the “Barbie” movie.) 

Phishing: Another classic attack. Phishing involves scammers who try to hoodwink you into providing account or financial information. Common ruses include links in emails, texts, and DMs that appear to be urgent messages from streaming services, banks, social media, and other accounts. Of course, those messages are phony.  

As a result, unsafe websites can lead to some not-so-good things. 

What can happen if you visit an unsafe website? 

On the malware side, attackers can install spyware and similar apps that siphon financial and personal information from your device while you’re using it. Other malware might steal files outright or maliciously delete them altogether. Ransomware remains a major concern today as well, where attackers hold devices and data hostage. And even if victims end up paying the ransom, they have no guarantee that the attacker will free their device or data. 

Phishing attacks often lead to financial headaches, sometimes large ones at that. It depends on the information scammers get their hands on. In some cases, the damage might lead to identity fraud and a few illicit charges on a debit or credit card. If scammers gather enough information, they can take that a step further and commit identity theft. That can include opening new credit or loans in your name. It could also give a scammer the info they need to get driver’s licenses or employment in your name.  

Above and beyond committing fraud or theft on their own, scammers might also sell stolen information to others on the dark web. 

Again, all not-so-good. Yet quite preventable. 

How to tell if a website is safe or unsafe. 

For some sites, it only takes one sign. For other sites, it takes a few signs—a series of red flags that warn you a site is unsafe. When you’re online, keep a sharp eye out for the following: 

The site uses HTTP rather than HTTPS. 

The “s” stands for “secure.” Specifically, it means that the website uses SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) that creates an encrypted link between a web server and a web browser. SSL helps prevent others from intercepting and reading your sensitive information as it’s transmitted, which is particularly important when you shop or bank online. Likewise, you can also look for a little lock symbol in the address bar of your web browser. That’s one more way you can spot a site that uses SSL. 

The site has a combination of typos and poor design. 

From spelling errors and grammatical mistakes, to stretched out logos and cheap photography, some unsafe websites are designed poorly. Legitimate businesses pride themselves on error-free and professional-looking sites. If a website looks like it got cobbled together in a hurry or doesn’t seem to be well-designed, that’s usually a red flag. The site might be unsafe, created by attackers who don’t have a strong attention to detail—or the creative capabilities to create a good-looking website in the first place. 

The web address looks altered or off. 

Plenty of unsafe sites are imposter sites. They’ll try to pass themselves off as a legitimate company, like the streaming services, banks, and so forth that we mentioned earlier—all to get a hold of your account information. With all these imposter sites in play, look at the site’s address. Scammers will gin up web addresses that are close to but different from legitimate sites, so close that you might miss it. If you’re uncertain about the address, leave the page. Also note that many companies have web pages that provide lists of the official addresses that they use. Amazon provides on example, and we do the same here at McAfee. Reviewing these lists can help you spot an imposter site. 

The site says you have a security issue. 

A window or graphic pops up on your screen. The site you’re on says that it’s identified a security issue with your device. Or maybe it says that your system isn’t current. Either way, there’s a file the site wants you to download. “You can correct the issue with a click!” Don’t. It’s a classic trick. Instead of fixing your non-existent problem, the download will create one. Scammers use the security alert trick to install malware on the devices of unsuspecting victims. 

The site floods you with pop-ups or links to click. 

A screen full of links insisting you to click ranks among the top signs of an unsafe site. So much so, it’s often the subject of sitcom bits. Needless to say, the attackers behind these sites want you to click for one of several reasons. It might be to get you to download malware. It might be to generate ad revenue with clicks. Or it might be to get you to click a link that redirects you to another malicious site. In all, if you encounter a site like this, close your browser. And then run a system scan with your online protection software. 

The site offers hard-to-get items at an outrageous discount. 

These unsafe sites sprout up around the holidays and gift-giving seasons. When stores run low on particularly popular or hot items, scammers will quickly launch sites that claim these items are in stock and ready to ship. Similarly, they might promote popular items at a deep discount. Of course, shopping at these sites will likely lead to one thing—a credit card charge and no item on your doorstep. Be wary when you see ads for stores in your social media feed, in search, and elsewhere. Stick with known, trusted retailers. (And for more on shopping safely online, give this article a quick read.) 

The site promises access to hot shows, movies, and sporting events. 

These sites bear similarities to malicious online shopping sites. When popular movies hit the big screen or major sporting events come around, so do scam sites that promise to stream them for free or at a low cost. Avoid them. Trusted streamers will only carry shows and events that they have the rights to. If you find an offer to stream something that’s heavily discounted, free, or not available on known media outlets, it’s likely a scam. At the very least, it might serve up pirated content, which could carry malware threats along with it. 

The site promotes prizes, coupons, or a quiz. 

Not every site that promotes some kind of giveaway or deal is a scam. Yet the ones that ask for personal or financial information likely are. Scammers prey on people’s love for saving money or even winning a buck or two. Enter the prize, coupon, and quiz sites. Malicious prize and coupon sites will often ask for credit or debit card information, often under the guise of a payout or a discount. Malicious quiz sites will likewise ask for all kinds of personal information, typically questions about the name of your pet, the first car you owned, or where you went to school. The questions share much in common with the security questions used by banks and credit card companies. Handing this information over could lead to a breached account. Give these sites a pass. 

Be extra confident—let online protection determine if that site is safe for you. 

Comprehensive online protection software like ours includes web protection that can spot malicious sites for you. It has further features that can prevent downloading malware by accident, not to mention strong antivirus protection if a hacker makes their way through to you. In all, it gives you extra confidence that wherever your travels take you online, you’re protected from sketchy and unsafe sites. 

However, another part of your best defense against unsafe websites is you. Knowing what the red flags are and the kinds of information hackers want to steal can help you avoid their attacks from the start.   

The post How to Tell Whether a Website Is Safe or Unsafe appeared first on McAfee Blog.

What Is Smishing and Vishing, and How Do You Protect Yourself?

Smishing and vishing are scams where criminals attempt to get users to click a fraudulent link through a phone text message, email, or voicemail. These scams are becoming increasingly popular as cybercriminals try to take advantage of people who are more likely to fall for them, such as those who aren’t as familiar with technology or who may be experiencing a crisis. 

Be aware that cybercrime and hacking can happen to anyone. Criminals are always looking for new ways to exploit people, and they know that others may not be cautious or recognize the warning signs of phishing scams when using the internet. That’s why it’s important to be aware of the different types of cybercrime and how to protect yourself. 

This article discusses how to protect yourself from smishing attempts and scams where criminals try to get you to click on a fraudulent link or respond to their voicemail message to steal your personal data. 

What is smishing?

Most people are familiar with phishing scams, where scammers try to trick you into giving them your personal or financial information by pretending to be a legitimate company or organization. But have you ever heard of smishing or vishing? 

Smishing is a type of phishing scam where attackers send SMS messages (or text messages) to trick victims into sharing personal information or installing malware on their devices. Vishing is almost identical to smishing, except cybercriminals use VoIP (Voice over IP) to place phone calls to trick victims instead of SMS (short message service) messages. 

Smishing messages often appear to be from a legitimate source, such as a well-known company or government agency. It may even include urgent language or threats in an effort to get victims to act quickly. In some cases, the message may also include a link that directs victims to a fake website where they are prompted to enter personal information or download malware. 

Examples of a smishing text message

Here are some examples of smishing text messages hackers use to steal your personal details: 

• “We have detected unusual activity on your account. Please call this number to speak to a customer service representative.” 
• “You have won a free gift card! Click here to claim your prize.” 
• “Hi! We noticed that you’re a recent customer of ours. To finish setting up your account, please click this link and enter your personal information.” 
• “Urgent! Your bank account has been compromised. Please click this link to reset your password and prevent any further fraud.” 
• “Hey, it’s [person you know]! I’m in a bit of a bind and could really use your help. I sent you a link to my PayPal, could you send me some money?” 

How dangerous can smishing be?

If you fall for a smishing scam, you could end up giving away your personal information or money. Cybercriminals use smishing messages to get personal and financial information, like your credit card number or access to your financial services.  

For example, one type of smishing scam is when you get a text message that looks like it’s from your bank. The message might say there’s been suspicious activity on your account and that you need to click on a link to verify your identity. If you do click on the link, you’ll be taken to a fake website where you’ll be asked to enter your banking information. Once the scammers have your login information, they have access to clean out your account. 

How can you protect yourself from smishing?

Smishing scams can be very difficult to spot, but there are some telltale signs to look for and steps to take to protect yourself. 

Recognize the signs of a smishing text

One of the easiest ways to protect yourself from smishing scams is to be able to recognize the signs of a smishing text message. Here are some tips: 

• Be suspicious of any text messages that ask for personal information or include a link. 
• Look closely at the sender’s name and number. Fraudulent messages often come from spoofed numbers that may look similar to a legitimate number but with one or two digits off. 
• Look for errors in spelling or grammar. This can be another sign that the message is not legitimate. 
• Beware of any text messages that create a sense of urgency or are threatening in nature. Scammers often use these tactics to get you to act quickly without thinking. 
• If you’re not expecting a message from the sender, be extra cautious. 
• If you’re unsure whether a text message is legitimate, call the company or organization directly to verify. 

Filter unknown text messages

While you can’t avoid smishing attacks altogether, you can block spam text messages you receive on your mobile phone. iPhone and Android have cybersecurity tools like spam filters and phone number blocking to help protect you from phishing attacks and malicious links. 

To set up spam filters on your iPhone: 

1. Go to the Settings App 
2. Go to Messages 
3. Find the Filter Unknown Senders option and turn it on 

To set up spam filters on your Android mobile device: 

1. Go to the Messaging App 
2. Choose Settings 
3. Tap Spam Protection and turn on Enable Spam Protection 

Use McAfee Mobile Security 

McAfee Mobile Security is a mobile security app that helps protect your phone from malware, phishing attacks, and other online threats. McAfee Mobile Security is available for Android and iOS cell phones. 

