Seven Smartphone Security Risks You Should Avoid
Admit it: More and more these days, your world revolves around your smartphone. It holds not just your contacts and calendar, but also your important documents, your critical text messages, and perhaps even your company passwords.
Wonderful as they are, smartphones are also inherently insecure devices. That's why it's imperative that you learn about the risks and take steps to avoid them. CNET's Elinor Mills answers seven questions about smartphone safety; here's one of them:
Is it safe to use Wi-Fi and Bluetooth? Yes and no. If you are doing something sensitive on your phone, like checking a bank account or making a payment, don't use the free Wi-Fi at a coffee shop or other access point. Use your password-protected Wi-Fi at home or the cellular network to avoid what is called as a man-in-the-middle attack in which traffic is intercepted. Pairing a mobile phone with another Bluetooth-enabled device, like a headset, means any device that can "discover" another Bluetooth device can send unsolicited messages or do things that could lead to extra fees, data being compromised or corrupted, data stolen in an attack called "bluesnarfing," or the device being infected with a virus. In general, disable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth unless you absolutely need to use them.Truth be told, I have mixed feelings about Mills' cautionary tales. She's right that the greatest security threat to your phone is losing it, but Wi-Fi attacks? Viruses, worms, and other malware worries? This has been the stuff of Chicken Little punditry for years, and it just never pans out.
I'm not saying threats like these can't or won't happen, just that you shouldn't lose sleep over them. What you should do is read the article, as knowledge is without question one of your best defenses against security threats.
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