Along with the unconditional benefits, the smart devices around us also carry a number of dangers. Thus, with the help of a smartphone, attackers can gain access to the personal data of its owner. According to Evgeny Kashkin, associate professor of the Department of Intelligent Information Security Systems at RTU MIREA, there are several signs that may indirectly indicate that your smartphone has become a spy.
"An important point, in this case, is the requirement for applications to use a camera, microphone, as well as access to data (images and videos) on the phone during installation. Of course, you can disagree with this point during the installation, but most likely, then the application will not work at all or will work incorrectly," the expert explains.
According to him, for a number of applications, these access rights are mandatory for work, but there are applications where "such rights for normal operation are simply absurd." For example, a home internet account status application.
Another important factor, in his opinion, is the use of geolocation in applications. At the same time, it`s not only about GPS, but also the use of cellular data, as well as connections to various web resources. Such an approach, on the one hand, can greatly facilitate the search for the right companies within walking distance in a number of search engines, but, on the other hand, the cell phone conducts a "total" tracking of your movements. The key question, in this case, is how the data will be used by those who collect it.
A number of companies have gone even further in this context. They started tracking the email messages of the users. Thus, with the banal purchase of an electronic plane ticket, the system will notify you in advance of the departure date, and on the day of departure, it will build you a route to the airport, taking into account traffic jams.
He also advises paying attention to the sudden and uneven loss of battery power. This may indicate that a malicious program is running in the background that can use the phone to carry out a DDOS attack.
Another alarming symptom is the sudden freezing of the phone or even turning it off for no objective reason. And finally, the occurrence of noises and extraneous sounds during a conversation may also indicate that your phone is being monitored.
