Help Please: Cell phone protection

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Saddlebum
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Help Please: Cell phone protection

Postby Saddlebum » Tue Mar 27, 2018 4:34 pm

I recently had my land line disconnected - today. Now I'm worried because I realize I call my bank and plug in a pass code to get my account balance, transfer money etc. etc.

If I do this on my cell phone, how do I protect the numbers from being hacked? I know I'm late in getting this done but I wasn't thinking -- so mad at my land line company.

I googled it but there are numerous web sites and I'm afraid some of them are hackers.

Tarlo Farm
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Re: Help Please: Cell phone protection

Postby Tarlo Farm » Tue Mar 27, 2018 4:44 pm

I never use my phone for that kind of business. I only use my laptop. What's done is done, hopefully you'll be fine. My bank has some significant firewalls and privacy issues, passwords, etc. Of course if something like the Equfax situation occurs and your information gets hacked, you only have control after-the-fact. Vigilance is imperative.

WheresMyWhite
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Re: Help Please: Cell phone protection

Postby WheresMyWhite » Tue Mar 27, 2018 4:47 pm

I also use a direct internet connection (in my case, LAN+cable from desktop) for my bank interactions (unless I use the ATM at the grocery store which is right next to the small bank outlet).

I don't have any bank info on my phone at all. Just can't bring myself to do that.

I also have no landline.

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Saddlebum
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Re: Help Please: Cell phone protection

Postby Saddlebum » Tue Mar 27, 2018 4:50 pm

Well, my cell phone is plugged into my e-mail account. Because, when i'm on my cell phone, I get alerts of new e-mail messages. Not even sure how it got set up that way.

I feel so ignorant.

Literiding
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Re: Help Please: Cell phone protection

Postby Literiding » Tue Mar 27, 2018 5:38 pm

As a one time IT security guy (policies and procedures more so than technical) and having been a military information security officer, the term “Internet Security” is almost an oxymoron.

In general terms, most of the risk is actually in your phone and not in the Internet for the average user. Most browser apps use a protocol called “Secure Sockets Layer” (SSL). This provides low level protection for most communications between your device and the application server. How low level? Well, SSL keys operates at 128 bytes of key complexity for a simple connection (only 64 bytes if you’re not living in the U.S.). The lowest level of security for military cryptological communications for unclassified and confidential information (the very lowest level of classified information) is twice as strong at 256 bytes. But the “cookies” called “web beacons” report back to their original source (FaceBook, Google, and other social apps in particular) every site you visit. Bad actors can report a bit more and the worst are little programs called “key loggers” can record all of your keyboard inputs such as IDs and passwords and send them to a third party.

For the average user, most of your vulnerability is from other applications that you have loaded on your phone. Many of them mine your phone’s address book and other user storage space and report back to the mother ship what they have found. Most of that information is used for marketing but there have been more nefarious programs that exploited what you had stored on your phone. The “Flash Light” programs use to be particularly bad about mining your contact lists and email addresses for email spam lists and telemarketing. Apple is slightly better than Android because ALL apps have to be approved by Apple and you can’t get an app anywhere except at an Apple App Store. But bad code has gotten past the Apple reviewers and there have been instances where an App upgrade violated the Apple rules for Apps after the first version was approved for the App Store.

The best way to improve your financial and medical security is not to use the internet. Turn on your paper statements. Go back to writing checks for your bills and keeping your check register up to date. Have your medical providers call you and leave a message, do not use the “text messaging.” The general rule of thumb for computer security is, “The more convenient it is, the less secure it is!”

There are ways to get a bit more privacy (not so strong a word as "security") but they are more expensive by using dedicated equipment and require good user discipline on your part to keep medical and financial transactions separate from your social accounts.

heddylamar
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Re: Help Please: Cell phone protection

Postby heddylamar » Tue Mar 27, 2018 6:14 pm

Making that call, and entering your security code via cell phone is no more inherently insecure than doing the same over a land-based phone line.

You can have a key logging program on a smart phone, or someone listening into your call over copper wire. Both carry risk.

Tarlo Farm
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Re: Help Please: Cell phone protection

Postby Tarlo Farm » Wed Mar 28, 2018 2:54 pm

Saddlebum wrote:Well, my cell phone is plugged into my e-mail account. Because, when i'm on my cell phone, I get alerts of new e-mail messages. Not even sure how it got set up that way.

I feel so ignorant.


Go into your "Settings" and find where that option is, and turn it off.

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Saddlebum
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Re: Help Please: Cell phone protection

Postby Saddlebum » Wed Mar 28, 2018 3:12 pm

What I have done so far...first, i deleted all my contact e-mail addresses on my phone (hahaha) which in turn deleted all my contact e-mails on my computer!!! Now, I don't just feel ignorant, I have proven just how ignorant i truly am, hehehe.

