Your mobile phone holds much of your sensitive and personal data and believe it or not, Smartphones are as much a target for the cyber-criminals as your PC or laptop is.
We at CommSec see the consequences of Phishing attacks and other cyber crimes on a regular basis and although decent security systems are not usually cheap or free, we have found one excellent piece of software that the vendor in this case, Sophos is kindly giving away to users on their individual smartphones for FREE!
Protect your mobile device with Sophos InterceptX for FREE.
We have all noticed that since we are all in confinement and working from home, we are using more technology to communicate with each other, to carry out our daily work. Traditionally we would be working with our PC and laptops (or Mac!), all well protected with the appropriate end point protection as defined by the company security policy.
Our phones aren’t as much, and sometime not at all!
There is a common misconception that iPhones and Android mobile phones are secure without requiring any security software. This is compounded by the belief that hackers and virus developers are focussed on Windows and that the Apple App store and Google Play store do such a good job at checking and sanctioning applications, that iOS and Android devices aren’t likely to have a virus.
A thing to remember that if your smartphone is attacked, its not only you but everyone at home could be affected!
Malware are not specific to the corporate world but anyone can be a “vector” – such as the Teckya clicker hiding in children games.
So just take a few minutes and install this free mobile protection.
What’s in it?
• The software will check your device for any issue, for example if the device is not encrypted this will change the health status to red!
For each item, the risk is explained and how to remove or mitigate it.
• Device Status – will check if the device OS is up-to-date and also if it is not rooted or jail broken!
You can configure the network security with settings for web filtering, link checker and Wifi security. All these options are explained.
• App security – this will check installed apps for malware. A contextual help is also available to offer further explanations
Key features:
Malware protection
• Scan apps and storage media for malicious or inappropriate content.
Web Filtering
• Block web pages with malicious, undesirable or illegal content.
Link Checker
• Check links you tap in non-browser apps for malicious or inappropriate content
And much more
Android – GooglePlay / Apple Appstore : search for “Sophos Intercept X for Mobile”
Install – open the application:
Immediately, we can see initial issues.
Select the issue, read the associated information and understand the risk, proceed to the correction.
Very simple, indeed!
When completed all should be green!
There is also a bunch of security tools made available from the root menu.
This includes Sophos authenticator, a password safe and many more.
I particularly like the “Privacy advisor” – this visual tool shows the list of Apps with the required & granted permissions.
Summary
• Intercept X for Mobile continuously monitors for and alerts users.
• Intercept X for Mobile monitors network connections for suspicious activity in real time, warning users of potential Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attacks. Web filtering and URL checking also stop access to known bad sites, and SMS phishing detection spots malicious URLs.
• Intercept X for Mobile detects malicious and potentially unwanted applications installed on devices, protecting against malware, ransomware and fleeceware.
Do protect your device with Sophos InterceptX for mobile – for FREE
Jean-Luc Oudart is a Senior IT Architect with CommSec.