app4 – PSafe Blog

What You Should Know About SSL Certificates

PSafe Newsroom — Wed, 11 Oct 2017 01:00:40 +0000

SSL certificates sound complicated, which can confuse people into not caring about them. If the name does not sound familiar, why bother with them, right? In actuality, SSL certificates are very important to web security and the safety of your Android and personal data. A weak SSL certificate can expose your personal information to a hacker. Click here to download dfndr security and use the anti-hacking feature to block malicious and deceptive websites so your personal information is never at risk:

Ever wonder why premier online marketplaces (such as Amazon) are safer to use when it comes to using your credit card than weird vendor websites? The premier marketplaces have something that the sketchy sites do not: a strong SSL certificate. The presence or absence of one of these security layers is all that stands between your credit card info and a hacker.

What is an SSL certificate?
SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificates are paid security systems that protect sensitive websites from exposing your Social Security number and credit card information from being exposed as you type it. You know if an SSL certificate is protecting your webpage if you see a padlock in the URL bar at the top of your browser.

Not all SSL certificates are the same, however. The more expensive they are, the more complicated and secure they are. Weak SSL certificates are dangerous, causing the entire webpage to be vulnerable to phishing and malware. Sometimes, weak SSL certificates are not easily advertised, so it is difficult to spot a dangerous and unsecured website.

Websites with weak SSL certificates allow hackers to copy and replicate your credit card, bank, and Social Security numbers. By going on a bad website, you risk losing your finances and identity without even knowing it. By clicking on a bad ad link, a hacker could copy your credit card and use it to withdraw your money before you log off. That’s why it’s important to use anti-hacking so that you never enter your personal information on an insecure site.

There are many ways to identify how strong a website’s SSL certificate is. The first is obvious — just look for the padlock icon in the address bar before typing in your personal information. If the padlock is unlocked or missing, it would not be wise to share your private information on that site. Depending on the type of browser you use, it may also notify you when your connection to a website is not secure, to further protect you online.

Apps Stealing from Other Apps Can Compromise Your Security

PSafe Newsroom — Wed, 11 Oct 2017 00:00:20 +0000

Most security features can pinpoint apps that steal sensitive user data. When two apps work together, however, it becomes much more difficult to detect the collection of private information. A study released by Virginia Tech uncovered upwards of 20,000 app pairings that can share information in a way that threatens user security. Always take extra measures, keep your apps protected from prying eyes by activating the applock feature now:

applock allows you to set an extra password by creating a numeric or finger pattern.

The Virginia-based security researchers discovered that the risk of privacy exposure for users significantly increased when apps shared information in pairs. Hackers can uncover highly sensitive information about users by combining the data from a navigation app with that of an itinerary, thanks to this flaw.

Privilege Escalation
Privilege escalation is a technique utilized by apps and developers to gain deeper access to data and secure information. Apps are able to do this by exploiting a gap within the system such as a bug or a design flaw. Once apps are able to escalate their privileges through this technique, they can perform unauthorized actions. A significant portion of the apps identified in the study relies on privilege escalation to leak and pair data. While such apps would normally never be granted access to sensitive information, the exploitation of bugs and design flaws allows them to expand their reach and potential actions.

Malicious or Not?
When looking at the app pairings uncovered by security researchers, it is hard to pinpoint which specific pairings are intentionally engineered for the purpose of stealing data. Often, only one of the paired apps is malicious. Other times, both of the apps are simply poorly designed. Regardless, the pairing of this data can prove useful to hackers who can access their app log files, regardless of whether or not the flaw was maliciously constructed.

Information at Risk
When relying on calendar, online shopping, and communication apps, beware of the data privileges assigned to such services. App pairings can result in the leaking of user contacts and geolocation, and can even allow access to the web. The apps most susceptible to such dangers are often free since developers are trying to entice users, but the app could also contain several design flaws.

