gadgets

3 Security Risks On Your Phone You May Not Know About

Published

4 years ago

June 14, 2019

Smartphones make life convenient. Today, phones let you shop, control home lighting, and bank from the palm of your hand.

But that convenience comes with security risks. Phones contain so much personal data that cybercriminals often exploit mobile devices to gain access to bank accounts and home networks.

Want to keep your phone safe? Here’s three security risks to smartphone users you may not be aware of.

1. Open or Unsecured Wifi

Most of us access the internet on the go on our smartphones to avoid going over our data limits. But we don’t think about is that the connection we’re accessing may not be safe.

A security experiment by V3 proved this when three British politicians had their PayPal, social media and VoIP connections hacked.

How can you avoid getting hacked?

1. Stay off of free wifi as much as possible.

2. Don’t access personal info like bank accounts when using free wifi services.

3. Use a VPN when connecting to open wifi networks to keep hackers from accessing data

2. Social Engineering

Webroot defines social engineering as “the art of manipulating people so they give up confidential information.”

An IBM study discovered mobile users are three times more likely to become victims of phishing attacks (a form of social engineering).

One way cybercriminals often fool people is through email. Because personal and business email is often viewed in the same inbox, it is easier for victims to mistake an email sent to their business email address with a personal one.

Social engineering emails often appear to come from a legitimate company you do business with. These emails contain links that redirect you to a site that looks similar to a company’s official website.

Common signs of phishing emails include:

4. Misspelled words and poor grammar

5. Asking you to verify your password or financial information

6. The email is addressed to a different email address than yours If you are the victim of a phishing attack, you can report it to the IC3, a division of the FBI that deals with cyberfraud.

3. Data Leakage on Mobile Dating Apps

Mobile apps often collect tons of unnecessary data about you and sells it to advertisers and dating apps are perticulaly agressive on the data they collect and how it is used. According to a recent investigation by ProPrivacy.com, collect and store all the data you provide as well as any content, like messages, made in the app. Many dating apps also keep tabs on your location and retain all your messages and personal information long after you close your account. For example, the dating app Grinder clearly states in their privacy policy that “when you send an instant message (which may include photos or location) to other users… we will retain the messages.”

Even worse, when a user signs up for the popular app Tinder, they may unknowingly give the company the right to store, use, or edit personal information and even publish that information on other sites or in online search results. If you want to date online, keep the personal information you provide through dating sites to a minimum and don’t use apps with perticularly liberal privacy policies.

4. Fake Apps

Mobile apps provide an easy way for cybercriminals to install banking trojans or access your home network. According to McAfee, banking trojans increased by 77% in 2018. To stay protected, don’t install any device outside of your phone manufacturer’s app store.

Wrapping It Up
Only you can protect yourself from getting hacked. Follow the tips above to keep your personal information out of the hands of hackers.

gadgets

Top Tips to Improve Home Security

Published

4 years ago

August 30, 2019

Jervie David Montejar

Home security, especially when you live in a highly populated area with crime, is very important for the well being of you and your family. Installing extensive security systems and alarms don’t have to be as daunting, time-consuming, and expensive as they seem. Simple things like cameras and fences can make huge differences when it comes to your welfare.

Install Security Cameras
One of the most common items people install on their houses are security cameras. However, many of these can be unreliable from their use of the Internet. Security cameras that use cell services are the much better bet, as you can use them in places that don’t have access to Wi-Fi, like barns or cabins located far away. These cell service cameras are just as convenient as ones that require Internet. Cellular service can still provide you with a live feed on your smartphone through an app and footage downloaded directly to your devices.

Use Outdoor Lights

A great way to scare off a potential invader is to use outdoor lights. Many lights outside turn on with motion, so it is easy to intimidate someone trying to break in with lights since they don’t want to be seen. These tools aren’t expensive either. It can cost you as little as 20 dollars for a very valuable home security feature.

Keep Garage Doors Closed

Though this tip may seem basic, a lot of people forget to close garage doors! Leaving this door open gives attackers a direct point of entry into your house. Make sure you always close the garage after pulling in, and double check that it’s closed before you go to sleep. It is much better to be safe than sorry from a simple mistake.

Close Curtains AND Blinds
Opening your blinds and curtains makes it easy for people to look into your house and see something you would rather not share with the world. This can give potential invaders the opportunity to scope out your house and possibly plot sneakier ways to break in. Keeping drapes and blinds shut over your windows not only gives you privacy, but safety as well.

Install Cameras On Your Door

Small security cameras installed on your door are a great way to see who is knocking on your door. Peepholes can keep you secure as well, but these devices give you the freedom to check whatever and whoever is outside in front of your house at all times and from anywhere. Remember never to open the door when you don’t know who they are or if you fear for your safety.

Keep Extra Keys Secure
Under potted plants and doormats are very obvious and insecure places to keep a spare key. Intruders can usually find these keys and break in with ease, especially when you aren’t at home. It is a much better choice to keep your spare keys with family members, in a safe place in your home, or with a neighbor you can trust.

Hide Your Valuables

It’s a common mistake to leave large amounts of money or other valuable items in plain sight or in drawers. Instead of these obvious locations, store your cash in places an intruder wouldn’t expect, like a cereal box or another inconspicuous location. When in doubt, keep it in a locked cabinet that only you have the key for.

