Login
Data Privacy Week is here, and there’s no better time to shine a spotlight on one of the biggest players in the personal information economy: data brokers. These entities collect, buy, and sell hundreds—sometimes thousands—of data points on individuals like you. But how do they manage to gather so much information, and for what purpose? From your browsing habits and purchase history to your location data and even more intimate details, these digital middlemen piece together surprisingly comprehensive profiles. The real question is: where are they getting it all, and why is your personal data so valuable to them? Let’s unravel the mystery behind the data broker industry.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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/
The post How Data Brokers Sell Your Identity appeared first on McAfee Blog.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 protected 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.
The same advice applies to 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:
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.
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:
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.
The post Getting Your Kids Ready for School—And Their Smartphones Too appeared first on McAfee Blog.
It takes a bit of effort, but iPhones can wind up with viruses and malware. And that can indeed lead to all kinds of snooping.
Whether through malware or a bad app, hackers can skim personal info while you browse, bank, and shop. They can also infect your phone with ransomware that locks up your personal info or that locks up the phone itself.
Those are some worst-case scenarios. However, good for you and unfortunate hackers is the way iPhones run apps. It makes it tough for viruses and malware to get a toehold. Apple designed the iOS operating system to run apps in what’s called a “virtual environment.” This limits the access apps have to other apps, which helps prevent viruses and malware from spreading.
Still, malware can end up on an iPhone in a couple of ways:
The owner “jailbreaks” the iPhone
This practice gives people more control over their iPhones. By jailbreaking, they gain “root control” of the phone. With that, they can do things like remove pre-installed apps and download third-party apps from places other than the App Store. And that’s where the trouble can start.
Jailbreaking removes several of those barriers that keep viruses and malware from spreading. Further, downloading apps outside of the App Store exposes the phone to viruses and malware. Apple doesn’t review the apps in those stores. That way, a hacker with malicious intent can post a bad app with relative ease.
A malicious app sneaks into the App Store
Apple has a strict review policy before apps are approved for posting in the App Store. Per Apple, “Apple’s App Review team of over 500 experts evaluates every single app submission — from developers around the world — before any app ever reaches users. On average, the team reviews approximately 132,500 apps a week.”
However, 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 after 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.
So, barring a jailbroken phone, the chances of getting a virus or malware on your iPhone remain low. Still, it can happen.
Because we spend so much time on our phones, it’s fairly easy to tell when something isn’t working quite like it is supposed to. While you can chalk up some strange behavior to technical issues, sometimes those issues are symptoms of an infection. Malware can eat up system resources or conflict with other apps on your phone, causing it to act in odd ways.
Some possible signs that your device has been hacked include:
Performance issues
A slower device, webpages taking way too long to load, or a battery that never keeps a charge are all things that can be attributed to a device reaching its retirement. However, these things might also be signs that malware has compromised your phone.
Your phone feels like it’s running hot
Malware running in the background of a device might burn extra computing power, causing your phone to feel hot and overheated. If your device is quick to heat up, it might be due to malicious activity.
Mysterious calls, texts, or apps appear
If apps you haven’t downloaded suddenly appear on your screen, or if outgoing calls you don’t remember making pop up on your phone bill, that is a definite red flag and a potential sign that your device has been hacked.
Changes or pop-ups crowd your screen
Malware might also be the cause of odd or frequent pop-ups, as well as changes made to your home screen. If you are getting an influx of spammy ads or your app organization is suddenly out of order, there is a big possibility that your phone has been hacked.
To avoid the hassle of having a hacked phone in the first place, here are some tips that can help.
Promptly updating your phone and apps is a primary way to keep your device safer. Updates often fix bugs and vulnerabilities that hackers rely on to download malware for their attacks.
Apple’s App Store has those protections in place that we mentioned before. That’s unlike those third-party sites, which might not have those same protections. Further, some purposely host malicious apps. Avoiding these sites altogether can prevent these apps from allowing hackers into your device.
As we’ve seen, jailbreaking a phone introduces all kinds of security issues. Your best bet as an everyday internet user is to rely on iOS and the protections that come with it.
If you are worried that your device has been hacked, follow these steps:
Completely power down your phone. Powering down and then giving your phone a fresh start can put a halt to any malicious activity.
Remove any apps you didn’t download. From there, power down your phone and restart it as before.
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.
Check your accounts and credit for any unauthorized purchases. Several features in our McAfee+ plans can help. Identity Monitoring can alert you if your info winds up on the dark web. Our Credit Monitoring along with our transaction monitoring can also alert you of unusual activity across your accounts.
Lastly, if you spot an issue, get some help from a pro. Our Identity Theft Coverage & Restoration service offers $2 million that covers travel, losses, and legal fees associated with identity theft. It also offers the services of a licensed recovery pro who can repair your credit and your identity in the wake of an attack.
On a non-jailbroken phone, no. You don’t need antivirus. Yet your phone should certainly get extra protection. Phones face far more threats than viruses and malware alone.
Comprehensive online protection software like ours can keep you and your phone safer. It can:
Those are only a handful of the many features that protect more than your phone. You’ll find yet more that protect you — namely, your identity and your privacy.
So while iPhones don’t need antivirus, they certainly benefit from extra online protection.
The post How To Tell If Your Smartphone Has Been Hacked appeared first on McAfee Blog.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
Backing up your phone is always a good idea for two reasons:
Both iPhones and Android phones have straightforward ways of backing up your phone regularly.
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.
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.
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.
The post 7 Tips to Protect Your Smartphone from Getting Hacked appeared first on McAfee Blog.
“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.
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.
A few examples follow. Note that these might be signs of a hacked phone, yet not always.
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.
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.
The post How to Know If Your Phone Has Been Hacked appeared first on McAfee Blog.
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:
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:
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.
The post iPhone Update — Apply It Now If You Haven’t Already appeared first on McAfee Blog.
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.”
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:
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.
The post Parent’s Guide: 8 Ways to Help Your Teen Combat Distracted Driving appeared first on McAfee Blog.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Be wary. Many fleeceware apps have aggressive billing cycles. Sometimes weekly.
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.
You can download the official app, currently on iOS from the App Store
The post Anyone Can Try ChatGPT for Free—Don’t Fall for Sketchy Apps That Charge You appeared first on McAfee Blog.
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:
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.)
Some types of spyware can gain administration-level privileges to your phone and drop its defenses, leaving you yet more vulnerable.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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 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.
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:
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.
The post How to Limit Location Tracking on Your Phone appeared first on McAfee Blog.
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.
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:
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
The post How to Remove Viruses from Your Android Phone appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Something looks a little…sketchy. Is that website safe or unsafe?
Nowadays, it can take a bit of 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.
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.
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.
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 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 an 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 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.
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.
FreshRSS