One of the benefits of using McAfee Mobile Security is that it can help detect and block smishing attacks. With identity monitoring, McAfee Mobile Security monitors your sensitive information like email accounts, credit card numbers, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, and more to protect against identity theft. They notify you if they find any security breaches. 

Other benefits include: 

• Antivirus 
• Secure VPN for privacy online 
• Identity monitoring for up to 10 emails 
• Guard your identity against risky Wi-Fi connections 
• Safe browsing 
• System Scan for the latest updates 

Keep your device and information secure with McAfee Mobile Security

These days, our lives are more intertwined with our mobile devices than ever. We use them to stay connected with our loved ones on social media, conduct our business, and even access our most personal, sensitive data. It’s no surprise that mobile cybersecurity is becoming increasingly important. 

McAfee Mobile Security is a comprehensive security solution that helps protect your device from viruses, malware, and other online threats. It also offers a variety of other features, like a secure VPN to protect your credit card numbers and other personal data.  

Whether you’re browsing your favorite website, keeping up with friends on social media, or shopping online at Amazon, McAfee Mobile Security provides the peace of mind that comes from knowing your mobile device is safe and secure. 

So why wait? Don‘t let the smishers win. Get started today with McAfee Mobile Security and rest easy knowing your mobile device and sensitive information are protected. 

The post What Is Smishing and Vishing, and How Do You Protect Yourself? appeared first on McAfee Blog.

Cybercrime’s Most Wanted: Four Mobile Threats that Might Surprise You

It’s hard to imagine a world without cellphones. Whether it be a smartphone or a flip phone, these devices have truly shaped the late 20th century and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. But while users have become accustomed to having almost everything they could ever want at fingertips length, cybercriminals were busy setting up shop. To trick unsuspecting users, cybercriminals have set up crafty mobile threats – some that users may not even be fully aware of. These sneaky cyberthreats include SMSishing, fake networks, malicious apps, and grayware, which have all grown in sophistication over time. This means users need to be equipped with the know-how to navigate the choppy waters that come with these smartphone-related cyberthreats. Let’s get started.

Watch out for SMSishing Hooks

If you use email, then you are probably familiar with what phishing is. And while phishing is commonly executed through email and malicious links, there is a form of phishing that specifically targets mobile devices called SMSishing. This growing threat allows cybercriminals to utilize messaging apps to send unsuspecting users a SMSishing message. These messages serve one purpose – to obtain personal information, such as logins and financial information. With that information, cybercriminals could impersonate the user to access banking records or steal their identity.

While this threat was once a rarity, its the rise in popularity is two-fold. The first aspect is that users have been educated to distrust email messages and the second is the rise in mobile phone usage throughout the world. Although this threat shows no sign of slowing down, there are ways to avoid a cybercriminal’s SMSishing hooks. Get started with these tips:

1. Always double-check the message’s source. If you receive a text from your bank or credit card company, call the organization directly to ensure the message is legit.
2. Delete potential SMSishing Do not reply to or click on any links within a suspected malicious text, as that could lead to more SMSishing attempts bombarding your phone.
3. Invest in comprehensive mobile security. Adding an extra level of security can not only help protect your device but can also notify you when a threat arises.

Public Wi-Fi Woes  

Public and free Wi-Fi is practically everywhere nowadays, with some destinations even having city-wide Wi-Fi set up. But that Wi-Fi users are connecting their mobile device to may not be the most secure, given cybercriminals can exploit weaknesses in these networks to intercept messages, login credentials, or other personal information. Beyond exploiting weaknesses, some cybercriminals take it a step further and create fake networks with generic names that trick unsuspecting users into connecting their devices. These networks are called “evil-twin” networks. For help in spotting these imposters, there are few tricks the savvy user can deploy to prevent an evil twin network from wreaking havoc on their mobile device:

1. Look for password-protected networks. As strange as it sounds, if you purposely enter the incorrect password but are still allowed access, the network is most likely a fraud.
2. Pay attention to page load times. If the network you are using is very slow, it is more likely a cybercriminal is using an unreliable mobile hotspot to connect your mobile device to the web.
3. Use a virtual private network or VPN. While you’re on-the-go and using public Wi-Fi, add an extra layer of security in the event you accidentally connect to a malicious network. VPNs can encrypt your online activity and keep it away from prying eyes. 

Malicious Apps: Fake It till They Make It

Fake apps have become a rampant problem for Android and iPhone users alike. This is mainly in part due to malicious apps hiding in plain sight on legitimate sources, such as the Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store. After users download a faulty app, cybercriminals deploy malware that operates in the background of mobile devices which makes it difficult for users to realize anything is wrong. And while users think they’ve just downloaded another run-of-the-mill app, the malware is hard at work obtaining personal data.

In order to keep sensitive information out of the hands of cybercriminals, here are a few things users can look for when they need to determine whether an app is fact or fiction:

1. Check for typos and poor grammar. Always check the app developer name, product title, and description for typos and grammatical errors. Often, malicious developers will spoof real developer IDs, even just by a single letter or number, to seem legitimate.
2. Examine the download statistics. If you’re attempting to download a popular app, but it has a surprisingly low number of downloads, that is a good indicator that an app is most likely fake.
3. Read the reviews. With malicious apps, user reviews are your friend. By reading a few, you can receive vital information that can help you determine whether the app is fake or not.

The Sly Operation of Grayware

With so many types of malware out in the world, it’s hard to keep track of them all. But there is one in particular that mobile device users need to be keenly aware of called grayware. As a coverall term for software or code that sits between normal and malicious, grayware comes in many forms, such as adware, spyware or madware. While adware and spyware can sometimes operate simultaneously on infected computers, madware — or adware on mobile devices — infiltrates smartphones by hiding within rogue apps. Once a mobile device is infected with madware from a malicious app, ads can infiltrate almost every aspect on a user’s phone. Madware isn’t just annoying; it also is a security and privacy risk, as some threats will try to obtain users’ data. To avoid the annoyance, as well as the cybersecurity risks of grayware, users can prepare their devices with these cautionary steps:

1. Be sure to update your device. Grayware looks for vulnerabilities that can be exploited, so be sure to always keep your device’s software up-to-date.
2. Beware of rogue apps. As mentioned in the previous section, fake apps are now a part of owning a smartphone. Use the tips in the above section to ensure you keep malicious apps off of your device that may contain grayware.
3. Consider a comprehensive mobile security system. By adding an extra level of security, you can help protect your devices from threats, both old and new.

The post Cybercrime’s Most Wanted: Four Mobile Threats that Might Surprise You appeared first on McAfee Blog.

A Guide to Remove Malware From Your iPhone

Malicious software, or “malware,” refers to any program designed to infect and disrupt computer systems and networks. The risks associated with a malware infection can range from poor device performance to stolen data. 

However, thanks to their closed ecosystem, built-in security features, and strict policies on third-party apps, Apple devices tend to be less prone to malware infections compared to their Android counterparts. But it’s important to note that they’re not completely without vulnerabilities.  

Several iPhone viruses could infect your smartphone and affect its functionality, especially if you jailbreak your iPhone (that is, opening your iOS to wider features, apps, and themes).  

This article covers how you can detect malware infections and how to remove viruses from your device so you can get back to enjoying the digital world. 

How does malware affect iPhones?

Malware can affect your iPhone in a variety of ways. Here are a few telltale signs that your iPhone might have an unwelcome visitor.  

• Your iPhone’s battery life is shorter than usual. 
• Pop-up ads frequently appear. 
• Apps crash for no apparent reason. 
• Unfamiliar apps are installed on your iPhone. 
• You notice high data usage. 
• The operating system is noticeably slow. 
• Your iPhone is overheating. 

How to check your iPhone for malware

If you notice any of the signs above, it’s a good idea to check for malware. Here are some steps you can take. 

1. Look for unfamiliar apps. If you’re anything like the average smartphone user, you’ve probably downloaded dozens (if not hundreds) of apps. The sheer number of programs on your iPhone makes it easy for malicious apps to hide in plain sight and remain undetected for a long time. Take some time to swipe through all of your apps and closely inspect any that you don’t remember downloading or installing. 
2. Check your data usage. Heavy data usage can be a sign of a malware infection, which is why you should keep an eye on it if you suspect a virus is in your system. To do so, go to Settings > Mobile Data and check if your data usage is higher than usual. 
3. Check power consumption. Some types of malware run in the background and consume a significant amount of power without you noticing. To make sure that no such apps are installed on your phone, head over to Settings > Battery and select a period of your choice. Uninstall any unfamiliar apps that stand out. 
4. Keep an eye on pop-up ads. Running into pop-up ads is inevitable when browsing the internet. However, your phone might be infected with adware if you’re getting them at an alarming frequency. 
5. Scan your phone using antivirus software. As helpful as these steps are, running a complete scan using antivirus software is one of the most effective ways to detect malware. If you don’t have one installed already, consider using McAfee Mobile Security. This comprehensive security solution provides full-scale protection that includes a safe browsing feature to protect your digital life, Wi-Fi privacy, and a VPN for a more secure internet connection. Highly effective scans detect malicious apps and unwanted visitors before they enter your digital space. 

How to remove malware from your iPhone

If you’ve confirmed malware on your iPhone, don’t worry. There’s still time to protect yourself and your data. Below is an action plan you can follow to remove malware from your device. 

Update your iOS (if applicable)

In many cases, hackers exploit outdated versions of iOS to launch malware attacks. If you don’t have the latest version of your operating system, it’s a good idea to update iOS to close this potential vulnerability. Just follow these steps: 

1. Go to Settings. 
2. Click on General. 
3. Click on Software Update. 
4. Follow the instructions to update your iPhone. 