Moving forward, Android mobile users should be aware of the security levels of their apps, both new and old. Users should also be cognizant of the permissions granted to each application, should always read the terms of service, and should never trust apps to have access to information beyond what is strictly necessary.

How to Prevent Identity Theft When You’re Online

PSafe Newsroom — Wed, 04 Oct 2017 01:00:31 +0000

Browsing the Internet is fun, useful, and — let’s face it — a part of our day-to-day lives. Since we do it so often, we can then come face to face with phishing attacks, malware, and even identity theft. Enduring an identity theft issue is quite the inconvenience. Click here to download dfndr security and use the anti-hacking feature when browsing the web to make your online experience more secure:

Anti-hacking will protect you against phishing attempts and malicious websites that are designed to steal your personal information. Once activated, you’ll be automatically blocked from unsafe websites so that you can browse the web worry-free. Still, there are other ways you can protect yourself against identity theft online.

Watch Out for Phishing Sites and Attempts
Phishing attempts present themselves in the form of a website that looks like a legitimate business, however, they’re really looking for your sensitive information. For instance, they may be asking for a username and password, or even an address, social security number, credit card number, driver’s license number, or bank account number. Don’t enter information if anything about the site seems suspicious, and don’t hesitate to do research on the site to make sure it’s safe. Avoid this from happening altogether by using Anti-Hacking and only shopping on sites that you know to be secure.

Create Unique Passwords for Every Site
Using unique passwords for each login will make it less likely that you’ll suffer from identity theft. This is because hackers who gain access to one account could easily get into another if you use the same password for multiple sites. Use complex and unique passwords for each site so that you are completely protected. You may even want to consider using a secure password generator to ensure that your key is as safe as possible.

Secure Your Wireless Network
Securing your wireless network is another great way to protect yourself against the possibility of identity theft. Leaving your network open by not securing it with WPA encryption can allow an attacker to use your network without your knowledge, and also see what you’re doing on the web. Then, hackers can build a profile of you and your entire family, as well as of the websites you visit. This could allow malicious individuals access to items like your social security number or your credit card number. Add a password to your wireless network to protect against this, and change it periodically.

Is It Safe to Let Your Android’s Browser Remember Passwords?

PSafe Newsroom — Wed, 04 Oct 2017 00:00:02 +0000

Is it safe to have your Android remember passwords for you? As you may have guessed, as badly as you want the answer to be “yes,” it’s a wholehearted “no.” Having your Android remember passwords for you may allow you to access your email or banking website more swiftly, but if your phone somehow falls into the wrong hands, this easy access is going to make your life a whole lot more difficult. Click here to use advanced protection to protect your phone’s security in the event of loss or theft:

There are a few ways your passwords can be turned against you when you save them to your browser. Because your phone travels everywhere with you, there is always a chance you will lose it, and if you have passwords saved in it, anyone just needs to get to the home screen and everything will be open to them.

The same can be true if someone is able to access your phone remotely. Essentially, the hard work has already been done for them. It doesn’t matter if your password is a series of impossible to guess numbers and letters — if it is already saved, the guesswork is already done. Even something as innocuous as your email can have huge ramifications. Besides sending prank emails, most sites allow you to reset your password through the use of your email, and a would-be hacker can use your email to gain access to numerous accounts while simultaneously locking you out.

How to Protect Your Device
There are other resources to defend yourself against hacks. dfndr’s applock feature allows you to lock your apps with a password, to further protect yourself against potential hacks and thieves. Even with additional security measures, the best thing you can do is to avoid situations that could result in your phone falling into the wrong hands. This means keeping an eye on your phone at all times while you are out and about, as well as while you are with friends.

It may seem like a paranoid habit, but the simple truth is that it’s always better to be safe than sorry. The same is true for your Internet browsing. Make sure to always use secure networks, and be careful about the sites that you use. If you don’t know the site, look it up and make sure it is legitimate — any information you put into an untrusted site could be used against you.

