Summer - Mississippi Association of REALTORS

FOR THETECH OF ITBY CHRIS ADCOCKDo I need virus protection on my tablet or smartphone?One of the top questions I get from REALTORS ® in my technology classesis about mobile security. People want to know do they need to be worriedabout viruses on their phone or tablet. This is a growing concern,not just for REALTORS ® , but security experts as well. Asmore people use their mobile devicesto make purchases and login to sensitive accounts,they become more of anattractive target for hackerswith malicious intent.In many cases, we havebecome reliant on our gadgets.To stay ahead of the competition,we have to be faster andmore efficient. Checking andresponding to e-mails when youare away from your desk used to beimpossible, but now it's expected.Many REALTORS ® are even creatingand signing contracts all on theirtablets, without ever touching theircomputer. As consumers, we are shoppingwith the palm of our hands, enteringimportant passwords or credit cardnumbers without thinking twice.Everyone knows they need to have antivirussoftware on their computer, but veryfew have any sort of protection on theirphone or tablet. You should know your smartphone is basically a computer, and is certainlysusceptible to malicious software. So far, wehaven't seen a huge epidemic of viruses specificallytargeting mobile devices, but there aresigns we could be on the verge of such an outbreak.How can I virus infect my phone or tablet?The most obvious way to become infected with a virus is to install amalicious app. In this case, Android users are at a slightly higher risk thanApple customers, simply because of how protective Apple is about whatgets on their App Store. Android has let numerous "bad apps" slip throughthe cracks and had to clean up afterwards. Be careful when you downloadapps from small or unknown developers, and be cautious of the permissionsthey ask for upon installation. If you are downloading an app forbanking or finance, make sure it is the official app from the company youare a customer of. Also, only download apps from your phone’s official appstore. Some apps are downloading from the web, which has no securitycheck, nor any way to verify who wrote the application.A growing threat to mobile devices is from just surfing the web. Yourtablet can get infected from a website, just like your desktop computer. Andwe are browsing websites on our mobile devices more andmore. Websites can see that you are visiting from a mobiledevice and can deliver a virus made especially for yourdevice.What can I do to protect myself?Most of the major antivirus companies offer protectionfor mobile devices. Unfortunately, since there are somany different platforms, they have been plagued byproblems. Users complain of crashing, freezing, batterydrain, and other issues, depending on the deviceand software you are using. One of the better userratedmobile anti-virus apps is currently LookoutMobile Security. The big names are getting better,and if you like the anti-virus you have on yourcomputer feel free to try it for your mobile deviceand see how it works for you.Just as with using a computer, good habitsare a great defense against hackers and viruses.Be careful about visiting strange websitesor clicking suspicious e-mail links. Don’tclick links to foreign domains, or ones thathave strange characters. Look out for“phishing” e-mails, where hackers sendyou an e-mail trying to trick you into loggingin to a fake website pretending to beyour bank or credit card company.But the best thing you can do to protectyourself is to keep your device upto-date.Having an out of date operatingsystem or apps is very insecure. Googleadmitted last year more than 90% of Android users were runningout of date versions of the operating system, which had serious vulnerabilities.Having an outdated operating system is just asking for trouble.When a bug is found in an operating system, hackers try to find ways toexploit it. Once a vendor finally discovers the problem, they make anupdate and announce it to the world. By this time, hackers all over are wellaware of the bug and how they can exploit it to get into your device. If yougo weeks or months without updating, you could be leaving your phone ortablet wide open to attack.Another important step you can take to protect yourself is to backupyour device frequently. This will protect your contacts and other data incase your phone becomes corrupted, or in the event it is lost or stolen. Notto mention saving your from that embarrassing story of how you lost allyour contacts after dropping your phone in the poolChris Adcock is MAR’s Information Technology Manager. Contact himat cadcock@msrealtors.org15 / MISSISSIPPI REAL ESTATE LEADER / Summer 2012