As iOS becomes popular among hackers, here’s what you need to
stay protected
Apple devices, especially iPhones are quite
a huge hit amongst Indians, leading to a
surge in their popularity in recent years.
According to IDC, the company now
accounts for 13.5 per cent of global smartphone
shipments and 7.5 per cent of global PC shipments.
This increase in usage has not gone unnoticed by
attackers. In fact, in the last two years, the level of
Apple-related malware infections has increased. A
recent report by Symantec has shown a significant
upsurge in threat and risk detection on Mac OS X
computers since 2014. Zero-day brokers have begun
offering bounties for Apple vulnerabilities, with US$1
million paid recently for a jailbreak of iOS 9.1. While
Apple as well as other security researchers are doing
everything they can to ensure the safety of their
platform, it’s also important for the users themselves
to take the right security measures. Security of your
Apple device after all, is in your own hands. Here are six
things that you could do.
Never Jailbreak
When you buy an Apple device, you invest in the
Apple ecosystem – the App store. This is something
a few owners of Apple devices fail to understand as
they opt for jailbreaking - the process of removing
software restrictions imposed by Apple on its devices.
The drawbacks of jailbreaking always outweigh the
advantages of doing the same. First, your device will
be exposed to higher risk from malware. Next it will be
difficult to get updates or patches from Apple. If you
don’t install security patches on your devices, you are
leaving them wide open to cyber criminals who could
eavesdrop on virtually everything on them that’s linked
to an Apple app (Calendar, Mail, Safari, FaceTime, etc.),
and even third-party apps that rely on Apple’s SSL
encryption (Twitter, Facebook, banking apps, etc). Most
importantly, no warranty or support will be available
from Apple post jailbreaking.
Ignore pop-ups attentively
Attackers targeting a mobile operating system need to
find a way to install malware on the device it’s running
on, which can be a significant hurdle. Do not fall prey
to ad pop-ups with enticing messages asking you to
‘click here’. If you do, this will be the easiest way to invite
viruses into the system.
Use strong passwords and change them often
One of the best and easiest ways to protect your
Apple device is to change your password often. Also,
maintain a strong and longer password than normal.
This will make it difficult for hackers to use password
hacking software to access your account. In addition to
changing your passwords, do not use similar passwords
for multiple accounts, especially if those are important
accounts or financial institutions. Reusing passwords
across different sites and services is a big risk. Just as
you would not use the same key to unlock your front
door and your car, you should never use the same
password for more than one account.
Be mindful of automatic WiFi connections
iPhones have a very good feature which allows you to
automatically connect to known WiFi hotspots without
your permission. There are high chances of cyber
criminals establishing their fake wireless networks
with the same name as a trusted public hotspot. In this
scenario, you might not even recognize that your iPhone
is working within the malicious WiFi network, giving
away all of your data to the scammer. That’s why it is very
important to be aware of every WiFi hotspot you are in or
turn this option off.
Guard your contacts, photos and messages
In recent versions of iOS, there are significant numbers
of features and data types that almost any app can
access: from GPS to contacts, to messages. For example,
if you install a third-party keyboard you must give it
full access to everything you are typing in order for you
to be able to use it. If this sounds quite non-secure to
you, then you have no choice but to go to “Settings”
and prevent all these corporation-driven apps from
accessing your data. After that, you probably won’t be
able to use some of the apps that you have, but that’s a
good way to secure your device
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