How to Protect Your Data from Ransomware Attacks

PSafe Newsroom — Mon, 18 Sep 2017 01:00:54 +0000

Ransomware scams have grown in scale and strength over the years. Some of the most successful ransomware scams can yield anywhere from $3 to $18 million from victims. The hackers will threaten to publish the victim’s personal data, essentially holding their personal data for ransom, which makes the name “ransomware” very fitting. Ransomware doesn’t always strike instantly, either, so you may not know that you have it on your device until it’s too late. Click here to use the security scan feature to quickly scan your device for any hidden threats:

How Do Ransomware Attacks Work?
Typically, hackers get the ransomware tech to your phone or computer system through the downloading of a file or some vulnerability in your network’s service. The ransomware essentially acts like a lock and locks up your computer or phone so that you can’t access any of your data or information. The ransomware may then send itself your data so that it can blackmail the victim into paying the ransom to get their private information back. Once the victim pays the hackers, the hackers typically send them an unlock code that will get rid of the ransomware from the system.

What is WannaCry?
In May 2017, the WannaCry ransomware attack targeted computers that were running an outdated and unpatched version of Microsoft Windows as their operating system, which included much of the computers at the UK’s National Healthcare Service (NHS). During this large ransomware attack, the hackers encrypted the data so that the computers couldn’t access their data. After that, the hackers demanded that they get their ransom via Bitcoin because it’s practically untraceable.

However, before the NHS or the other 230,000 infected computers could pay the ransom, a young British computer pro cracked the WannaCry attack and shut down the malware himself. As it turns out, the ransomware attack was poorly designed, which made it easy for the computer expert to find the “kill-switch” and shut down the hack.

How to Keep Your Data Protected
In order to keep ransomware and hackers out of your phone, you should regularly scan all of your devices for malware to ensure that your device is free of viruses and ransomware. Another way to keep your data safe is by creating an additional authentication step for your accounts. By creating a special code or setting up a phone call verification to identify yourself, you can keep your data safe. Also, be sure that you use your own Wi-Fi on your devices because public Wi-Fi is more likely to be hacked.

Tips for Keeping Your Android’s Photo Library Small

PSafe Newsroom — Mon, 18 Sep 2017 00:00:25 +0000

Phone cameras have come a long way since their first conception, and they are now a genuinely useful tool for completing many tasks, such as taking photos. But you’ll want to make sure you keep the library slim. You’ll often be surprised to find as you scroll through that you have multiple pictures of the same thing, sometimes saved in different places. For that purpose, use the duplicate photos feature. Click here to remove photos clogging up your device:

While phones haven’t quite come to rival the best digital cameras, they have benefits. Our phones are always with us and allow us to easily send and share photos. Transferring these photos to a computer can free up some room, but it means you won’t be able to whip out your phone and share a memory in the middle of a conversation with friends.

Read More: 4 Best Android Camera Apps

Managing Your Photo Library
You don’t want to allow that photo library to become overly full, though. Besides slowing down your phone, you may also run out of room, and find yourself unable to capture the memory that’s happening right now. The great beauty of the phone camera is its ability to capture the surprising moments, moments you didn’t know were coming and that you would not normally have thought to bring a camera for. You don’t want to waste time scrolling through your library deleting pictures to free up space. By the time you’re done, there’s a good chance the moment will have passed.

So, how to pick which photos to have on your phone? You want a small enough number to allow for free space, but need some to show friends. So the real question becomes: What do you need immediate access to? Probably not selfies or even nice landscapes. If they’re nice enough you’ll probably have them up on social media, and be able to pull them up easily even if they’re not on your phone, and if they’re not nice enough to show to everyone you probably don’t need to show them to friends.

What you’ll really want are moments such as family events, parties, and achievements. It may sound like the sort of stuff your grandma would show to her friends, but maybe your grandma has the right idea about this — you want to be able to show off important life events, especially if they involve people you care about.

