If you are using your smartphone or tablet to access your personal accounts, you better take some precautions to make sure you are protected. Due to the fact that smartphones and tablets have eclipsed unit sales of desktop and laptop PCs, fraudsters have set their sights on mobile devices and maliciously modified apps are becoming a more popular vector for infecting devices.
According to consulting firm Gartner, 17.7 billion mobile apps are estimated to be downloaded in 2011 (a 115% increase from 2010). By 2012, mobile apps are projected to generate more than $15 billion in app store revenues from end-users alone. For the moment, the amount of detected smartphone malware is relatively low compared to malware that targets desktop or laptop PCs; but being aware that it exists is the first step toward protecting yourself and your data.
Fortunately, there are some common sense practices that anyone can take to help protect their smartphones and tablets from the growing threat of malware and the persistent threat of unsecured devices. Of late, security technology major McAfee, a wholly owned subsidiary of Intel, is seeing significant growth in the mobile malware threat landscape. In response to this, it has come to the rescue of device owners; it is sharing its tech tips to avoid downloading bad apps.
Here are some easy steps device users can take to secure their own devices.
*Research apps and their publishers thoroughly and check the ratings?better to install apps that are broadly used in the market or are recommended by your circle of friends and colleagues
*It is wise to purchase from a well-known reputable app store market, such as the Android market. One way for
Android users to avoid installation of non-market applications is to de-select the ?Unknown sources? option in the Applications Settings menu on their device. If the option is not listed, it means your mobile service provider has already done this for the user
*When you install an app, you?ll see a list of permissions for services that are granted access to the hardware and software components on your device, like contacts, camera and location. If something in the permissions screen doesn?t look right, don?t install that app! For example, a game or alarm clock app probably shouldn?t need to access your contacts or have the ability to transmit that data from your device
*Install anti-virus software on your phone. It is a good idea to install an anti-virus program when you get a new mobile device before you add any other apps.