Restart your device

It might sound simple, but restarting your device can fix certain issues. The system will restart on its own when updating the iOS. If you already have the latest version, restart your iPhone now. 

Clear your iPhone browsing history and data

If updating the iOS and restarting your device didn’t fix the issue, try clearing your phone’s browsing history and data. If you’re using Safari, follow these steps: 

1. Go to Settings. 
2. Click on Clear History and Website Data.  
3. Click on Clear History and Data.  

Keep in mind that the process is similar for Google Chrome and most other popular web browsers. 

Remove any suspicious apps

Malicious software, such as spyware and ransomware, often end up on phones by masquerading as legitimate apps. To err on the side of caution, delete any apps that you don’t remember downloading or installing. 

Restore your iPhone

The option to restore to a previous backup is one of the most valuable features found on the iPhone and iPad. Essentially, this allows you to restore your device to an iCloud backup made before the malware infection.  

Here’s how: 

1. Go to Settings. 
2. Click on General. 
3. Click on Transfer or Reset iPhone. 
4. Choose Erase All Content and Settings. 
5. Choose Restore from iCloud Backup. 

Factory reset your iPhone

If none of the steps above solves the problem, a factory reset might be the next order of business. Restoring your phone to factory settings will reset it to its out-of-factory configuration, deleting all of your apps, content, and settings in the process and replacing them with original software only. 

To factory reset your iPhone, follow these steps: 

1. Go to Settings. 
2. Click on General.  
3. Click on Transfer or Reset iPhone.  
4. Choose Erase All Content and Settings. 
5. Choose Set Up as New iPhone. 

How to keep your iPhone safe from malware

The best way to protect your iOS device is to avoid malware in the first place. Follow these security measures to safeguard your device: 

• Don’t click on suspicious links. 
• Don’t install apps that Apple doesn’t recognize. 
• Only download apps from the App Store. 
• Don’t jailbreak your iPhone, as this will remove most Apple security features. 
• Enable automatic updates for iOS and iTunes to stay in line with Apple’s security updates and bug fixes. 
• Keep frequent data backups. 
• Avoid engaging with suspicious text messages on iMessage, as hackers use them to spread phishing scams. 

Secure your iPhone with McAfee Mobile Security 

If you have an iPhone and are like most other people, you probably use your device for almost everything you do online. And while it’s amazing to have the internet in the palm of your hands, it’s also important to be aware of online threats like malware, which can put your digital life at risk. 

The good news is that McAfee has your back with our award-winning and full-scale mobile security app. McAfee Mobile Security provides full protection against various types of malware targeting the Apple ecosystem. With safe browsing features, a secure VPN, and antivirus software, McAfee Security for iOS delivers protection against emerging threats, so you can continue to use your iPhone with peace of mind. 

Download the McAfee Security app today and get all-in-one protection. 

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How Do Hackers Hack Phones and How Can I Prevent It?

How do hackers hack phones? Several ways. Just as there are several ways you can prevent it from happening to you.The thing is that our phones are like little treasure chests. They’re loaded with plenty of personal data, and we use them to shop, bank, and take care of other personal and financial matters—all of which are of high value to identity thieves. However, you can protect yourself and your phone by knowing what to look out for and by taking a few simple steps. Let’s break it down by first taking a look at some of the more common attacks.

Types of Smartphone Hacks and Attacks

Hacking software

Whether hackers sneak it onto your phone by physically accessing your phone or by tricking you into installing it via a phony app, a sketchy website, or a phishing attack, hacking software can create problems for you in a couple of ways:

• Keylogging: In the hands of a hacker, keylogging works like a stalker by snooping information as you type, tap, and even talk on your phone.
• Trojans: Trojans are types of malware that can be disguised in your phone to extract important data, such as credit card account details or personal information.

Some possible signs of hacking software on your phone include:

• A battery that drains way too quickly.
• Your phone runs a little sluggish or gets hot.
• Apps quit suddenly or your phone shuts off and turns back on.
• You see unrecognized data, text, or other charges on your bill.

In all, hacking software can eat up system resources, create conflicts with other apps, and use your data or internet connection to pass along your personal information into the hands of hackers—all of which can lead to some of the symptoms listed above.

Phishing attacks

These are a classic form of attack. In fact, hackers have leveled them at our computers for years now too. Phishing is where hackers impersonate a company or trusted individual to get access to your accounts or personal info or both. And these attacks take many forms, like emails, texts, instant messages, and so forth, some of which can look really legitimate. Common to them are links to bogus sites that attempt to trick you into handing over that info or that install malware to wreak havoc on your device or likewise steal information. Learning how to spot a phishing attack is one way to keep yourself from falling victim to one.

Bluetooth hacking

Professional hackers can use dedicated technologies that search for vulnerable mobile devices with an open Bluetooth connection. Hackers can pull off these attacks when they are within range of your phone, up to 30 feet away, usually in a populated area. When hackers make a Bluetooth connection to your phone, they can possibly access your data and info, yet that data and info must be downloaded while the phone is within range. As you probably gathered, this is a more sophisticated attack given the effort and technology involved.

SIM card swapping

In August of 2019, the CEO of Twitter had his SIM card hacked by SIM card swapping scam. SIM card swapping occurs when a hacker contacts your phone provider, pretends to be you, and then asks for a replacement SIM card. Once the provider sends the new SIM to the hacker, the old SIM card will be deactivated, and your phone number will be effectively stolen. This means the hacker has taken control of your phone calls, messages, and so forth. This method of hacking requires the seemingly not-so-easy task of impersonating someone else, yet clearly, it happened to the CEO of a major tech company. Protecting your personal info and identity online can help prevent hackers from impersonating you to pull off this and other crimes.

Ten tips to prevent your phone from being hacked

While there are several ways a hacker can get into your phone and steal personal and critical information, here are a few tips to keep that from happening:

1. Use comprehensive security software on your phone. Over the years, we’ve gotten into the good habit of using this on our computers and laptops. Our phones? Not so much. Installing security software on your smartphone gives you a first line of defense against attacks, plus several of the additional security features mentioned below.
2. Update your phone and its apps. Aside from installing security software, keeping current with updates is a primary way to keep you and your phone safe. Updates can fix vulnerabilities that cybercriminals rely on to pull off their malware-based attacks. Additionally, those updates can help keep your phone and apps running smoothly while also introducing new, helpful features.
3. Stay safer on the go with a VPN. One way that crooks can hack their way into your phone is via public Wi-Fi, such as at airports, hotels, and even libraries. These networks are public, meaning that your activities are exposed to others on the network—your banking, your password usage, all of it. One way to make a public network private is with a VPN, which can keep you and all you do protected from others on that Wi-Fi hotspot.
4. Use a password manager. Strong, unique passwords offer another primary line of defense. Yet with all the accounts we have floating around, juggling dozens of strong and unique passwords can feel like a task—thus the temptation to use (and re-use) simpler passwords. Hackers love this because one password can be the key to several accounts. Instead, try a password manager that can create those passwords for you and safely store them as well. Comprehensive security software will include one.
5. Avoid public charging stations. Charging up at a public station seems so simple and safe. However, some hackers have been known to “juice jack” by installing malware into the charging station. While you “juice up,” they “jack” your passwords and personal info. So what to do about power on the road? You can look into a portable power pack that you can charge up ahead of time or run on AA batteries. They’re pretty inexpensive and easy to track down.
6. Keep your eyes on your phone. Preventing the actual theft of your phone is important too, as some hacks happen simply because a phone falls into the wrong hands. This is a good case for password or PIN protecting your phone, as well as turning on device tracking so that you can locate your phone or even wipe it remotely if you need to. Apple provides iOS users with a step-by-step guide for remotely wiping devices, and Google offers a guide for Android users as well.
7. Encrypt your phone. Encrypting your cell phone can save you from being hacked and can protect your calls, messages, and critical information. To check if your iPhone is encrypted can go into Touch ID & Passcode, scroll to the bottom, and see if data protection is enabled (typically this is automatic if you have a passcode enabled). Android users have automatic encryption depending on the type of phone.
8. Lock your SIM card. Just as you can lock your phone, you can also lock the SIM card that is used to identify you, the owner, and to connect you to your cellular network. Locking it keeps your phone from being used on any other network than yours. If you own an iPhone, you can lock it by following these simple directions. For other platforms, check out the manufacturer’s website.
9. Turn off your Wi-Fi and Bluetooth when not in use. Think of it as closing an otherwise open door. There are several attacks that a dedicated and well-equipped hacker can make on devices where Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are open and discoverable. Likewise, while not a hack, some retailers will track your location in a store using Bluetooth technology for marketing purposes—so switching it off can protect your privacy in some situations as well. You can easily turn off both from your settings and many phones let you do it from a pulldown menu on your home screen as well.
10. Steer clear of third-party app stores. Google Play and Apple’s App Store have measures in place to review and vet apps to help ensure that they are safe and secure. Third-party sites may not have that process in place. In fact, some third-party sites may intentionally host malicious apps as part of a broader scam. Granted, cybercriminals have found ways to work around Google and Apple’s review process, yet the chances of downloading a safe app from them are far greater than anywhere else. Furthermore, both Google and Apple are quick to remove malicious apps once discovered, making their stores that much safer.

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Smartphone Alternatives: Ease Your Way into Your Child’s First Phone

“But everyone else has one.” 

Those are familiar words to a parent, especially if you’re having the first smartphone conversation with your tween or pre-teen. In their mind, everyone else has a smartphone so they want a one too. But does “everyone” really have one? Well, your child isn’t wrong.  