College Students: A Prime Target for Hacking

PSafe Newsroom — Tue, 12 Sep 2017 02:00:59 +0000

As college students across the country make their way to campuses armed with textbooks, smartphones, and computers — the one thing they’re likely missing is the right set of tools to prevent hacking attacks. The anti-hacking feature can make web browsing more secure for all college students, regardless of their online security knowledge. If you’re a college student download this handy tool now or if you’re a parent, encourage your child to protect themselves:

Providing a reliable backup for a wide range of online security slips, the anti-hacking tool protects students from malware, phishing attempts, viruses and unsecured credit card information or social security numbers.

To hackers, students are easy targets ripe for the picking, uneducated about online security with often near-perfect credit scores. With access to campus-wide networks of emails and other sensitive information, student’s lack of security knowledge can imperil an entire university.

Unprotected and Unaware
College campuses are easy targets for hackers, full to the brim with potential victims who know little or nothing about online security. Though schools who employ dedicated IT personnel to teach and monitor cyber security are more likely to experience stronger overall security performance, most campuses fail to provide anything beyond a basic IT security overview for students. In addition, not only are college students unusually susceptible to hacking attempts, they’re also significantly more likely to engage in online behavior that compromises their cybersecurity. With limited budgets, young students are more willing to rely on piracy to access textbooks, movies or software instead of accessing them through official sites.

Risk Factors
Student emails are linked to university-wide networks, and a student compromised by malware can unwittingly open an entire campus network to dangerous malware infections. Thanks to the confluence of vulnerable networks and inexperienced users, universities are regular targets for malware and ransomware attacks. Among the most common threats to campus, networks are malware attacks similar to the Trojan horse virus, a type of attack that masquerades as innocuous software and tricks a user into downloading it intentionally. Other common forms of malware known to target students include Adware, a form of malware which infects victims through ads, and Conflicker, a computer worm which targets and infects the Microsoft Office operating system.

Addressing the Issue
Both college administrators and students share the responsibility of staving off future hacking attempts. Students can employ basic online security tactics, avoiding the sites that make them easy targets, installing an effective antivirus on their computers and phones, and following university guidelines for regularly changing passwords. On the university’s part, administrators should be implementing two-factor authentication, monitoring university email logins, and employing staff and student engineers as allies in combating security threats.

What You Should Do if You Lose Your Phone While Traveling

PSafe Newsroom — Tue, 12 Sep 2017 01:00:32 +0000

It’s natural to panic when you misplace your smartphone, especially while traveling. These days, practically our whole lives are stored on our devices — important contact information, account information, emails, and valuable mementos such as photos and videos. Luckily, you can minimize the damage of losing your phone while traveling. Click here to enable anti-theft in advance so that your phone is protected in the event of loss or theft while traveling:

With anti-theft activated, you can remotely block thieves from accessing your phone, sound an alarm to find your phone nearby, show you your phone’s location on a map, and erase all of your phone’s data. anti-theft is a great tool to take advantage of on your phone because it’s easy to activate and gives you a crucial layer of additional protection. Find out how to access these features of below.

What to Do When You Lose Your Phone
The first step is to locate your phone from a different device. This step should be taken first to ensure that you didn’t misplace your device at your hotel or leave it at home. This can be done by visiting my.psafe.com and entering your Google account information. Once you’ve logged in, you can view your phone’s location, lock your device, erase all of your data, sound an alarm, or see if your SIM card has been taken out or replaced by clicking the “+” symbol in the bottom right corner.

You can choose which option seems most appropriate based on your situation. If your phone is somewhere in your room, for example, you may choose to play a sound in order to locate it quickly. If you suspect someone has taken your device, you can remove all of your data to prevent identity theft. You can also lock your phone to prevent further access to your device. From here, you can determine whether or not further action should be taken with the police in the event that your phone has been stolen or tampered with.

It’s important to be proactive in the event of misplacing your phone. In order to access the anti-theft features, you should have them activated prior to misplacing your device in order for them to work. The next time you plan to travel, you will experience a safer, worry-free traveling experience because you are prepared.

