The Negative Impact of Malware

Previously, we discussed how malware is more that “just” a virus, it can really wreak havoc on your systems. There are many forms of malware as well, making spotting it that much more difficult. Another part of the problem lies in the mobile devices we carry around because they don’t have anti-viral or anti-malware programs attached to them. Without those protections and without our vigilance around what we download, malware can have a seriously negative impact on our devices.

Society has become too busy to look any deeper than the surface when it comes to apps on phones and tablets. The systems put in place by app stores (Google Play, Android Marketplace, App Store, etc.) could never scan every line of code and determine what each line of code is for in an automated system. Instead, they weed out bad programs over time. Which means you may be an unlucky guinea pig, yet people have lost vigilance in this arena. We update apps and agree to terms and permissions without reading them, assuming it’s all legitimate.

It doesn’t have to be as extreme as a nation state or an app with privacy fears around it like TikTok, it could be something seemingly innocuous like a fancier calculator or a program that edits photos in a specific way. You use it once and then it just sits on your phone for years. You don’t use it, but it stays updated and malware could be included in those update packages. But we’re so busy, we don’t have time to look at it, so we just accept the permissions and end up giving access blindly.

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Originally published at https://www.pwvconsultants.com on September 16, 2020.