Shut down Apps?

The thought for this blog post started with the idea of security regarding remaining logged in to mobile apps. The question being does that open any doors for hackers to access data on either other apps or your phone? It ended up going down quite a rabbit hole of security and hacking techniques that only go to show that cybercrime and security is ever-present and evolving.

Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) has been a known vulnerability since 2001. According to The Open Web Application Security Project CSRF is defined as:

A type of attack that occurs when a malicious web site, email, blog, instant message, or program causes a user’s web browser to perform an unwanted action on a trusted site when the user is authenticated. A CSRF attack works because browser requests automatically include any credentials associated with the site, such as the user’s session cookie, IP address, etc. Therefore, if the user is authenticated to the site, the site cannot distinguish between the forged or legitimate request sent by the victim. 

If you are logged in to sites and the cybercriminal can get you to visit one of their web sites or open an infected email or IM they then can make your browser send requests to the other sites posing as you. Thus, gaining access to whatever you have open. This kind of attack generally only occurs within the same browser. In other words, having clicked on a malicious site the attack could flow across any other sites you have open within that browser. Not jump to another browser say Safari to Firefox. An open browser could not transfer the attack to an open app as the two store their own credentials or cookies and do not share. The same goes for apps themselves. They store their own data. The malware would need a conduit to access other apps or your phone.

Heck of an opening to a business blog. Why do you need to know this? It is why it is important to log out of company websites and software either on your desktop or your mobile.

Developing security

Over the years sites and apps have become more security conscious. Shutting down your logon after a period of non-activity and/or making you log in every time. Sometimes a pain to log back in but it’s for your own security. With the addition of biometric features on mobiles, even the pizza ordering apps require a fingerprint to gain access. Games and social media apps/sites tend to keep you logged in. The term being “frictionless” because the developers want you to have easy access, at all times, to keep you engaged in their product.

We do a lot of browsing and an increasing amount on our mobile devices. Lots of times your thumbs get fat and you errantly click on the wrong thing. It doesn’t take much to click on the wrong link, even if you close it right away it may be too late. The same goes for links within emails. We get a ton of email to business accounts. It’s hard to distinguish every email between real and spam. Spam emails and links get opened. When employees are accessing company databases and files they are using those same computers to access their company email. Depending on computer use policies or adherence to the policy, employees may also be accessing their personal email accounts and browsing the web. This is when the company system becomes vulnerable to CSRF attacks and others.

Watering hole attack

It is what the name implies. A cybercriminal monitors a company’s employees to determine where they congregate, e.g.-restaurants, bars, etc. The criminal bets that one or more of the employees will access the “watering hole’s” website for menu information, reservations, etc. The criminal places malware on the establishment’s site. When an employee does visit the site the criminal then has access to the employee’s computer or phone. Any company files or databases that are open (logged in to) are now free game for the criminal.

None of this is or the precautions are new. The same security tenets we’ve heard over and over still hold true.  

Don’t open or click on suspicious emails or links in emails texts/IMs especially while logged into other accounts.

Don’t keep sites open-Logout

Change passwords frequently

Don’t use the same password for multiple sites

Don’t save passwords on your browser

Keep system security updated

I’m not a cybersecurity expert just a security conscious user. Hope that this information has been helpful.

Regarding the initial reason, I started doing this research, open mobile apps. It appears that it is OK to leave them open. Again most security conscientious apps like financial will time out and require login. So a criminal gaining access to your phone and then entering your bank account through your bank app is probably low.

Most risks to mobile apps occur at the server level or through poor app development, not actions by the user. Although using public WiFi (Wifi for dummies) is one of the biggest user faults to app security.

Research for the blog revealed information debunking an iPhone myth. Quitting apps does not help save battery life. The iPhone OS is designed for multitasking and places the app in suspension until needed. Closing and reopening the app actually causes the phone to use more power as it is starting the app from scratch. So keeping open frequently used apps doesn’t affect battery life.

Please feel free to share. Check the archives for other posts about privacy and online security.

How secure are apps?April 2018

One born every minute February 2018

Are you being watched? February 2018

Time expired on parking meters November 2017

Cleaning up your online presence September 2018

Public WiFi for dummies July 2017

Keys to the vault August 2015

There’s been a breach February 2015

How secure are apps?

Every business is pushing their mobile apps. Some are highly interactive, giving access to secure accounts. Others are merely informational almost static platforms. Everyday we become more and more dependent on our phones. The Pew Research Center estimates that 77% of Americans have a Smartphone. A conglomerate of different studies from 2017 reported that Americans average five (5) hours a day using mobile devices and of that time 90% is spent using apps. Now when you allow that everything on your phone is an app of some sort it kind of diminishes the 90%, but the point being is that we are on are phones a lot.

Why have an app?

Phones are now like appendages. We are rarely without them. This is a big reason why companies push apps. That and because the phones create a focal point for data collection. Most apps require some sort of registration. That provides a modicum of security but it is mostly for data collection. Location services on smart phones allow app users to be tracked and pinpointed where they are using the app. This let’s the business collect, not only, your personal information but how, why and where you’re using the app, and what you are buying. All of this data is used to target advertising and reshape sales.

Since 2014 mobile Internet use has been more common on mobile devices than desktops. You can accomplish so much on your phone now you probably could go days without turning on a laptop or desktop. Apple has a cute commercial where the camera follows a girl throughout her day using her iPad.

A neighbor asks her what she is doing on her computer. She answers, “What’s a computer?”

The procession to apps began with the advent of online access to accounts and shopping. To encourage electronic account access, some companies even threatened higher fees for receiving paper documents through the mail. Then everything moved to our phones. Businesses lure customers into their apps with rewards or deals for using them. Some put more effort into their apps than their websites.

Secure?

How secure are all these apps we’re either using voluntarily or “forced” to use by companies? The transmission of data between the users phone and the app servers usually has end-to-end encryption. Meaning the data being sent and received is encrypted. The problems arise from the users lack of security awareness and hacks into the apps servers.

A high percentage of our phone use is in public. If you’re concerned about data usage you’re always looking for a WiFi signal. Logging into public WiFi is one of the most unsecure actions a Smartphone user can do. If you don’t inadvertently log into a hackers signal then you’re sending a signal that your phone is publically available. Once a hacker zeros in on your phone they can intercept your transmissions to and from the apps you are using. Intercepting the phone’s connection to the router is commonly known as “man in the middle”. While that is still a popular hack it is time consuming and much more work than going after the bigger treasure. Company servers.

Why is it important to frequently change passwords? And not use the same passwords or login/password pair for more than one account? More sophisticated cyber criminals know where the money is. It’s in the servers of big companies. If not the financial records then the personal data. Recently, Under Armour announced that their app had been breached. They assured users that no financial data had been accessed only user names and emails. While that may give some a sigh of relief there’s still a problem. Hackers will sell those users names, emails, and passwords on the dark web. They’re valuable because many users will use the same login information across many accounts. Hackers can use the data gleaned from one breach to access your other accounts.

Using apps are as safe as the host makes their server data and how you use the app. Most of the security issues are out of your hands. If you are not compromised in public more than likely the company’s servers or app itself will be hacked, exposing your data. All you can do is be as safe and aware as possible on your end. Monitor accounts and change passwords frequently.

Please feel free to share. Check the archives for other posts about privacy and online security.

One born every minute February 2018

Are you being watched? February 2018

Time expired on parking meters November 2017

Cleaning up your online presence September 2018

Public WiFi for dummies July 2017

Keys to the vault August 2015

There’s been a breach February 2015