Survey: Malaysian smartphone users not security savvy By M. Kumar
The Star/Asia News Network
Wednesday, Jul 03, 2013 Petaling Jaya - Almost two-thirds of Malaysians who use smartphones are at a risk of having their personal information stolen, according to an international survey. The Unisys Security Index showed that only a third knew how to keep their personal data safe when using apps on the devices. Most times it was the users who unwittingly agreed to share their personal information when they skipped reading the full terms and conditions before downloading an app, said Unisys. Unisys is a worldwide information technology company providing a slew of services. "Smartphone apps have access to a lot of our personal information, from date of birth to geo-locations and business transactions," Unisys Asia Pacific Security Programme director John Kendall said. "The information collected by these apps can be sold by the app developer, and may be abused for purposes such as identity theft." Such information, he said, could also be obtained by criminals to access bank accounts or steal sensitive corporate data. Kendall said that simple precautions, like reading the whole licensing agreement and the privacy policy of an app before downloading it, can help keep personal and corporate information safe. "People should also avoid apps that ask for personal data without valid reasons," he said. "One example was game apps that ask for the maiden name of the user's mother or the user's location." CyberSecurity Malaysia chief executive officer Dr Amirudin Abd Wahab echoed a similar opinion. He said that Malaysians were lacking in both awareness and education when it came to keeping themselves safe on the Internet. "The weakest link in cybersecurity is the human factor," he said. "All the security measures count for nothing if people are not fully aware of the risks and the ways to safeguard themselves." CyberSecurity Malaysia is the national cybersecurity specialist agency under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. |
