Forget Aadhaar, your phone can reveal all your private details to hackers

Forget Aadhaar, your phone can reveal all your private details to hackers

Whenever a new smartphone is bought, Facebook and Whatsapp are probably the first two mobile apps that buyers search for in the app store. For convenience, users also tend to install a host of third-partyapplications without going through their permission policies.A closer look at the permission policy of one of the most commonly used apps like Facebook reveals terrifying details.

The app requires you to let it access literally all your data and information stored in the handset. Moreover, it also seeks to access the device camera and make calls, without informing you

every time it does access these features. While Facebook is a proprietary app, the rule remains the same for manythirdparty apps, the origin and ownership of which is not known.Even as data leaks from UIDAI – the body that maintains Aadhaar data of over a billion Indians –raises questions over the safety of personal data, breach of privacy may come from our very own mobile devices. From biometric data like fingerprintand retina scans to financial information like your card numbers and password – all may be up for sale if your handset is hacked.Falling price of IMSI Catcher (International Mobile Subscriber Identity Catcher) and a flurry ofmalware has now changed the tide against handset users. IMSI, for example, is now widely used to identify a user of a mobile network and as its price in the black market is falling sharply, it is making analysts and experts jittery.

According to Gurpal Singh, senior market analyst, IDC, as the device that is used during the first step to identify one user is now cheaper than ever the risks are rising exponentially. “Any information stored in the mobile phone can be accessed from a remote location. Once a malware or advanced virus gets into the system, it can copy and send all information. It can also enable the camera, forward text messages, redirect calls and send any files from the device, without us knowing about its activity”, he said.Such incidences are not rare either. As per Norton Mobile Survey, over a third or 34 percent of mobile phone users in India have faced malware or virus attacks, followed by threats involving fraudulent access or misuse of credit card or bank account details (21 percent). The share of people facing hacking and leakage of personal information is not much less. Nearly one in five (19 percent) mobile users have been victims of privacy breaches.The survey also reveals that 47 percent of users have granted access to their contacts and mobile data in exchange for free apps.

And close to 40 percent have granted permission to access their camera, bookmarks and browser history.Experts say, while damages from the leak of personal data like images, documents, and financial details may still be compensated, once biometric data is compromised the loss is irreparable. As increasing number

of smartphones now comes with added features like fingerprint scanners and iris scanners – such biometric data stored in devices may land up in the hands of hackers.

ARTICLE SOURCE- BUSINESS STANDARD.