PossibleThreat Articles

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mobile apps

ComputerWorld Independent 

Apple warns of increased iPhone security risks

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Apple is telling European customers that new EU competition laws will make iPhones less safe once the company is forced to open up its platforms to third-party App Stores. The company, not exactly happy about this, has published a 32-page white paper where it spells out the risks arising from the EU’s big experiment.

The EU’s formal adoption of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) means Apple must make several changes to its App Store and business models. Changes include the introduction of support for third-party app stores, opening up to payment systems other than Apple Pay, and more.

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ComputerWorld Independent 

EU begins formal investigation of TikTok over potential violations of Digital Services Act

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The European Commission has opened formal proceedings to assess whether TikTok may have breached the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA) in various ways associated with the protection of minors, advertising transparency, data access for researchers, and managing risk for addictive design and harmful content.

The formal investigation adds to the privacy and safety concerns that have plagued the video-sharing platform, giving enterprises yet another reason to consider banning its use by employees while they access corporate networks. The Commission had previously conducted a preliminary investigation and risk assessment that found further oversight to be necessary.

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ComputerWorld Independent 

3 exceptional Android privacy power-ups

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In many ways, privacy has become a bit of a conceptual buzzword — something that, similar to the AI craze of the moment, is as much about marketing a broad idea to people as it is anything specific or practical.

But all opportunistic hype aside, privacy absolutely does matter — once you dig in past that silly outer layer and actually think about what, exactly, you want to achieve. And here in the land o’ Android, you’ve got plenty o’ potential-packed possibilities to ponder.

Today, I want to draw your attention to one area where a teensy bit of effort can give you an awful lot of added privacy advantages — and that’s in the ever-evolving domain of web browsing on your favorite Android gadget.

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ComputerWorld Independent 

Apple’s latest China App Store problem is a warning for us all

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ComputerWorld Independent 

Are you looking forward to the new age of mobile app insecurity?

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A contact recently told me that Apple handles thousands of inquiries from people who have forgotten or misplaced their Apple ID logins every day. That’s probably why Apple recently made it easier to access your Apple ID using any known email address.

But Apple reps are also inundated with requests related to third-party apps over which they have no control. As the EU looks to force Apple into allowing apps from alternative app stores onto its devices, a practice known as sideloading, the user experience with Apple devices — and the flood of inquiries and complaints — is about to get much, much worse.

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ComputerWorld Independent 

The best Android password managers

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Protecting your online accounts is more important now than ever — and in spite of some recent high-profile hacks, relying on a third-party password manager is still the easiest and most effective way to ensure your most important credentials remain secure.

Why? It’s simple: Reusing passwords puts you at a heightened risk for hacking. If someone discovers your password at just one website — via any sort of breach, be it large-scale or targeted — they can then use that same password to crack into your accounts at countless other places. It happens all the time.

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ComputerWorld Independent 

US agency calls Apple, Google App Stores 'harmful'

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Apple appears to have been given yet another set of reasons to expand its legal team as the US National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) calls for antitrust action to force Apple and Google to make big changes to their mobile app store business models.

What’s the problem?

NTIA is the principal advisor on telecommunications and Internet policy to the Biden administration. It argues that the way things are run at present may be “harmful,” arguing that Google’s and Apple’s “gatekeeper” positions may harm consumers by raising prices and reducing innovation.

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ComputerWorld Independent 

Why Macs and iPhones should avoid installing 'orphan' apps

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There are many reasons any business with a connected fleet of tech products needs robust security policies in place. But the need to protect the enterprise against vulnerabilities inherited with third-party software must be among the biggest motivators. While I shouldn’t need to convince Computerworld readers to keep things locked down, I want to reprise two recent reports to reinforce the warning.

Half of all macOS malware comes from one app

Elastic Security Labs (via 9to5Mac) recently estimated that half of all macOS malware is installed as a result of poor management of the MacKeeper utility app. The report said almost 50% of Mac malware arrives through its installation.

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ComputerWorld Independent 

Sadly, IT can no longer trust geolocation for much of anything

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Credit to Author: eschuman@thecontentfirm.com| Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2022 03:00:00 -0700

Geolocation was once a glorious way to know who your company is dealing with (and sometimes what they are doing). Then VPNs started to undermine that. And now, things have gotten so bad that the Apple App Store and Google Play both offer apps that unashamedly declare they can spoof locations — and neither mobile OS vendor does anything to stop it.

Why? It seems both Apple and Google created the holes these developers are using.

In a nutshell, Apple and Google — to test their apps across various geographies — needed to be able to trick the system into thinking that their developers are wherever they wanted to say that they are. What’s good for the mobile goose, as they say.

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ComputerWorld Independent 

Banks face a WhatsApp reckoning as regulators clamp down on messaging apps

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Credit to Author: Matthew Finnegan| Date: Mon, 08 Aug 2022 03:01:00 -0700

As regulators hand out hundreds of millions of dollars in fines for record-keeping failures related to the use of social messaging platforms such as WhatsApp, the finance industry faces a choice: properly enforce bans on the use of these apps or find ways to make them compliant.

“The explosion of new electronic communications channels — and the pervasive use of these — raises lots of red flags for the regulators,” said Anthony Diana, a partner at law firm Reed Smith’s Tech & Data Group. “The fear is that, if bad things are happening, they’re happening on these personal apps, not on the sanctioned communication channels that are surveilled.”

Anthony Diana Anthony Diana

Anthony Diana, a partner at law firm Reed Smith’s Tech & Data Group.

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