Our recent global study found that 76% of children aged 10 to 14 reported using a smartphone or mobile device, with Brazil leading the way at 95% and the U.S. trailing the global average at 65%.   

Our figures show that younger children with smartphones and mobile devices make up a decisive majority of younger children overall. 

Of course, just because everyone else has smartphone doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily right for your child and your family. After all, with a smartphone comes access to a wide and practically unfettered world of access to the internet, apps, social media, instant messaging, texting, and gaming, all within nearly constant reach. Put plainly, some tweens and pre-teens simply aren’t ready for that just yet, whether in terms of their maturity, habits, or ability to care for and use a device like that responsibly. 

Yet from a parent’s standpoint, a first smartphone holds some major upsides. One of the top reasons parents give a child a smartphone is “to stay in touch,” and that’s understandable. There’s something reassuring knowing that your child is a call or text away—and that you can keep tabs on their whereabouts with GPS tracking. Likewise, it’s good to know that they can reach you easily too. Arguably, that may be a reason why some parents end up giving their children a smartphone a little sooner than they otherwise would.  

However, you don’t need a smartphone to do to text, track, and talk with your child. You have alternatives. 

Smartphone alternatives 

One way to think about the first smartphone is that it’s something you ease into. In other words, if the internet is a pool, your child should learn to navigate the shallows with some simpler devices before diving into the deep end with a smartphone.  

Introducing technology and internet usage in steps can build familiarity and confidence for them while giving you control. You can oversee their development, while establishing rules and expectations along the way. Then, when the time is right, they can indeed get their first smartphone. 

But how to go about that? 

It seems a lot of parents have had the same idea and device manufacturers have listened. They’ve come up with smartphone alternatives that give kids the chance to wade into the mobile internet, allowing them to get comfortable with device ownership and safety over time without making the direct leap to a fully featured smartphone. Let’s look at some of those options, along with a few other long-standing alternatives. 

GPS trackers for kids 

These small and ruggedly designed devices can clip to a belt loop, backpack, or simply fit in a pocket, giving you the ability to see your child’s location. In all, it’s quite like the “find my” functionality we have on our smartphones. When it comes to GPS trackers for kids, you’ll find a range of options and form factors, along with different features such as an S.O.S. button, “geofencing” that can send you an alert when your child enters or leaves a specific area (like home or school), and how often it sends an updated location (to regulate battery life).  

Whichever GPS tracker you select, make sure it’s designed specifically for children. So-called “smart tags” designed to locate things like missing keys and wallets are just that—trackers designed to locate things, not children. 

Smart watches for kids 

With GPS tracking and many other communication-friendly features for families, smart watches can give parents the reassurance they’re looking for while giving kids a cool piece of tech that they can enjoy. The field of options is wide, to say the least. Smart watches for kids can range anywhere from devices offered by mobile carriers like Verizon, T-Mobile, and Vodaphone to others from Apple, Explora, and Tick Talk. Because of that, you’ll want to do a bit of research to determine the right choice for you and your child.  

Typical features include restricted texting and calling, and you’ll find that some devices are more durable and more water resistant than others, while yet others have cameras and simple games. Along those lines, you can select a smart watch that has a setting for “school time” so that it doesn’t become a distraction in class. Also, you’ll want to look closely at battery life, as some appear to do a better job of holding a charge than others.  

Smartphones for kids 

Another relatively recent entry on the scene are smartphones designed specifically for children, which offer a great step toward full-blown smartphone ownership. These devices look, feel, and act like a smartphone, but without web browsing, app stores, and social media. Again, features will vary, yet there are ways kids can store and play music, stream it via Bluetooth to headphones or a speaker, and install apps that you approve of.  

Some are paired with a parental control app that allows you to introduce more and more features over time as your child as you see fit—and that can screen texts from non-approved contacts before they reach your child. Again, a purchase like this one calls for some research, yet names like Gabb wireless and the Pinwheel phone offer a starting point. 

The flip phone 

The old reliable. Rugged and compact, and typically with a healthy battery life to boot, flip phones do what you need them to—help you and your child keep in touch. They’re still an option, even if your child may balk at the idea of a phone that’s “not as cool as a smartphone.” However, if we’re talking about introducing mobile devices and the mobile internet to our children in steps, the flip phone remains in the mix.  

Some are just phones and nothing else, while other models can offer more functionality like cameras and slide-out keyboards for texting. And in keeping with the theme here, you’ll want to consider your options so you can pick the phone that has the features you want (and don’t want) for your child. 

Ease into that first smartphone 

Despite what your younger tween or pre-teen might think, there’s no rush to get that first smartphone. And you know it too. You have time. Time to take eventual smartphone ownership in steps, with a device that keeps you in touch and that still works great for your child.  

By easing into that first smartphone, you’ll find opportunities where you can monitor and guide their internet usage. You’ll also find plenty of moments to help your child start forming healthy habits around device ownership and care, etiquette, and safety online. In all, this approach can help you build a body of experience that will come in handy when that big day finally comes—first smartphone day. 

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Why You Need a VPN on Your Smartphone

Using a VPN on your smartphone can boost your privacy in a big way, particularly with all the data tracking that’s happening out there today. 

For some time now, we’ve recommended a VPN when using public Wi-Fi in airports, libraries, hotels, and coffee shops. Given that these are public networks, a determined hacker can snoop on the other devices transmitting data on them. With a VPN, any connection becomes a secure connection, which includes public Wi-Fi. That advice still holds true. Yet there’s a good reason to use it on your smartphone all the time—for your privacy. 

Let’s start with a quick look at the two big things a VPN does for you. 

It makes you more secure. 

The bank-grade encryption used by a strong VPN shields your data and information while it’s in transit, which makes it terrifically difficult for hackers to spy on your connection. (Think of your data and information traveling through a tunnel that no one else can use or see into.) In that way, a VPN makes all kinds of online activities more secure—like banking, shopping, and checking up on your finances.  

It protects your privacy. 

By masking your whereabouts and your IP address, along with encryption that helps keep your activities private, a VPN reduces the personal information that others can collect and track. That includes internet service providers, social media companies, businesses, app developers, websites, and others who gather your data for marketing purposes or resale to third parties. 

Your smartphone, your privacy, and a VPN 

As far as your privacy is concerned, a VPN on a smartphone can be a smart move. There are a couple of reasons for that: first, because of the way smartphones have additional tracking technologies built in, and second, because of all the trackable data we create when using smartphones as frequently as we do—up to six hours per day for some. 

As for how your smartphone is built, data collectors can harvest your personal information that reveals what you’re doing, when you’re doing it, and where you’re doing it as well. Several technologies allow them to pinpoint where you are at any given time, such as GPS and location services, along with Bluetooth connectivity and location tracking based on which cell phone tower you’re connected to. Even scanning a QR code with your phone can reveal location information. It can all get rather precise, which is of interest to advertisers, businesses, and even governments. 

Next, think about all the activities you do on your phone, with a special emphasis on the apps you use and the data they create, about your health, your shopping habits, your travels, who you’re chatting with, and what content you’re posting online—just to name a few things. Once again, that information in and of itself is valuable to data collectors. It becomes even more valuable when they know where you do these things.  

Taken together, data broker companies readily gather this information from millions of devices, generating billions of data points, and creating massive lists of targeted information. And that information gets quite specific. With some data brokers collecting hundreds and thousands of data points per person, they can provide interested buyers with a high-resolution snapshot of who you are, where you live, who’s in your family, your income, where you shop, what you like to buy—right on down to your favorite shampoo. And that’s just for starters. 

It’s little surprise that all this data brokering activity fuels a global business estimated at $280 billion U.S. dollars a year. 

How’s this happening? In large part by way of the privacy policies you may or may not have read. 

Within those policies, device manufacturers, social media companies, app developers, and so on will detail what data they collect, under what conditions, what they do with it, and if they share or resell that data to other parties. However, if you’ve ever dived into the fine print of a privacy policy, what’s stated there isn’t always clear. Now consider all the apps you have on your phone and the privacy policies associated with each one—your personal data privacy picture gets even less clear. 

With digital data and information collection baked into so much of what we do online, it’s little wonder that more than 70% of people feel like their data privacy is out of their control. 

Yet there are things you can do. 

Protect your privacy on your smartphone with a VPN 

Using a VPN on your smartphone can make you far more anonymous online. A VPN can minimize the data that gets exposed as it transmits to and from your smartphone. As a result, companies and data brokers can potentially learn far less about you, your shopping, your travels, your habits, and any other information that they could possibly collect and otherwise profit from. 

While you have free VPN options available, I suggest steering clear of them. As with many “free” services, there’s going to be some catch, often involving data collection. For example, some so-called “free VPNs” have served up tracking malware or actually collected private data and information for sale—the very things you want a VPN to prevent.  

Given that this is your privacy we’re talking about, do a little background check. Has the VPN you’re considering been independently audited for security? The technology that powers ours undergoes a thorough audit every year. Search news articles and see if the VPN you’re looking at has a track record of collecting and selling data in any way. Again, with our VPN technology, we don’t log or track what you do online so your online activity remains private. ​ 

And a Personal Data Cleanup too … 

What about the information that’s already out there? Our Personal Data Cleanup can help you remove your personal information from high-risk data broker sites, so you can prevent it from being further collected and sold online. If you’re unsure if your data and information are out there, consider what one major data broker has touted in the past—a reach of over 62 countries and the ability to reach over 2.5 billion consumers globally. With 5 billion internet users today, that accounts for half of the world’s online population. And that’s just one data broker alone. 

Moreover, consider that data brokers acquire plenty of information from places other than your smartphone and other connected devices. They skim and collate public records associated with you, information purchased from retailers with loyalty card programs, not to mention census data, court records, and motor vehicle records. And that’s just a few of the many sources. Using our Personal Data Cleanup can help remove those sorts of records too.  

