Mobile Commerce: New Technologies & Digital Identity

October 20-26:  Mobile Commerce: New Technologies & Your Digital Identity

With smartphones and tablets becoming a dominant technology for American consumer’s communications, mobile commerce has naturally followed in the effort to extend even greater access and convenience to commerce and financial services.

Yet these advances don’t come without their cyber security challenges. Leading security analysts have observed increased interest in mobile hacking, with new methods of exploitation being developed by foreign nation-state and cybercriminal organizations.

From malicious apps that steal your mobile data to SMS spam that baits mobile users with tempting texts, downloading Trojan apps that can take over the device, the cyber security diligence for a mobile device user is increasingly a primary responsibility for all of us.

What Can I Do?

Keep a Clean Machine.  Mobile devices are computers with software that needs to be kept up-to-date (just like your PC, laptop or tablet). Security protections are built in and updated on a regular basis. Take time to make sure all the mobile devices in your house have the latest protections. This may require synching your device with a computer.

• Keep security software current: Having the latest mobile security software, web browser, and operating system are the best defenses against viruses, malware, and other online threats.
• Protect all devices that connect to the Internet: Computers, smart phones, gaming systems, and other web-enabled devices all need protection from viruses and malware.

Protect Your Personal Information.  Phones can contain tremendous amounts of personal information. Lost or stolen devices can be used to gather information about you and, potentially, others. Protect your phone like you would your computer.

• Secure your phone: Use a strong passcode to lock your phone.
• Think before you buy that app: Review the privacy policy and understanding what data (location, access to your social networks) on your device an app can access before you download it.
• Think twice about before you download that free app. Applications cost money to create – what information about you is the app owner selling in order to pay for their investment? Who are they sharing your information with including your geolocation, contacts, photos and messages, and what else are you giving them permission to see?
• Only give your mobile number out to people you know and trust and never give anyone else's number out without their permission.
• Learn how to disable the geotagging feature on your phone at http://icanstalku.com/how.php#disable.

Connect with Care.  Use common sense when you connect. If you’re online through an unsecured or unprotected network, be cautious about the sites you visit and the information you release.

• Get savvy about Wi-Fi hotspots: Limit the type of business you conduct and adjust the security settings on your device to limit who can access your phone.
• Protect your $$: When banking and shopping, check to be sure the sites is security enabled. Look for web addresses with "https://" or "shttp://", which means the site takes extra measures to help secure your information. "Http://" is not secure.
• When in doubt, don’t respond. Fraudulent texting, calling and voicemails are on the rise. Just like email, requests for personal information or to immediate action are almost always a scam.

For more helpful tips on Cyber Security, be sure to follow the @ABABankers Twitter account and use the hashtags #NCSAM.