Hello friends! It’s been a long time since the last post. Anyway, this post is all about internet security! Basically, viruses and stuff. I used to not be able to understand what a computer ‘virus’ was when I was young. I kept thinking that it meant some serious illness for our computer at home and obviously, it couldn’t take medicines or flu jabs. And that was just very confusing for my poor little brain as a kid.
So here’s a fun fact to ease the confused brains out there, the term ‘computer virus’ came about in 1949, coined by Dr. Fred Cohen. He used it to describe the ability that a software had, to transfer itself from one computer to another without detection. Pretty much like how our sickly viruses work, infecting one person to the next without our knowledge.
Here’s another fun fact – if you thought that only computers could get viruses, you’re wrong! What else, then, could be infected with software viruses? It’s probably right beside you now, or you’re probably you’re using it to read this. Yup – your PHONE! I used to think it’s not possible for phones to get viruses. But after reading up, boy was I so wrong. Here are a few ways that our phones could contract a virus.
- Downloading applications
Sometimes, when we download applications, there are terms and conditions that require us to check the ‘I agree’ box before it proceeds. Yeah you know where this is going. Most, if not all of us, never read the terms and conditions. I mean, it’s so freaking long, who will even read it? But with our laziness, we may miss out sections stating that the application will have access to our database and so. This provides an opportunity for virus to infiltrate the software. Creeps, right. It’s like unknowingly giving someone to stalk our activity or plant something terrible in our phones. Having a mobile virus protection software that scans every application before it is fully downloaded to your smartphone helps you to reduce any threats it may pose. - Surfing the Web
This. Is probably the easiest way for our phones to contract a virus. We love our TV shows and books and anything Singapore doesn’t have, we’ll download them once we find them links. But hold it – do you have any idea what’s coded into the files you’ve downloaded? Keep your phone protected by mobile antivirus software, so it scans every file download that you make. If the file seems fishy, the application will quarantine it. Then you can decide if you want to delete it or just #yolo. - Document attachments
Bing! You’ve got mail. Or not? Every day, you may receive several texts and emails. When you see unfamiliar numbers, you would probably ignore or delete them. But if your phone has a virus, it can send you texts and emails that are disguised as messages from familiar contacts, which you’ll probably open, exposing your phone to damage. Same goes with others, when your friends’ phones or computers are infected, they too can send out disguised messages that contains weird links. And if you click on them, your device is gonna get that virus too. - Bluetooth
Phones can infect one another by simply being in the same vicinity. Well, if their bluetooth is on, that is. This is quite frightening, as almost every phone has Bluetooth capabilities. Who knows what your phone might receive if you forget to turn your bluetooth off? So turn them off, it saves your battery usage as well.
While it is possible for phones to be infected, the possibilities are definitely lesser than that of computers. This is because when we download stuff on our phone, we usually go through the App Store so the bad stuff are usually already filtered out. On the computers, however, there are no such filters except your own wise decision-making self. Oh but guess what this means. If your phone is jail broken, you stand a much higher chance of contracting a virus… Good luck jail broken buddies.
p.s Apparently, android phones are more susceptible to viruses than iphones. So, go get your Apples friends.
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