Getting more privacy on your smartphone 

Together, the combination of a VPN and Personal Data Cleanup can help you become far more private than before. With so much of our digital lives getting collected, tracked, and tabulated, often without our knowledge thanks to confusing privacy policies, taking control of your privacy makes sense and only gets easier to do thanks to the tools and services available to you. 

The post Why You Need a VPN on Your Smartphone appeared first on McAfee Blog.

7 Signs Your Phone Has a Virus and What You Can Do

Our phones store a lot of personal data, including contacts, social media account details, and bank account logins. We use our smartphones for everything under the sun, from work-related communication to online shopping. 

However, like computer viruses, our phones can be vulnerable to malware. Viruses are a type of malware that replicate themselves and spread throughout the entire system. They can affect your phone’s performance or, worse, compromise your sensitive information so that hackers can benefit monetarily. 

In this article, we give you a rundown of viruses that can infect your phone and how you can identify and eliminate them. We also provide some tips for protecting your phone from viruses in the first place. 

Can iPhone and Android devices get viruses?

iPhones and Android devices run on different operating systems. So, there are differences in the viruses that affect each type of mobile device and how resistant each operating system is to viruses.  

Viruses have a harder time penetrating iOS because of its design (although iOS hacks can still happen). By restricting interactions between apps, Apple’s operating system limits the movement of an iPhone virus across the device. However, if you jailbreak your iPhone or iPad to unlock tweaks or install third-party apps, then the security restrictions set by Apple’s OS won’t work. This exposes iPhone users to vulnerabilities that cybercriminals can exploit.   

While Android phones are also designed with cybersecurity in mind, their reliance on open-source code makes them an easier target for hackers. Android devices allow users to access third-party apps not available in the Google Play Store.  

Main types of phone viruses

Cybercriminals today are sophisticated and can launch a variety of cyberattacks on your smartphone. Some viruses that can infect your phone include:  

• Malware: Malware encompasses programs that steal your information or take control of your device without your permission. 
• Adware: These are ads that can access information on your device if you click on them. 
• Ransomware: These prevent you from accessing your phone again unless you pay a ransom to the hacker. The hacker may use personal data like your pictures as blackmail. 
• Spyware: This tracks your browsing activity, then steals your data or affects your phone’s performance. 
• Trojan: Aptly named, this type of virus hides inside an app to take control of or affect your phone and data. 

How do phones get viruses?

Smartphones and computers get viruses in a similar way. The most common include: 

• Clicking on links or attachments from unverified sources. These are most commonly distributed as emails and SMS. 
• Clicking on seemingly innocent ads that take you to an unsecured webpage or download mobile malware to your device. 
• Visiting suspicious websites, often by ignoring security warnings. 
• Downloading malicious apps from an unverified source, usually outside the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. 
• Connecting your phone to an unsecured internet connection like public Wi-Fi (McAfee offers a secure VPN that makes it safe to use unsecured Wi-Fi networks by encrypting your data.) 

7 signs your phone has a virus

Now that you know how your phone could be the target of a virus, look out for these seven signs to determine if your device has been infected with malicious software. 

You see random pop-up ads or new apps 

Most pop-up ads don’t carry viruses but are only used as marketing tools. However, if you find yourself shutting pop-up ads more often than usual, it might indicate a virus on your phone. 

Don’t open any apps in your library that you don’t remember installing. Instead, uninstall them immediately. These apps tend to carry malware that’s activated when the app is opened or used. 

Your device feels physically hot

Your phone isn’t built to support malware. When you accidentally download apps that contain malware, the device has to work harder to continue functioning. In this case, your phone might be overheating. 

Random messages are sent to your contacts

If your contacts receive unsolicited scam emails or messages on social media from your account, especially those containing suspicious links, a virus may have accessed your contact list. It’s best to let all the recipients know that your phone has been hacked so that they don’t download any malware themselves or forward those links to anybody else. 

The device responds slowly

An unusually slow-performing device is a hint of suspicious activity on your phone. The device may slow down because it needs to work harder to support the downloaded virus. Alternatively, unfamiliar apps might be taking up storage space and running background tasks, causing your phone to run slowly. 

You find fraudulent charges on your accounts

Be sure to follow up on charges on your credit card or transactions in your banking statements that you don’t recognize. It could be an unfamiliar app or malware making purchases through your account without your knowledge. 

The phone uses excess data

A sudden rise in your data usage or phone bill can be suspicious. A virus might be running background processes or using your internet connection to transfer data out of your device for malicious purposes. 

Your battery drains quickly

An unusually quick battery drain may also cause concern. Your phone will be trying to meet the energy requirements of the virus, so this problem is likely to persist for as long as the virus is on the device. 

How can I check if my phone has a virus?

You may have an inkling that a virus is housed inside your phone, but the only way to be sure is to check.  

An easy way to do this is by downloading a trustworthy antivirus app. The McAfee Mobile Security app scans for threats regularly and blocks them in real time. It prevents suspicious apps from attaching themselves to your phone and secures any public connections you might be using. 

How to remove a virus from Android and iPhone

If you detect a virus on your iPhone or Android device, there are several things you can do.  

• Download antivirus software like McAfee’s award-winning antivirus software or a mobile security app to help you locate existing viruses and malware. By identifying the exact problem, you know what to get rid of and how to protect your device in the future. 
• Do a thorough sweep of your app library to make sure that whatever apps are on your phone were downloaded by you. Delete any apps that aren’t familiar. 
• To protect your information, delete any sensitive text messages and clear history regularly from your mobile browsers. Empty the cache in your browsers and apps. 
• In some instances, you may need to reboot your smartphone to its original factory settings. This can lead to data loss, so be sure to back up important documents to the cloud. 
• Create strong passwords for all your accounts after cleaning up your phone. You can then protect your passwords using a password management system like McAfee True Key, which uses the most robust encryption algorithms available so only you have access to your information.  

7 tips to protect your phone from viruses

It’s never too late to start caring for your phone. Follow these tips to stay safe online and help reduce the risk of your phone getting a virus. 

• Only download an app from a trusted source, i.e., the app store or other verified stores. You should read app reviews and understand how the app intends to use your data. 
• Set up strong, unique passwords for your accounts instead of using the same or similar passwords. This prevents a domino effect in case one of the accounts is compromised. 
• Think twice before you click on a link. If you believe it looks suspicious, your gut is probably right! Avoid clicking on it until you have more information about its trustworthiness. These links can be found across messaging services and are often part of phishing scams. 
• Clear your cache periodically. Scan your browsing history to get rid of any links that seem suspicious. 
• Avoid saving login information on your browsers and log out when you’re not using a particular browser. Although this is a convenience trade-off, it’s harder for malware to access accounts you’re not logged into during the attack.  
• Update your operating system and apps frequently. Regular updates build upon previous security features. Sometimes, these updates contain security patches created in response to specific threats in prior versions. 
• Don’t give an app all the permissions it asks for. Instead, you can choose to give it access to certain data only when required. Minimizing an application’s access to your information keeps you safer. 

Discover how McAfee Mobile Security keeps your phone safe

McAfee Mobile Security is committed to keeping your mobile phone secure, whether it’s an iPhone or Android device. In addition to regularly scanning your phone to track suspicious activity, our technology responds to threats in real time. Our comprehensive tools also secure your internet connections and let you browse peacefully. Using our app makes sure that your phone and data are protected at all times.  

So, what are you waiting for? Download McAfee Mobile Security today!  

The post 7 Signs Your Phone Has a Virus and What You Can Do appeared first on McAfee Blog.

5 Steps to Removing Your Personal Information From the Internet

Here’s one way you can help reduce your chances of identity theft: remove your personal information from the internet. 

And chances are, you have more personal information posted online than you think. 

According to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), consumers registered 1.4 million identity theft complaints in 2021, all part of a year where consumers reported losing $5.8 billion to fraud overall—a 70% increase over the year prior.  

What fuels all this theft and fraud? Access to personal information.  

Scammers and thieves can get a hold of personal information in several ways, such as through phishing attacks that lure you into handing it over, malware that steals it from your devices, by purchasing your information on dark web marketplaces, or as a result of information leaked in data breaches, just to name a few. 

However, scammers and thieves have other resources to help them commit theft and fraud—data broker sites, places where personal information is posted online for practically anyone to see. Which makes removing your info from them so important, from both an identity and privacy standpoint. 

What are data broker sites? 

Think of data broker sites as huge repositories of personal information. Search your name and address online and you’ll see. You’ll likely find dozens of sites that turn up information about you, some of which offer a few pieces for free and others that offer far more information for a price. 

Data brokers collect and then aggregate personal information from several sources, including: 

• Your public records posted online. 
• Information from social media accounts you keep public. 
• The websites you visit and the smartphone apps you use. 
• Along with retailers, who share information associated with your loyalty cards. 

Data brokers also buy personal information from other data brokers. As a result, some data brokers have thousands of pieces of data for billions of individuals worldwide.  

What could that look like? A broker may know how much you paid for your home, your education level, where you’ve lived over the years and who your lived with, your driving record, and possibly your political leanings. A broker may also know your favorite flavor of ice cream and your preferred over-the-counter allergy medicine thanks to information from loyalty cards. Further, they may also have health-related information from fitness apps. The amount of personal information can run that broadly, and that deeply. 

With information at this potential level of detail, it’s no wonder that data brokers rake in an estimated at $200 billion U.S. dollars worldwide every year. 

Who uses the personal information found on data broker sites?  

On the legitimate side, it’s used by advertisers to create targeted ad campaigns. With information sold by data brokers, they can generate lists based on highly specific criteria, such as shopping histories, personal interests, and even political leanings as mentioned above. Likely without you being aware of it—and likely with no way to contest that information if it’s incorrect. 

