The Real Smartphone Risk

The big kerfuffle with Android the last week has been news of a wallpaper app that reportedly sent personal information to a server in China. The story initially broke on VentureBeat and was picked up by many news outlets because it had all the markings of the type of smartphone security horror that some people have long been predicting: an app downloaded millions of times, sending data to some mysterious server in that country on other side of the world, China. Only problem is, it was all wrong. As Todd reported, Google, who had pulled the offending app from the Android Market, reviewed the app and determined that while it may have some questionable programming, it was not maliciously sending data. Let's agree on one thing, at some point there will be an exploit on mobile phones that will affect a lot of people. Smartphones are essentially little computers, always connected to the Internet, and our appetite for the next incredible app compels many of us to install apps on our phones without really thinking about it. Let's also agree that the risk is not only to Android phones, but iPhone as well. The risks warrant using common sense and not forgetting what we learned from using personal computers. Even folks who don't understand Android's app permissions knows that they should not thoughtlessly open e-mail attachments. My recommendation is that if you can't understand Android's permissions, spend a few moments to check out an app before installing it on your phone. Ask a friend whether they have the app and are having any problems, read review's about the app, or search for the app on Google. A few minutes researching an app can save you a lot of time restoring a phone or dealing with the loss of data. What I fear may be the real smartphone risk is the "cry wolf" syndrome created by the sensationalist articles being published about smartphone security. All that is needed are a few cycles of false alarms for people to start tuning out and not take seriously warnings of a real threat. My wish is that rather than being poised as "the company" to sell us the best security app, and rather than being poised to "break the news" or simply to say "I told you so," we tone down the rhetoric so that the average smartphone user can understand what is a real threat and what is not.

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The Real Smartphone Risk

Frank McPherson

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Frank McPherson