by Ziuby
According to a study by International Business Machines Corp, millions of people using dating apps on company smartphones could be exposing themselves and their
employers to hacking, spying and theft. IBM security researchers said 26 of 41 dating apps they analyzed on Google Inc's Android mobile platform had medium or
high severity vulnerabilities. IBM did not name the vulnerable apps but said it had alerted the app publishers to problems.
According to a 2013 Pew Research Center study, about 31 million Americans have used a dating site or app. IBM found employees used vulnerable dating apps in nearly
50 percent of the companies sampled for its research.
IBM said the problem is that people on dating apps let their guard down and are not as sensitive to potential security problems as they might be on email or websites.
A phone's camera or microphone could be turned on remotely through a vulnerable app, which IBM warned could be used to eavesdrop on personal conversations or confidential business meetings. Vulnerable GPS data could also lead to stalking, and a user's billing information could be hacked to purchase things on other apps or websites. IBM also said it had not so far seen a rash of security breaches due to dating apps as opposed to any other kind of social media.
This report comes in when already there many victims of security breaches and instances of miss use of sensitive information have occurred. It seems for now a user must be highly vigilant about the information shared in the digital world.
#ziuby
According to a study by International Business Machines Corp, millions of people using dating apps on company smartphones could be exposing themselves and their
employers to hacking, spying and theft. IBM security researchers said 26 of 41 dating apps they analyzed on Google Inc's Android mobile platform had medium or
high severity vulnerabilities. IBM did not name the vulnerable apps but said it had alerted the app publishers to problems.
According to a 2013 Pew Research Center study, about 31 million Americans have used a dating site or app. IBM found employees used vulnerable dating apps in nearly
50 percent of the companies sampled for its research.
IBM said the problem is that people on dating apps let their guard down and are not as sensitive to potential security problems as they might be on email or websites.
A phone's camera or microphone could be turned on remotely through a vulnerable app, which IBM warned could be used to eavesdrop on personal conversations or confidential business meetings. Vulnerable GPS data could also lead to stalking, and a user's billing information could be hacked to purchase things on other apps or websites. IBM also said it had not so far seen a rash of security breaches due to dating apps as opposed to any other kind of social media.
This report comes in when already there many victims of security breaches and instances of miss use of sensitive information have occurred. It seems for now a user must be highly vigilant about the information shared in the digital world.
#ziuby
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