Other legitimate uses include using these sites for background checks. Law enforcement, reporters, and employers will use data brokers as a starting point for research because the leg work has largely been done for them. Namely, data brokers have aggregated a person’s information already, which is an otherwise time-consuming process. 

If this seems a little shady, it’s still legal. As of now, the U.S. has no federal laws that regulate data brokers or require data them to remove personal information if requested. A few states, such as Nevada, Vermont, and California, have legislation in place aimed at protecting consumers. Meanwhile, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union has stricter rules about what information can be collected and what can be done with it. Still, the data broker economy thrives. 

On the darker side, scammers and thieves use personal information for identity theft and fraud. With enough personal information gathered from enough sources, they can create a high-fidelity profile of their victims. One that gives them enough information to open new accounts in their name. 

So, from the standpoint of both privacy and identity, cleaning up your personal information online makes a great deal of sense.  

How to remove your personal information from the internet 

Let’s review some ways you can remove your personal information from data brokers and other sources on the internet.  

1. Request to remove data from data broker sites 

The process starts with finding the sites that have your information. From there, you can request to have it removed. Yet as mentioned above, there are dozens and dozens of these sites. Knowing where to start is a challenge in of itself, as is manually making the requests once you have identified the sites that post and sell information about you.  

Our Personal Data Cleanup can do the work for you. Personal Data Cleanup scans some of the riskiest data broker sites and shows you which ones are selling your personal info. It also provides guidance on how you can remove your data from those sites and can even manage the removal for you depending on your plan. ​It also monitors those sites, so if your info gets posted again, you can request its removal again. 

2. Limit the data Google collects 

As of September 2022, Google accounts for just over 92% of search engine market share worldwide. Aside from being a search engine, Google offers a myriad of other services and applications, such as Gmail and Google Maps. While Google offers plenty of tools for productivity, travel, work, and play for free, they still come at a cost—the gathering and analysis of your personal information.   

You can limit the data Google associates with you by removing your name from Google search results with a removal request. This will disable anyone online from getting any results if they search your name. (Note that this will not remove your information from the original sites and sources where it’s posted.) Moreover, Google collects all your browsing data continuously. You have the option to turn on “Auto Delete” in your privacy settings to ensure that the data is deleted regularly and help limit the amount of time your sensitive data stays vulnerable.  

You can also occasionally delete your cookies or use your browser in incognito mode to prevent websites from being tracked back to you. Go to your Google Chrome settings to clear your browser and cookie history.  

3. Delete old social media accounts and make the ones you keep private 

As discussed above, data brokers can collect information from public social media profiles. You can minimize your presence on social media to the bare minimum. Make a list of the ones you use or have used in the past. If there are old accounts that you no longer use or websites that have gone by the wayside like Myspace or Tumblr, you may want to deactivate them or consider deleting them entirely.   

For social media platforms that you still may use regularly, like Facebook and Instagram, consider adjusting your privacy settings to ensure that your personal information on these social media platforms is the bare minimum. For example, on Facebook you can lock your profile, while on Instagram you can stay private.  

4. Remove personal info from other websites and blogs 

If you’ve ever published articles, written blogs, or created any content online, it might be a good time to consider taking it down if it is no longer serving a purpose. Depending on what you’ve posted, you may have shared personal details about your life. Additionally, you might be mentioned by other people in various social media posts, articles, or blogs. It is worth reaching out to these people to request them to take down posts with sensitive information.  

Social media and online articles that host your personal information are often used when businesses or hackers are doing “internet scrapes” to find better ways to use your targeted information. Asking your friends or third-party sites to remove that information can help protect your privacy.  

5. Delete unused phone apps and restrict the settings for the ones you use 

Another way you can tidy up your digital footprint online involves deleting all the unnecessary phone apps that you no longer need or use. Even when apps are not open or in use, they may be able to track personal information such as your real-time location and even your payment details if you have a paid subscription to the app.   

Some apps even sell this data as it can be extremely advantageous to other companies, which they use to target certain consumer segments and profiles for advertising. Try to share as little information with apps as possible if you’re looking to minimize your online footprint, and provide them access to your photos, contacts, and location only on as-needed basis and only when the app is in use. Your phone’s app and location services settings will give you the tools to do it. 

Online protection software can keep your personal information more private and secure 

In addition to the steps above, comprehensive online protection software can keep you more private and minimize your risk of cybercrime. It can include: 

• An unlimited VPN can create a private internet connection that makes your personal information much more difficult to collect and track.  
• Identity monitoring can track several pieces of personal information and alert you if it’s found on the dark web.  
• Identity theft coverage & restoration can help should the unfortunate happen, which covers you with $1 million for legal feels, travel expenses, and stolen funds reimbursement, plus provides further assistance from a licensed recovery pro to repair your identity and credit. 
• Other features like safe browsing can help you avoid dangerous links, bad downloads, malicious websites, and more when you’re online—all of which scammers and thieves can use to steal personal info. 

So while it may seem like all this rampant collecting and selling of personal information is out of your hands, there’s plenty you can do to take control. With the steps outlined above and strong online protection software at your back, you can keep your personal information more private and secure. 

The post 5 Steps to Removing Your Personal Information From the Internet appeared first on McAfee Blog.

How to Stay One Step Ahead of Hackers

Whether using the internet for play or work, you want to spend your time online enjoying the peace of mind that comes with having a secure network. 

You don’t want to contend with someone taking your personal data — whether it’s credit card information, passwords, or bank account details — via malware or a data breach on your Android, Windows, or Apple iOS device. 

Fortunately, with some sensible precautions and simple steps, you can use your connected devices productively without worrying about cybercriminals and malicious software. This article explains how to stop hackers from getting access to your sensitive data.  

8 ways to protect your identity from hackers

You can take steps to protect your different computing and mobile devices and operating systems. These steps can be divided into technological solutions and the right awareness and information to provide a comforting measure of self-protection. 

It’s like learning karate for self-defense, giving you confidence as you negotiate the wider world (and hoping that you never have to use it). 

Use identity protection software

When it comes to identity protection software, McAfee provides a proven solution with our identity protection and privacy services. The protection includes alerts if your sensitive information is found on the dark web (up to 10 months sooner than other providers), personal data cleanup from sites gathering and selling your information, and an unlimited virtual public network (VPN) service that protects your privacy as you use public Wi-Fi networks. 

You’ll also get up to $1 million in identity theft coverage and hands-on restoration support to help you reclaim your identity.  

Use complex passwords

Simple, obvious passwords and passcodes (like your street address, your birthday, your kids’ or pets’ names, or “1234” or “abcd”) are easy for cybercriminals to crack, giving them unwanted access to your private data. 

The stronger your password, the better your protection. Some best password practices include: 

• Use a different password for all your online accounts, including your email accounts, social media platforms, and bank accounts. 
• Create a password that’s at least eight characters long, combining lowercase and uppercase letters, numbers, and symbols. 
• Don’t use consecutive keystrokes, such as “qwerty.” 
• Don’t share your passwords with anyone. 
• Avoid entering your password on unsecured public Wi-Fi, such as at an airport or in a coffee shop. 

Regularly update passwords

It’s important not to be a standing target. Just as you should use different passwords for everything, you should regularly change your passwords. You should do this a few times a year (although some cyber experts say this might not be necessary if you have a long and very complicated password). 

If you have a number of passwords that you update often, it might be worth getting a password manager like McAfee True Key to keep track of them. Not only will you not be faced with remembering all your different passwords or writing them down (also a no-no), but it can also help you create and store unique passwords.  

The software uses the strongest encryption algorithms available to protect your passwords, scrambling them so no one else can access them. It’ll also suggest new passwords and automatically log you into your online accounts with just one master password. 

Use multi-factor authentication

Another important line of defense is multi-factor authentication (sometimes known as two-factor authentication). This system uses a password and a second piece of verification — often an SMS message sent to your Android device or iPhone — to authenticate your identity. 

This provides hard-to-beat protection even if a hacker has your password. Besides receiving SMS codes, there are also code-generating apps and physical security keys. 

Learn to spot potential scams

Thinking before you click on an email or text is a very important defense against phishing scams. Your bank won’t send you an email or text notifying you that there’s been suspicious activity on your account.  

Does getting a large refund from your phone company sound too good to be true? It is. Similarly, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) won’t text to tell you that you owe them money, and princes aren’t going to give you a fortune out of the blue. 

Internet users beware: If you’re not absolutely certain that the text message you received is from a legitimate and trusted source, delete it. You can always contact the business or person directly to confirm that the message is legit. 

Keep device software up to date

Any operating system or app you use is open to malicious cyberattacks. This is why you should keep all your software up to date with the latest versions. Software developers are continually fixing holes in their products and offering cybersecurity patches to make them as safe and hacker-proof as possible. 

Make sure your software, firmware, and security settings are up to date on your home’s Wi-Fi router, as well. You can often change your settings to allow for automatic updates. 

Be cautious when using public Wi-Fi

Sure, who doesn’t like to go to a cafe, library, or hotel lobby to use the free Wi-Fi? But security is often weak in these public networks. If you open your online banking account or access personal information, you may unwittingly be giving a personal invitation to eavesdropping cybercriminals.  

This is where the bank-grade level of protection of McAfee Secure VPN comes in, which automatically turns on when you need it and keeps you safe on public Wi-Fi networks. 

Use encryption

Even if your device does get hacked, you can protect vital information on your Windows or macOS system with an encryption program like BitLocker or FileVault. You can protect any hard drive you use, including portable ones and USB keys. 

It’s also a good idea to only shop at encrypted websites marked with the prefix “HTTPS” in their URLs. 

Discover how McAfee keeps you secure online

One of the best ways to surf the web in comfort while keeping hackers at bay is with the comprehensive solutions provided by McAfee Total Protection. 