Best Free and Paid Password Protection Services

PSafe Newsroom — Tue, 12 Sep 2017 00:00:13 +0000

First thing’s first: How does password theft happen? It’s surprisingly easy, and as with many tech issues, it’s more often a case of human error rather than tech wizardry. The Internet is composed of a vast number of sites, and almost all of them require some sort of log-in. Some of these sites, while looking legitimate, are actually phishing attempts. Click here to use the anti-hacking feature to block phishing attempts and malicious websites:

With phishing attempts, hackers often wait for someone to stumble upon them, input a password, and wham — if they have your name, and if you’ve used the password elsewhere, you’re already in trouble. If you use it for things like banking or email (the latter of which allows you to reset passwords on most sites) you’re in deep trouble. So, the first step to take is to use anti-hacking. But you should also be wary and read URLs carefully. The next step is to use a password protection service.

How it Works
Password protection services work by generating random strings of letter and numbers for each of your passwords, so they are all unique and complex. The service then remembers the password for you, because you probably don’t have a brain built for remembering multiple strings of random letters and numbers. By diversifying and making guessing tough, the services are an enormous safety net for your online adventures.

If you’re looking for a free option, LogMeOnce is a good choice. Instead of using a master password as most services do, LogMeOnce relies on other techniques. By routing through your smartphone, it can use a fingerprint or pin identification to ensure you are really you. It also has an option for a master password, if you feel unsafe using your phone.

Another good option is LastPass 4.0. LastPass allows you to take an active hand in your security. LastPass will check for weak passwords and help you change them, and it can even help search through your websites for sites that are known to have been compromised. From there it will help you change any passwords associated with said sites.

Of course, security is worth spending some money on, so there’s also the option of LastPass 4.0 Premium. Premium offers even more freedom and safety. Let’s say you want to allow someone to log in to one of your sites remotely, but don’t want them to know the password. Using LastPass Premium, you can grant them access and fully log them in, without ever allowing them to see what your password for the site is. With more freedom and safety, and for only $2 a month, LastPass Premium is a smart buy.

Vicious Mobile Banking Trojan Steals All Your Information

PSafe Newsroom — Mon, 11 Sep 2017 01:00:00 +0000

As hackers develop new methods for creating malware, it can become harder to detect these virtually invisible threats in the Google Play Store. A new banking trojan, nicknamed “BankBot,” appears harmless initially, but it can intercept and steal an Android user’s sensitive bank information. That’s why it’s important to run a full virus scan on your device after downloading any new apps from the Play Store. Click here to scan your phone for malware:

Regularly running a Full Virus Scan on your phone is critical in detecting malware that one would normally not discover until it’s too late. Experts are warning that, as more apps saturate the Play store, it is becoming more difficult to detect harmless programs from malicious ones. To find out more about what type of threat this malware may pose to your security, read on below.

What is BankBot Malware?
The BankBot malware is hidden inside of an app called “Funny Videos,” which has between 1,000 and 5,000 installations from the Google Play store. The app appears to be a normal video application, and it advertises that it features “only hand selected and most popular video clips from YouTube.” Once installed, the malware can access sensitive information from over 400 banks nationwide.

Malware like “BankBot” is often disguised in pop-ups, such as a window asking the user to agree to the app’s terms and conditions. Once the user clicks this, however, the malware creates an overlay that enables it to begin stealing information from the user. Google has since removed the malicious app from the Play store, but some users still question Google’s security precautions in detecting these harmful viruses.

Lately, Google Play has had a lot of trouble with malicious ads and pop-ups hidden in its apps. They recently removed more than 40 infected apps, which had been downloaded more than 36 million times.

How to Protect Your Device
In order to protect yourself against these nearly invisible threats, you’ll also want to enable the Anti-Hacking feature. Once activated, Anti-Hacking will protect you against malicious websites and phishing attacks that are designed to steal your personal information, such as passwords or financial information. Click here now to stay safe online: