When a user buys a new phone – be it an iPhone or Android, the user downloads app after app to make it more “you”. A smartphone has the ability to achieve tasks in no time.
Here is the catch- whenever the user downloads a new app, you are allowing someone into the privacy of your phone without realizing it!
The Android App Front
Android has faced large number of issues when it comes to security. It still struggles from the menace of hackers and cyber criminals. According to Mobile Threat Report by Juniper, attacks on Android increased by 3000 per cent in 2011. The main reason behind these attacks is the liberty it gives to the Android app developers and the lack of control it allows the users to have on the apps.
The common view about app functions is that it requires GPS connection, but unlike others, this particular hit App requires more – including the ability to monitor pictures stored in the gallery, contact list and other data. This app has the potential to retrieve information on other apps- not only this, but it can extract private information relating to other Apps. This works as an Android monitoring software.
This is normal behavior of users… that they don’t read the permissions clearly given by the firm before installing them. So in reality there is only one person to blame: the user. Once the app is downloaded on an Android phone, there is no way a user can edit permissions. On being installed, there are certain apps which will get access to the users’ text messages, call records and a whole lot of other stored data.
The iPhone App Front
When it comes to the security of data, Apple is no better than Android. Most of the developers allow the users to edit permissions during installation or first use. After this stage the user cannot make any changes with the app and vice versa. Once the app is being installed, you are stuck with it. It has only been a year before Apple started taking action against apps that track UDIDs. This can be great news for iPhone users, but it still serves a warning for the users as to how much freedom apps have to misuse user information.
Sometimes a UDID is used to monitor user’s activity, while the third party apps have been using it to check activities by stealing pictures, videos, emails etc.
BlackBerry saves the day!
BlackBerry may be getting obsolete from the consumer market, but it’s the only one with the software that gives permission to the user to decide what permissions they want a particular app to have. Moreover, BB gives the facility to change the options of the installation anytime after being installed. Permissions can be edited any given time the user chooses to change them. It’s no surprise that BlackBerry recently beat all other platforms as the number one in terms of security.
Author Bio: James Clark has been in the business of providing quality information on monitoring software for cell phones for a while now. He’s an expert at all things spyware, but his main forte is Android Monitoring Software which has captured the interest of many.
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