Blog / Smart devices need antivirus too
They’re not as secure as most people think.
Smart phones are pretty ubiquitous these days. Most people have a personal one. A lot of people also have a second one for work, and some even carry a third around for whatever reasons they may have. Smart phones are pretty much everywhere and present in everyone’s daily life.
It’s fairly standard for phones to to receive regular updates over the course of their lifespan, typically a few years. Despite the updates and our daily exposure, there’s a pervasive general assumption that smart phones are perfectly secure, and many people feel (wrongly) that there’s no benefit from using security software on a phone. It’s actually one of the most common misconceptions I encounter.
So, just to put any confusion to rest, let’s be clear—smart devices are full blown computers. They’re not calculators on steroids. They’re not cameras with Wi-Fi. They are computers. Relatively small ones, yes, but computers nevertheless. This means they can be compromised and exploited just like your desktop or any other computer in your organization. The only difference is how hackers go about leveraging the exploits.
It also doesn’t matter what brand of smart phone you’re using. Many people assume that their Macbook or iPhone are safe because viruses only attack Windows or Android devices. Again, that assumption is wrong. Viruses exist for all smart phone operating systems, including iOS. And, as with viruses on computers, detecting them is accomplished by using an antiviral software. It may come as a surprise but smart phones don’t come with any kind of antivirus software installed. In fact, the only security advice you’re likely to get from official sources like Apple or Samsung is to only use their official app stores for downloads.
That’s all well and good because the official stores review applications that publishers distribute on their platform, right? Well, considering that apps are regularly being taken down for breaking the rules, there’s actually no guarantee of safety. There’re also all the usual attack vectors like downloading something from a website outside the app store, or opening an infected email attachment.
Incidentally if an application is pulled from an official app store but you’ve already installed it on your phone, you will receive no notification about the removal, nor will the app be automatically uninstalled from your phone. In other words, if you do download an infected app from an official store, you’ll only find out when it’s too late, if you keep tabs on all the software that gets pulled from your official app store (which frankly no one is doing), or to detect it yourself using… that’s right, antivirus software!
For this week’s bit of Shakespeare I found one that speaks to my role of trying to raise overall security awareness. So today we hear from Hamlet, “The play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king.”
Fortunately almost all the major antivirus providers out there offer smart device defense as part of their subscription packages, so these vulnerabilities aren’t difficult to fix. Nevertheless, if your business or organization has unique requirements, or if you just have questions about smartphone defense, please reach out to your TRINUS Account Manager for some stress-free IT.
By Kind,
Courtesy of Your Friendly Neighbourhood Cyber-Man.
