Be Careful Using These Android Apps Because of SSL Hack Errors
As you know, more and more people all over the world are becoming obsessed with smartphones nowadays. People use the phone for almost every day of their life, from communicating to loved ones to shopping, catching the latest new headlines, doing banking transactions, and many more. And while most websites are highly secure, mobile app developers have been making a mess out of it, which leaves mobile phone users at high risk to security fraud.
This is the reason why smartphone users, especially those that make use of Android as the operating system, are warned against potential security hacks as a result of SSL errors. Some app developers have been releasing apps with SSL certificates that were not properly validated for https connections.
Android Apps from Amazon and Google Play
In order to clean up those apps that lack the necessary security features, experts have named some of those Android apps from Amazon and Google Play that have allowed the users’ data to be exposed and be intercepted. As a matter of fact, there are about 400 of them and included on the list are the SwiftKey keyboard, ticket sale apps, dating apps, μTorrent Remote as well as a handful of gaming apps. What is even alarming is that certain mobile banking apps are also included on the list.
US Federal Trade Commission
The US Federal Trade Commission is said to be aware about these apps already and in fact, they have recently asked two firms on the security of the Android and iOS apps that their customers are using. They found out that such firms have disabled their SSL certificate verification and as a result, they have allowed their customers to be prone to attacks from scammers who will intercept their credit card information and other personal information when using the apps.
Developers Were Not Notified
Although some security researchers have already highlighted the security problems on Android apps recently, they admit that they have not notified some of the developers of these apps. Some of them have not even mentioned any name of these apps and left a lot of users become a victim of fraud and identity theft. But normally, firms and vendors must be given 45 days to get these issues fixed or they will have to face certain consequences.
What to Do
So what should you do if you find out that the app you are using does not have the necessary security measures you need to keep your personal information and other important details guarded? The answer to this is simple. Simply make use of the website instead.
As you know, most Android applications are not really necessary since the content that they provide is also available on their website as well as on other means. For instance, if a bank will provide an Android or iOS application to access their resources, such resources are often available through their official website and can be accessed using a web browser in any computer. By using the website, you can be assured of your safety and security.
