data – PSafe Blog

Go Rando is Disrupting Facebook’s Info-Gathering Algorithm

PSafe Newsroom — Sun, 09 Apr 2017 20:00:54 +0000

You already know that using Facebook can take a toll on your privacy. But maybe you didn’t know the extent of that toll. Whenever you use a reaction emoji to a friend’s post of a cute puppy or important news story, you’re giving Facebook information about yourself. Yes, Facebook is always gathering information about its users, such as when you tag photos, how you react to different types of content, and even the words you type.

To some, Facebook’s constant gathering of data is disturbing. One person disturbed by the algorithm is artist Ben Grosser, whose Go Rando app lets users hide likes so they can’t be detected by the Facebook algorithm. This is just one way to ensure your privacy and remain secure on the Web. You should also scan your devices regularly for malware and security threats. Facebook is frequently targeted with malware, and it’s easy to click on — and spread — a malicious link. By regularly scanning your phone, you can find viruses before they cause any problems. Click here to perform a quick virus scan on your device:

Read More: 3 Ways to Be Safe on Facebook

What is Go Rando?
Go Rando is a web browser extension that intercepts the actual emoji choice you’ve made on Facebook and randomizes it amongst the six reaction icons. That means if you clicked a thumbs up on Facebook, Go Rando might have turned it into a mad-faced emoji for the algorithm. The software is free.

Because of the app, Facebook will start seeing you as an emotionally-balanced person: you’ll be sad, happy, and angry at Facebook postings equally. Additionally, Facebook will have a difficult time knowing whether your reactions are genuine. In other words, you might start being perceived as a bot or a fake account.

What’s the Purpose of Go Rando?
The artist didn’t create the web browser simply out of the goodness of his heart, however. Grosser created the app as part of the Blinding Pleasures exhibit held at London’s Arebyte Gallery.

Why Does Facebook Collect my Data Anyway?
Facebook uses data for several purposes. For one, your data determines what kind of content you see on your Facebook news feed. That means that, depending on which types of content you’d prefer to see, your news feed will become, for example, more or less politicized.

Off the site, Facebook data is used for things like targeted ads and, in some cases, government surveillance. Additionally, social media sells user data to corporations, and the United States might start reviewing social media pages of those applicants seeking visas to enter the United States.

The Cloudfare Data Leak: What You Need to Know

PSafe Newsroom — Sun, 09 Apr 2017 14:00:52 +0000

Cloudflare, a tech company headquartered in San Francisco, provides high-security content delivery to over five million websites. Essentially, the reverse proxy server is the intermediary between a site’s visitors and the website’s host with a focus on Internet security.

As Cloudflare proves, even the most security-focused websites aren’t always free from information breaches. That’s why it’s so important to have additional security on your devices. Use DFNDR’s Full Virus Scan to ensure that all malware threats are removed from your phone. It will scan your files, programs, and SD card to locate and remove malware. Click here to scan your device for security threats:

What happened with Cloudfare?

This focus on Internet security was part of the reason it was such a surprise when, in early 2017, Cloudflare had a serious security bug in its software. This bug released data like passwords, cookies, and authentication tokens from its websites. Users’ personal information is usually encrypted or obscured, but the bug caused this data to be revealed in plain text. In the worst-case scenario, anyone who saw the error could have collected the personal information from these users.

Perhaps the biggest issue with the data leak was that the leak may have happened nearly five months before it was reported to Cloudflare. However, the biggest leak happened over six days when one out of every 3,300,000 requests to Cloudflare caused data to be exposed. When this happened, hackers could access the data on demand through the cached files on search engines.

Users found a wide variety of data that had been released from Cloudflare, including data website messages, hotel bookings, chatroom messages, and passwords, among other information. Cloudflare leaked data in around 0.00003% of its requests. This is, of course, a small number, but the significance of the data, and the number of users who employ Cloudflare, make it important.

What Caused the Leak?

The virus that caused the problem infected a part of the system Cloudflare uses to improve website performance. Three Cloudflare features were not integrated well with this program, causing the data to be released.

How Did Cloudfare Solve This Problem?

Cloudflare had difficulty finding a solution to the data leak. The data that had been released was automatically cached by search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo, and the company had to go to each one of these companies individually to ask them to clear the data.

Millions of Kids’ Conversations Leaked Due to Teddy Bears

PSafe Newsroom — Thu, 06 Apr 2017 14:00:45 +0000

Recently, CloudPets’ database was hacked, and more than half a million people had their data leaked. CloudPets is a company that sells stuffed animals that are connected to the Internet of Things. Their stuffed animals can connect to an app via Bluetooth to allow parents to record audio messages or else play pre-recorded messages through the stuffed animal. While this could make a child’s toy more fun and interactive, these messages unfortunately weren’t securely stored in CloudPets’ database, along with the rest of their customers’ account information. If a major company’s database can be breached, it’s possible for hackers to access data on any of your devices, including your smartphone. DFNDR’s Advanced Protection feature ensures that even if hackers gain access to your phone, virtually or physically, they will not be able to uninstall DFNDR and your data will remain safe. Click here to activate Advanced Protection:

The CouldPets data leak included profile pictures, email addresses, passwords, and voice recordings. More than two million voice recordings of children and adults were released. Those who had their data leaked never received a notification of the leak. Cloudpets’ user data was more vulnerable largely due to weak user passwords and poor database security. They allowed users to create passwords with one letter, such as “a,” for example. This allowed users’ passwords to be easily guessed, which compromised their accounts.

How Was the Data Breach Revealed?

Troy Hunt, who runs a breach notification website, revealed that the database was publicly accessible, meaning that it wasn’t password-protected or hidden behind a firewall. According to Hunt, the data was traded online as early as last year, and often held for ransom. He had attempted to warn CloudPets of this data breach, without success. However, after CloudPets was notified of the breach — even though they did not publicly acknowledge the breach or inform users that their data was compromised — their original database was deleted. Shortly after, none of their databases were publicly accessible.

Internet of Things Devices Often Have Weak Security

This isn’t the first time that IoT-connected toys were hacked. In 2015, for example, VTech experienced a large data breach that revealed personal information of more than five million adults and 200,000 kids. Shortly after, a Barbie doll by Mattel was found to be easily hackable. The doll could be used to record conversations in real-time.

In addition to companies improving their database security, incidents like this could be prevented in the future if users follow safe online practices. This includes creating stronger passwords, using two-factor authentication when possible, and exercising caution when using IoT-connected devices. Many IoT devices, in general, are insecure; you should share as little data with them as possible, or neglect using IoT-connected toys all together until security is improved. Further, make sure that your router is a newer model that receives frequent security patches and updates.

What to Do About Apps That Are Stealing Your Data

PSafe Newsroom — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 15:00:34 +0000

Is your battery life draining faster than you’d expect it to? That’s most likely because some apps on your Android phone are still running in the background, using up your data and uselessly draining your battery simultaneously. You use your mobile phones so often per day that you would never think that the reason your battery is dying, or the reason your data usage skyrocketed this month, is because of apps that are still working when you’re not.

Unfortunately, even closing your apps when you are done with them doesn’t necessarily ensure that they quit working or that they stop using data in the background. To protect your battery life and your data plan from unwarranted usage, use DFNDR’s Accelerate Internet feature. This feature will boost your mobile phone’s performance by closing the applications that are running in the background and speeding up your Internet with just a click. You will be happy when your smartphone runs better than ever and you have no wasted data. Click here to close background apps and speed up your device now:

There are a few apps that are using up your phone’s data more than others. Here are the three biggest data-stealing apps on your phone:

Instagram

Seeing as Instagram has become a platform to post more than just a photo, the videos that appear on your feed are automatically preloaded by the app — which uses background data to make sure your apps are successfully preloaded in time for you to scroll through your newsfeed. While this may save you some time when you are scrolling through your newsfeed, it uses a lot of data.

Snapchat

Snapchat is a killer when it comes down to both data and battery life. Similar to Instagram, Snapchat uses your data to constantly refresh stories and keep them preloaded for you so that you can just hit play when you are ready to watch. The trouble with this is that it causes your data to slowly wither away since the app requires a ton of data to begin with.

Dropbox

Dropbox is extremely convenient when it comes to backing up your files or storing them for later. Unfortunately, Dropbox can be inconvenient when it comes to utilizing your data. The app constantly syncs and backs up your photos, even when you didn’t prompt it to. It uploads your photos in the background — using more data than you anticipated. Make sure apps like Dropbox are not doing any extra work in the background in order to ensure the best performance for your smartphone and the most efficient usage of your data.

How to Encrypt the Data on Your Android Phone

PSafe Newsroom — Fri, 07 Oct 2016 12:25:07 +0000

We spend a lot of time on our smartphones. We trust them with our personal information, and even the information of others, whether they’re friends, family, or colleagues. If you’re worried about protecting private information on your phone, especially in the case of loss or theft, then encrypting your data is the solution. Encryption is a security measure that makes the data on your phone unreadable to a computer or person who doesn’t have permission to access your device. This permission might be in the form of a passcode or fingerprint. This is a necessary precaution if you want to protect yourself against any future hassles related to a lost or stolen phone.

For newer models of iPhones, device encryption is built into the software, so that you only need to “lock” your phone with a passcode or fingerprint to enable encryption. Because of Google’s open platform, it hasn’t been easy to require that all Android phones be encrypted by default. However, newer Nexus and Galaxy devices and many devices with Marshmallow 6.0 have encryption enabled by default. Like the iPhone, you only need a passcode or fingerprint to activate device encryption. You can do this by going to your phone’s settings. Click “security.” Create a “screen lock.”

But if you have an older phone or operating system, that doesn’t mean your device doesn’t offer data encryption. However, there are a few things to keep in mind. If you’re trying to encrypt an older phone model, doing so could result in a performance lag. In addition, the only way to decrypt your phone is by performing a factory reset. With that in mind, the following will help you to activate device encryption.

The first step is to create a “screen lock” for your device. This won’t automatically enable encryption for older models, as stated. Next, go to your phone’s settings. Click “security” and then “encrypt phone.” Before you encrypt your phone, your phone will inform you of what you’re about to do. It will tell you to charge your phone and to make sure it remains plugged in. Encryption could take more than an hour, depending on how much data is on your phone. In addition, you can encrypt any SD cards connected to the device.

Download PSafe Total
In addition to encrypting your phone, download PSafe Total to ensure that your device is protected against malware 24/7. Furthermore, with PSafe Total’s anti-theft feature, you can even track, block, locate, or erase your data in the event that your phone gets lost or stolen.