Direct Technology Group Blog

Direct Technology Group provides professional IT Support and Network Services for Businesses around Deerfield Beach. Computer Services, Tech Support, IT Solutions and more!

Tip of the Week: Mobile Malware’s Warning Signs

Tip of the Week: Mobile Malware’s Warning Signs

Chances are, you own a smartphone, and that device helps you to manage quite a bit, both personally and professionally. As smartphones have risen in importance, they have also drawn the attention of hackers who attack via malicious applications. Here, we wanted to offer some tips that can help you spot these malicious apps before falling victim.

Demanding Permissions

Even amongst the most security-conscious, the threat that a mobile application can pose is commonly overlooked and underestimated. While the official app stores have safeguards in place (and are therefore the only place you should download an app from), some threats can slip past. Therefore, it is important for you to always review the permissions that each app requires. If these permissions seem to demand too much, it may be better to give an app a pass. This helps prevent a common tactic that malware distributors use—they introduce a harmless application through the app store, only to turn it malicious with an update after it is installed.

Swiftly Decreasing Battery Life

While you probably didn’t come here for a physics lesson, one concept is important to know for this next point. The first law of thermodynamics states that the universe contains a set amount of energy, and none is ever created or destroyed. Instead, it is converted and transferred in different forms.

So, when you set down a fully-charged mobile device, and pick it up later to find a significantly lower battery life after it has been unused, this is a sign of a problem. While some energy “loss” (in reality, transference) is to be expected, an extreme change could indicate a malware infection making use of the battery’s charge. This malware would expend your phone’s available energy by running processes in the background. Checking your battery settings to see if an application is using more power than expected can help you spot potential threat vectors.

Password Changes

While it’s understandable that you might mistype a password or get a few of them mixed up every once in a while, repeated “incorrect password” prompts when you’re sure you typed it correctly could be a sign of an account breach.

Fixing this will take some legwork, as you will need to reach out to the company that runs the account to reclaim it. Regardless of if you can or not, make sure that you change all of your passwords as a security precaution. Make sure that these replacements all meet best practices and restore your device from a backup to make sure that any credential-stealing malware is removed as well, just to be safe.

For more IT tips covering topics that range from security to productivity, make sure you subscribe to our blog. To learn about the managed services and support that we can offer, make sure you call (954) 739-4700 today.

Are Passwords Soon Going to Be a Thing of the Past...
Essential Technologies to Support Remote Learning
 

Comments

No comments made yet. Be the first to submit a comment
Guest
Already Registered? Login Here
Guest
Thursday, 07 November 2024

Captcha Image

Blog Archive

2014
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November

Mobile? Grab this Article

QR Code
Request a Consultation

Direct Technology Group strives to provide the best comprehensive IT, Computer, and Networking services to small businesses. We can handle all of your organization's technology challenges.

Contact Us
Contact Us

Learn more about what Direct Technology Group can do for your business.

1358 W Newport Center Dr
Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442

Call us: (954) 739-4700

News & Updates
Direct Technology Group is proud to announce the launch of our new website at www.directtechnologygroup.com. The goal of the new website is to make it easier for our existing clients to submit and manage support requests, and provide more information about our services for ...