Your protection includes proactive measures (meaning we’ll guide you to the best choices for prevention), early detection, and expert identity theft support.  

This means you’ll get identity monitoring, up to $1 million in identity theft coverage, lost wallet protection, premium antivirus software, a secure VPN, and personal data removal. In particular, our Personal Data Cleanup service will help find and remove your personal information from data broker websites and people search sites.  

With McAfee, you don’t have to be afraid of hackers. Let us deal with them.  

The post How to Stay One Step Ahead of Hackers appeared first on McAfee Blog.

How to Delete Old Accounts Containing Personal Information

Your digital footprint grows with every internet account you make. While your old Tumblr account may be fun for reminiscing, dormant accounts are actually one of the most significant sources of user data on the internet. These accounts can be used by data brokers or third parties to access your personal information.  

To improve your data security, it’s good practice to remove public-facing information by deleting unused accounts. Simply put, having less personal data stored on the internet reduces the risk of theft and/or non-consensual data usage.  

Deleting, canceling, unsubscribing, or removing your account can be a long process, depending on the service. This article will walk you through the simplest ways to delete unwanted accounts from various social media platforms.  

Why you should delete old accounts

Deleting unwanted accounts protects your information and prevents the monetization of your data. Your internet accounts often hold personal information like your name, age, email, or home address. What’s more alarming is that some platforms may even have credit card details, phone numbers, and bank account information. 

When left unattended, internet accounts become vulnerable to being suspended or taken over by the platform. This means that if your accounts are left inactive for too long, you might be handing some or all of your data over to the tech platform.  

For example, even if you believe an old Google account doesn’t have any sensitive information stored, it may be linked to other platforms you use (like Amazon or Google services like Gmail and Google Play). This exposes all of these accounts to several data privacy vulnerabilities.  

Moreover, a recent survey found that 70% of surveyed adults admitted using the same password for more than one service. People who don’t use password managers or reuse passwords are at a greater security risk than others, as multiple accounts can become compromised at once. Whether the platform is now out of service or you are cutting down on your app usage, deleting dormant accounts will minimize security threats and safeguard your data.  

How to permanently delete old accounts, by platform

Every platform has a different process for deleting accounts: Some take only a few clicks to complete and others are a little longer. Companies usually don’t want a user to stop using their services, so account deletion pages are often hidden in a complex web of tabs that you have to navigate.  

In addition, some subscription services might require that you send an email to customer support to close your account. You can go to justdelete.me, an online directory that lets you access direct links to account deletion pages of various web services. 

Remember to download your personal information and data before pulling the plug on your account. Most platforms let you download your data before initiating a deletion request, which saves you from losing important details and files. It is also important to check whether your Google account is used for your YouTube channel or connected to other online accounts. 

To help you get rid of accounts you no longer use, we’ve broken down deleting accounts from some of the most popular social networks. The steps described below are for a desktop browser and may not apply to Android or iOS devices (unless specified).  

How to delete Facebook accounts

Facebook’s user privacy policy enables it to store a large amount of user information, including personal messages, posts, search history, name, age, birthdate, and even metadata from posted photos and videos.  

Follow these simple steps to delete your Facebook account:  

• After logging in from your desktop, click the arrow in the top-right corner  
• Go to Settings 
• Click on “Your Facebook Information” tab 
• Click on “Deactivation and Deletion” 
• Choose “Delete Account” from menu 
• Enter password to confirm 
• Click “Delete Account” 

How to delete LinkedIn accounts

LinkedIn collects information on users and uses it for targeted advertising. As a result, it amasses quite a lot of your data, from professional details to personal preferences and even your online behavior trail.  

Follow these simple steps from your desktop to delete your account:  

• Click on your profile avatar in the top-right corner 
• Click on “Account Preferences” 
• Scroll to Account Management and click on “Close Account” 
• Select a reason for deleting your account 
• Type password to confirm 

How to delete Twitter accounts

It’s simple to delete your Twitter account, but you’ll have to wait 30 days for your data and tweets to clear. To delete your account, you first need to deactivate it.  

Once you’ve decided to delete your account from the micro-blogging site, follow these steps from your desktop:  

• From the navigation menu on the left, click on “Settings and Privacy” 
• Go to “Your Account” tab 
• Click on “Deactivate your account”  
• If you don’t choose to reactivate within 30 days, your account will automatically be deleted  

Remember to revoke third-party access to your Twitter account to avoid having your account reactivated in the 30 days following deactivation. 

How to delete Instagram accounts

Since Facebook and Instagram are both owned by Meta, they share a lot of data for targeted advertising. You can adjust the privacy settings of your Instagram account from the mobile app, but you will need to log in from a web browser like Chrome to delete your account.  

To delete your Instagram account:  

• Go to the “Delete your account” page 
• Choose a reason you’re deleting your account  
• Enter your password 
• Click on “Permanently delete your account”  

Your information and data will be permanently deleted after 30 days and you won’t be able to retrieve it. However, completing a deletion process may take up to 90 days.  

How to delete Tumblr accounts

Tumblr has a fairly simple process to delete your account:  

• Log in to Tumblr from your desktop 
• Click on the profile icon in the top-right corner  
• Choose “Settings” 
• Click on “Delete account”  
• Enter your email address and password to confirm  
• Delete account 

How to delete Pinterest accounts

Follow these steps to delete your account from the popular picture-sharing platform:  

• Select the drop-down menu in the right corner  
• Click on “Account Management” from the navigation menu  
• Select “Delete Account” 
• Confirm when asked to receive an email with the final step  
• In the confirmation email, click on “Yes, close account”  

Pinterest servers continue to store your data after deletion, but your information won’t be visible to other users.  

How to delete email accounts

There are different steps to deleting your email account depending on which email service you use. Backing up email data usually takes more time because of the sheer volume of data a mail account can hold.  

How to delete a Gmail account

Complete the following steps to delete your Google account:  

• Open this URL in your web browser: myaccount.google.com 
• Select “Data and Privacy” from the menu on the left  
• Scroll to “Download or delete your data”  
• Click on “Delete a Google Service”  
• Click “Delete a service”  
• Enter your password  
• Click the trash bin icon next to Gmail  

How to delete a Yahoo account

Here’s what you need to do to delete your Yahoo email account: 

• Open this URL in your web browser: edit.yahoo.com/config/delete_user  
• Login with your login credentials  
• Click on “Continue to delete my account” on the confirmation page  

Deleting your Yahoo account also deletes the linked information from Yahoo’s other services.  

How to delete an Outlook email account

Follow these steps to delete your Microsoft account on Outlook 2010, 2013, or 2016:  

• Open Outlook on your desktop and select “File” from the upper-left corner  
• Click on “Account Settings” and choose “Settings” again 
• Select the account you want to remove and click “Remove” 
• Confirm by clicking “Yes” 

Keep your identity secure online with McAfee

Leaving old information scattered across the internet makes you susceptible to identity theft. There are multiple ways to keep your identity and data secure online, including McAfee’s Total Protection plan.  

Total Protection lets you choose from multiple affordable subscription models that provide comprehensive security against identity theft and potential data breaches and offers web protection and several related benefits. In addition, having access to 24/7 online security experts and a 30-day money-back guarantee make the Total Protection plan an easy, reliable, and safe choice. You can also have peace of mind with McAfee’s Personal Data Cleanup feature where our teams will work to find your personal information online and assist in removing it.  

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How Data Brokers Sell Your Identity

Data brokers gather hundreds, sometimes thousands, of data points on individuals. The question is, how do they round it up? And why?

For starters, you leave a digital footprint every time you use the internet, which leaves traces of all your online activities. And that kind of exacting info about you has a dollar value. With that, enter the data brokers.

When you create new accounts or subscribe to different websites, you give them explicit (or implicit, through their family of apps or subsidiary websites) access to your personal and credit card information. In other cases, websites might track basic information without your knowledge, such as your location and search history.

There is an industry of data brokers specifically dedicated to keeping track of user data, packaging it, and supplying it to tech companies who use it to run targeted ads and enhance the on-platform user experience. Given the widespread use of the internet and exponential improvements in technology, data has become a valuable commodity — creating a need for the sale and purchase of user data.

What are data brokers?

Data brokers aggregate user info from various sources on the internet. They collect, collate, package, and sometimes even analyze this data to create a holistic and coherent version of you online. This data then gets put up for sale to nearly anyone who’ll buy it. That can include marketers, private investigators, tech companies, and sometimes law enforcement as well. They’ll also sell to spammers and scammers. (Those bad actors need to get your contact info from somewhere — data brokers are one way to get that and more.)

And that list of potential buyers goes on, which includes but isn’t limited to:

• Tech platforms
• Banks
• Insurance companies
• Political consultancies
• Marketing firms
• Retailers
• Crime-fighting bureaus
• Investigation bureaus
• Video streaming service providers
• Any other businesses involved in sales

These companies and social media platforms use your data to better understand target demographics and the content with which they interact. While the practice isn’t unethical in and of itself (personalizing user experiences and creating more convenient UIs are usually cited as the primary reasons for it), it does make your data vulnerable to malicious attacks targeted toward big-tech servers.

How do data brokers get your information?

Most of your online activities are related. Devices like your phone, laptop, tablets, and even fitness watches are linked to each other. Moreover, you might use one email ID for various accounts and subscriptions. This online interconnectedness makes it easier for data brokers to create a cohesive user profile.

Mobile phone apps are the most common way for data brokerage firms to collect your data. You might have countless apps for various purposes, such as financial transactions, health and fitness, or social media.

A number of these apps usually fall under the umbrella of the same or subsidiary family of apps, all of which work toward collecting and supplying data to big tech platforms. Programs like Google’s AdSense make it easier for developers to monetize their apps in exchange for the user information they collect.