Home protection isn’t always straightforward, and it’s best to do your research when protecting your home and family. Cameras and lights are great to secure your valuables, but make sure to take care of the little things like extra keys or curtains.

gadgets

How Has Virtual Reality Revolutionized The Travel Industry

Published

4 years ago

August 28, 2019

Jervie David Montejar

The concept of Virtual Reality is really cool. It is, as the name suggests, a computer-generated simulation wherein you can experience a three-dimensional environment that is near identical to the real world. Virtual Reality (VR) has rapidly become one of the most important aspects of consumer products these days. The travel industry too is not lagging, when it comes to VR technology, making the experience for travelers a lot more fun-filled. The main driving force behind this is that explorers are more interested in the experience rather than the products. And VR truly provides some incredibly rich experience.

How can VR benefit the traveler in you?

Now think about this. You are travelling to a foreign country. You decide to pre-book your hotel rooms to avoid the hassle. When you log in to their website, you would see the 3D images of the room, videos and read reviews before booking it finally. Now VR would give you the option to have a look around the room on their website, even when you are sitting miles away. Also before going to a new place you can get some reliable travel information on https://www.touristsecrets.com/. Then to choose your destination, you can get a close look at the nearby attractions using VR. This is basically a ‘try before you buy’ concept wherein you as a customer would be more satisfied and confident about your purchase. To help you with.

Some cool uses of VR in the travel industry

There are many ways by which VR can help the travel industry to grow. Some of the examples would include:

Virtual Hotel Tours – As mentioned earlier, Virtual tours of hotels have become really famous. People would be able to have a clear idea of the hotels they would be staying in before booking them. The VR technology is being updated in many hotel websites and distributor’s websites from where people generally book hotels. To get the VR experience, you would need to have a VR headset. The use of the technology on the website is quite basic with a 360-degree image that is compatible on social media platforms.

Travel booking – Some of the travel companies have decided to take the VR technology a step further as they have made the entire booking process in VR which can be availed through the VR headsets. Thus you being a customer would not have used your mouse and click everywhere to make and confirm your bookings. The whole process has become quite seamless now.

Visit places – You would also be able to experience some of the best tourist attractions and spots beforehand using VR headsets before physically going to the place. This is expected to attract more customers as people would be able to get a small trailer of the place before actually going there which would increase their curiosity.

With Virtual Reality, travel marketers have also gained a lot of benefits, since people are essentially curious to experience the thrill of travelling before they actually reach the place.

gadgets

7 AI Trends To Watch Out In 2019

Published

4 years ago

August 28, 2019

Jervie David Montejar

Artificial intelligence is gaining more utility in each industry out there. This can be easily attributed to its amazing efficiency and the convenience available to the working of various systems and mechanisms.

New advancements in AI stand out as truly newsworthy regularly.

Here are 7 of the most interesting AI trends to look for in 2019.

1. Open Source Frameworks

The obstacles to entering AI is lower than any time in recent memory, on account of open-source software. Google began the pattern when it publicly released its TensorFlow AI library in 2015. Subsequently, real tech players took action accordingly. Various open-source instruments are accessible for developers to browse, including Keras, Microsoft Cognitive Toolkit, and Apache MXNet.

2. Edge AI

The requirement for instant decision making is driving AI closer to “the edge.” This enables gadgets to process data locally and react quicker. Apple, NVIDIA, and various rising new businesses are centered around creating chips solely for AI tasks available at the edge. The AI patterns one has to anticipate will be the development of edge AI over applications worldwide.

3. Facial Recognition

From opening telephones to loading up flights, facial recognition is being accepted as a standard. Early business applications are upscaling in security, retail, and shopper gadgets. As a result, facial recognition is rapidly turning into a prevailing type of biometric validation.

Very soon we can also expect facial recognition enabled in smartwatches available on https://www.watchshopping.com/.

4. Medicinal Imaging And Diagnostics

The FDA is acknowledging AI as a medicinal gadget. Quick track administrative endorsement for AI programming items has opened up new advertisement pathways for AI imaging and diagnostics organizations. As for the customers, smartphone access and high-tech image recognition are transforming phones into amazing homely devices. Talking about the most effective AI patterns, its acceptance, and approval for medical and diagnostic applications would be among the top mentions.

5. Predictive Maintenance

Ranging from producers to hardware safety net providers, AI-IIoT can spare officeholders a huge amount in dollars in unforeseen disappointments. Speculatory support algorithms utilize consistent information to anticipate gear failures before they happen. On account of dropping sensor costs, AI growth, and a trend of edge computing, Predictive support has turned out to be all the more broadly accessible.

6. E-Commerce Search
Contextual comprehension of search phrases is moving out of the “trial stage,” however wide acceptance remains far off. Regardless of innovative difficulties, the beginning period SaaS startups are rising, selling search technologies to outsider retailers. One of the major AI patterns of 2019 will be greater interest in the segment, including significant retailers.

7. Clinical Trials

Perhaps the greatest bottlenecks in clinical experiments are selecting the correct pool of patients. Meanwhile, AI could extricate data from medicinal records, consider all progressing researches, and propose applicable investigations to specialists and patients. Tech giants like Apple are among those making progress in this field. Since 2015, Apple has propelled two open-source systems to enable clinical trials to enlist patients and screen their wellbeing remotely.