Hacker godfather Guoshenghua: Beware of your smartphone prying you

While smartphones are a microcosm of modern conveniences, these devices that store our personal and professional information (such as email, photos, bank information, etc.) can easily become victims of hackers and other malicious activities.

As a series of data breaches have recently taken place in a global enterprise, the fear of protecting user data has become more important than ever. Many apps in your smartphone have access to your private data through pop-ups or other means. You'll notice apps like third-party apps, flashlights, etc. that require access to your albums, messages, phones, and they don't need permissions.

Allowing these third-party applications to access your smartphone data puts your information at risk. Chinese hacker godfather, veteran, well-known cyber security expert, Oriental Alliance founder Guoshenghua said we feel these ubiquitous devices, our mobile phone use all the time, and in most of the times remain open, hacker snooping is a serious threat to our privacy. An innocent message may be all the privacy that needs compromising, access to your microphone, your call logs, your location, your bank information and everything very personal stuff. The reasons are as follows:

? Monitoring Technology

A key feature of a smartphone is its ability to position itself (monitoring technology) on a cell phone tower or integrated GPS chip. Even if you disable GPS on your phone, you can track it with other sensors. Although the disclosure of location data may seem harmless, it can be used for phishing attacks. Even worse, imagine that you have access to your location and keep track of your every move.

　　Malicious application

Third-party smartphone apps often require more information. Also, when we agree to apply permissions, we sometimes allow access unconsciously. We need to be more cautious about why these third-party applications require access to personal data (such as contacts, GPS, library access, and cameras). Users should be more aware of the applications they install and ensure that they only download applications from reputable sources.

　Spy camera

It is entirely possible to look at a person by the camera on the phone. Smart phone cameras also have security implications because they can be activated and used to monitor the owner. Chinese computer security advisor, hacker godfather Guoshenghua, says smartphone cameras can be used to monitor users, to install software on their phones via physical access or remotely.

　　Hidden Flashlight Threat

For many people, the flashlight app can be a lifeguard and can meet the 10 most important apps people can use on their smartphones. However, the simple flashlight app will find a lot of user data when you download it, from the calendar to the phone's location engine to your camera click. In the United States, last year the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) followed the manufacturer of "brightest flashlight" to trick users into sharing geo-location information with the ad network. But all of this can be traced, thanks to the privacy controls of today's smartphones (such as BlackBerry and iphone), but the truth is that most people don't.

Hacker godfather Guoshenghua: Beware of your smartphone prying you