Then, I changed my e-mail notifications for my electric bill, bank statements, etc. to receive paper copies the old fashioned way except for my internet as they won't allow it.

Then, on my phone, I deleted my google account but, did realize for mapping (which I use occasionally) I needed a google account so I created a new one on my phone which means (hope hope hope) my phone will not longer be in touch with my computer.

A couple of months ago I wrote down, with pen and paper, all my contact e-mail address' so I did not panic.

Contemplating whether or not to go back to e-mail for electric, banking etc. (just an hour after doing it), hahaha, now that the phone is seperate from my home desktop puter....

Literiding
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Re: Help Please: Cell phone protection

Postby Literiding » Wed Mar 28, 2018 3:30 pm

You aren't alone about being paranoid about tech spying:

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-styl ... 57526.html

Literiding
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Re: Help Please: Cell phone protection

Postby Literiding » Fri May 25, 2018 1:44 pm

While this thread is a bit old, here is another article that describes some of the dangers of downloaded apps:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ ... h-its-apps

This case hasn't be adjudicated but as the adage goes, "Where there's smoke, there is a certain amount of fire!"

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Saddlebum
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Re: Help Please: Cell phone protection

Postby Saddlebum » Fri May 25, 2018 2:45 pm

Ugh, so many people have such low standards of ethics these days.

I'm still in a cunundrum. I opened another gmail account and have only my 'new' cell phone on it. But, this phone came with 40+ apps already installed. I stopped at Goodwill the other day and now am getting notifications re: yup, Goodwill.

I need to locate address' on my phone to get to them for my job (not often but handy when needed) but will have to turn off these pesky notifications. I don't believe my phone is secure from hackers and need to find the time to look into some kind of security for it.

Is there such a thing? like a virus protector for cell phones?

Thanks for the article Literiding.

Literiding
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Re: Help Please: Cell phone protection

Postby Literiding » Sat May 26, 2018 12:05 pm

The most effective way to protect your privacy is with an “anonymizer.” This is a proxy server that you log into and the Internet sees it’s activity rather than yours:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anonymizer

Less costly and somewhat less effective user actions:

1. Disable “Autofill” on your browser also ensure the email address blank in the browser is empty. Most browsers associate an email address with it and when queried by a visited site, will supply your email address.

2. Do not save passwords in your browser. They can be harvested even though they are typically encrypted. Log into all internet site the old fashion way, by entering your ID and then your password.

3. In your browser’s settings, disable “Third Party” cookies. You can disable cookies entirely but site cookies are required by any site that requires a log in so it is able to remember you logged in and you’ll have to don’t have to keep logging in every time you change pages. Third party cookies are those from ad sites that display while you are reading the main site. For example news sites will fill a lot of the page with ads which come from an advertising server such as AOL. By blocking the third party cookies, the ad sites will have difficulty tracking your browsing. I’ve found some news sites will block access to their site unless you enable third party cookies.

4. Even more effect is to install an “Ad Blocker” plug-in for your browser. This is an application which blocks ad servers from accessing your computer - it is a very specialized “firewall.” Many information sites, particularly news sites, test for the presence of an ad blocker and will block further access to their site unless you disable the ad blocker.

5. Do not provide real information when filling out “Security Questions.” I use 3x5 cards for each account with the ID and the password and the security questions and their answers.

6. Use different IDs and passwords for banking and medical sites. Privacy advocates recommend using a different browser for those particularly sensitive applications of the internet.

7. Clear web history and cookies frequently from your browser, especially if you are doing searches for information you don’t want to become part of your advertising profile. Clear the history before the searches and again after the searches.

8. None of the above are fool proof but it will slow down the amount of junk mail.

9. But there is a down side to being private on the internet. Without an advertising profile, many travel sites will default to the highest fee structure for services offered. If you sit down beside a friend and request the same travel service from a travel site, it is not uncommon to get widely different fees, sometimes more that a hundred dollars based on your profile and credit history. So like your credit, it prudent to manage the information you allow to become part of the internet profile.

10. What most people understand is that the user ID is associated with the real person and most of the larger ad sites will associate the person with their publicly available information (any legal activity such as births, deaths, marriage, judgements, car titles, home address, home purchases and sales and credit information) which is provided by a “data aggregation” company. When I was working in law enforcement, I had temporary access to several of these “Data Aggregators” and found that they were reasonable accurate regarding financial information for myself and close family.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_aggregation

11. The big thing in advertising is being able to predict when and what a user will buy:

https://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/advisor ... 57627.html


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