Data brokers also collect data points like your home address, full name, phone number, and date of birth. They have automated scraping tools to quickly collect relevant information from public records (think sales of real estate, marriages, divorces, voter registration, and so on).

Lastly, data brokers can gather data from other third parties that track your cookies or even place trackers or cookies on your browsers. Cookies are small data files that track your online activities when visiting different websites. They track your IP address and browsing history, which third parties can exploit. Cookies are also the reason you see personalized ads and products.

How data brokers sell your identity

Data brokers collate your private information into one package and sell it to “people search” websites. As mentioned above, practically anyone can access these websites and purchase extensive consumer data, for groups of people and individuals alike.

Next, marketing and sales firms are some of data brokers’ biggest clients. These companies purchase massive data sets from data brokers to research your data profile. They have advanced algorithms to segregate users into various consumer groups and target you specifically. Their predictive algorithms can suggest personalized ads and products to generate higher lead generation and conversation percentages for their clients.

Are data brokers legal?

We tend to accept the terms and conditions that various apps ask us to accept without thinking twice or reading the fine print. You probably cannot proceed without letting the app track certain data or giving your personal information. To a certain extent, we trade some of our privacy for convenience. This becomes public information, and apps and data brokers collect, track, and use our data however they please while still complying with the law.

There is no comprehensive privacy law in the U.S. on a federal level. This allows data brokers to collect personal information and condense it into marketing insights. While not all methods of gathering private data are legal, it is difficult to track the activities of data brokers online (especially on the dark web). As technology advances, there are also easier ways to harvest and exploit data.

As of March 2024, 15 states in the U.S. have data privacy laws in place. That includes California, Virginia, Connecticut, Colorado, Utah, Iowa, Indiana, Tennessee, Oregon, Montana, Texas, Delaware, Florida, New Jersey, and New Hampshire.[i] The laws vary by state, yet generally, they grant rights to individuals around the collection, use, and disclosure of their personal data by businesses.

However, these laws make exceptions for certain types of data and certain types of collectors. In short, these laws aren’t absolute.

Can you remove yourself from data broker websites?

Some data brokers let you remove your information from their websites. There are also extensive guides available online that list the method by which you can opt-out of some of the biggest data brokering firms. For example, a guide by Griffin Boyce, the systems administrator at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, provides detailed information on how to opt-out of a long list of data broker companies.

Yet the list of data brokers is long. Cleaning up your personal data online can quickly eat up your time, as it requires you to reach out to multiple data brokers and opt-out.

Rather than removing yourself one by one from the host of data broker sites out there, you have a solid option: our Personal Data Cleanup.

Personal Data Cleanup scans data broker sites and shows you which ones are selling your personal info. It also provides guidance on how you can remove your data from those sites. And if you want to save time on manually removing that info, you have options. Our McAfee+ Advanced and Ultimate plans come with full-service Personal Data Cleanup, which sends requests to remove your data automatically.

If the thought of your personal info getting bought and sold in such a public way bothers you, our Personal Data Cleanup can put you back in charge of it.

[i] https://pro.bloomberglaw.com/insights/privacy/state-privacy-legislation-tracker/

 

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Getting Your Kids Ready for School—And Their Smartphones Too

If you’re the parent of a tween or teen, chances are they’re not the only ones going back to school. Their smartphones are going back too.

Our recent global research showed just how many tweens and teens use a smartphone. Plenty. Depending on the age band, that figure ranges anywhere from 76% to 93%, with some noteworthy variations between countries.

One of the top reasons parents give their child a phone is to stay in touch, so it likely follows that those phones will likely make their way into the classroom. Whether or not that’s the case for your child, back-to-school time is still a great time to help your child stay safer on their phone—and keep their phones safer too in the event of loss or theft.

Seven steps for keeping your child’s phone safer

Install protection on their phone

Comprehensive online protection software can protect your phone in the same way that it protects your laptops and computers. Unfortunately, while many people use it on their laptops and computers, far fewer people use it on their phones—only about 42% of tweens and teens worldwide use it on their smartphones according to our most recent research.

Installing it can protect their privacy, keep them safe from attacks on public Wi-Fi, and automatically block unsafe websites and links, just to name a few things it can do. You can find our smartphone apps in both Google Play and the Apple App Store.

Set their apps to automatically update

Updates do all kinds of great things for gaming, streaming, and chatting apps, such as adding more features and functionality over time. Updates do something else—they make those apps more secure. Hackers will hammer away at apps to find or create vulnerabilities, which can steal personal info or compromise the device itself. Updates will often include security improvements, in addition to performance improvements.

iPhones update apps automatically by default, yet you can learn how to turn them back on here if they’ve been set to manual updates. For Android phones, this article can help you set apps to auto-update if they aren’t set that way already.

Much the same goes for the operating system on smartphones too. Updates can bring more features and more security. iOS users can learn how to update their phones automatically in this article. Likewise, Android users can refer to this article about automatic updates for their phones.

Use a lock screen with a passcode, PIN, facial recognition, or pattern key

Another finding from our latest global research is just how few people use a lock screen on their phones. Only 56% of parents said that they protect their smartphone with a password or passcode, and only 42% said they do the same for their child’s smartphone—a further 14% drop between parents and kids.

The issue here is clear. If an unlocked phone gets lost or stolen, all the information on it is an open book to a potential hacker, scammer, or thief. Enabling a lock screen if you haven’t already. It’s a simple feature found in both iOS and Android devices.

Learn how to remotely lock or wipe a smartphone

Preventing the actual theft of your phone is important too, as some hacks happen simply because a phone falls into the wrong hands. This is a good case for password or PIN protecting your phone, as well as turning on device tracking so that you can locate your phone or even wipe it remotely if you need to. Apple provides iOS users with a step-by-step guide for remotely wiping devices, and Google offers up a guide for Android users as well.

Use a password manager

Strong, unique passwords offer another primary line of defense. Yet with all the accounts we have floating around, juggling dozens of strong and unique passwords can feel like a task—thus the temptation to use (and re-use) simpler passwords. Hackers love this because one password can be the key to several accounts. Instead, try a password manager that can create those passwords for you and safely store them as well. Comprehensive security software will include one, and McAfee also offers a free service with True Key.

Have your kids steer clear of third-party app stores

Google Play and Apple’s App Store have measures in place to review and vet apps to help ensure that they are safe and secure. Third-party sites may not have that process in place. In fact, some third-party sites may intentionally host malicious apps as part of a broader scam. Granted, cybercriminals have found ways to work around Google and Apple’s review process, yet the chances of downloading a safe app from them are far greater than anywhere else. Furthermore, both Google and Apple are quick to remove malicious apps once discovered, making their stores that much safer.

Teach your kids about the hazards of public Wi-Fi and how to use a VPN

One way that crooks can hack their way into your phone is via public Wi-Fi, such as at coffee shops, libraries, and other places on the go. These networks are public, meaning that your activities are exposed to others on the network—your banking, your password usage, all of it. One way to make a public network private is with a VPN, which can keep you and all you do protect from others on that Wi-Fi hotspot. Note that our VPN can turn on automatically for public Wi-Fi, protecting account credentials, search habits, and other activities online. ​

A quick word about desktops and laptops too

The same advice applies for these devices as well—strong online protection software, password management, VPN usage, and so on. What’s good for a smartphone is good for laptops and desktops too.

For laptops in particular, you can track these devices as well, just like a smartphone. The process differs from smartphones, yet it’s still quite straightforward. Windows and Mac users can enable the following settings—and you can click the links below for complete instructions from the source:

• Windows: Enable in Settings > Update & Security > Find my device
• macOS: Enable via Settings > Your Name > iCloud > Find My Mac

Putting these same protections in place on your laptops and desktops will help make your child, and your whole family, safer than before.

Note that on school-issued devices, your school district will likely have technology teams who manage them. As part of that, they typically have policies and restrictions in place to help keep them running safe and sound. If you have any questions about what kind of protections are in place on these school-issued devices, contact your school district.

Protecting your child

While we’ve largely focused on protecting the phone itself, there’s also the importance of protecting the person who’s using it. In this case, your child—what they see, do, and experience on the internet. Device security is only part of the equation there.

Parents of tweens and teens know the concerns that come along with smartphone usage, ranging anywhere from cyberbullying, too much screen time, and simply wanting to know what their child is up to on their phone.

As you can imagine, each of these topics deserves its own treatment. The “Family Safety” section of our blog offers parents and their kids alike plenty of resources, and the list below can get you started on a few of the most pressing issues:

• Cyberbullying on social media
• Know the signs of cyberbullying
• Sketchy apps and how to avoid them
• Parental controls for keeping tabs on your child’s time online
• A parent’s guide to TikTok

Smartphone ownership—a device full of teaching moments

Without a doubt, while a child may get their first smartphone to “keep in touch,” that ownership blossoms into something far greater. And quite quickly. As they dive into the world of apps, social media, messaging, and gaming, take an interest, take it as an opportunity to spend time talking about their day and what it was like online.

By asking if they grabbed any cool pictures, what their favorite games are, and how their friends are when your child is texting them, questions like these can open a look into a world that would otherwise remain closed. This way, talking about the phone and what they’re doing on it becomes part of normal, everyday conversation. This can reap benefits down the road when your child encounters the inevitable bumps along the way, whether they’re dealing with a technical issue or something as difficult as cyberbullying or harassment. Talking about their life online on a regular basis may make them more apt to come forward when there’s a problem than they otherwise might.

In all, think of the smartphone as a fast pass into adulthood, thanks to how it puts the entirety of the internet right in your child’s hand. Protecting the device and the kid who’s using it will help ensure they get the absolute best out of all that potential.

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