Nearly everyone now uses mobile devices in their day-to-day life, and many Americans typically check their phones 262 times a day for various reasons. The increasing reliance on different mobile devices is all because of the constantly improving smartphones and the introduction of new useful applications.
The increasing dependency on mobile devices also comes with an increasing number of security threats ranging from account takeovers to scams. Mobile security threats are getting more elaborate these days, and these can put organizations at risk while continuing to use phones for work-related tasks. Businesses must stay aware of such security threats to be able to get on top of them and prevent them from affecting them, including using eCommerce fraud prevention solutions.
These days, many cybercriminals create fake access points and pose them as legitimate networks named “Public Wi-Fi” and other similar names. Such names can lure people, especially remote workers, to connect to public networks for urgent work-related reasons. Once people connect to such networks, hackers can access the user’s information transmitted through the network. An effective countermeasure for this is using virtual private networks or VPNs when connecting to a public network. VPNs can provide remote workers with a secure work network without any worries of getting hacked.
Phishing attacks are also prevalent these days, and they’re used to redirect a user to an online form that prompts people to enter their login credentials and banking details. These attacks are disguised as digital messages like emails and text messages, and people can easily fall victim to them since people frequently check their texts and emails. Some useful precautions include training employees to check the sender’s email address closely, avoiding clicking links from unknown senders, blocking suspicious numbers, and reporting sketchy messages to the IT department.
Cybercriminals also frequently use spyware to infiltrate people’s devices, gather data, and send it back to them. People use spyware to either spy on specific people or to sell the stolen data and profit from them. These programs can easily be detected by malware detection apps or antivirus applications, allowing employees to have extra protection besides avoiding suspicious email attachments, links, and online pop-ups. Should people misclick and accidentally download spyware, a robust antivirus can give them extra protection.
Fraud Prevention Solution
Many people these days can also fall victim to account takeovers where fraudsters try to gain access to a user’s account and phone number. These account takeovers are usually done through brute-force, credential stuffing, phishing, manipulation, and leveraging vulnerable passwords. Companies can mitigate this risk by implementing passwordless authentication methods, like biometric authentication. FIDO2 passwordless authentication incorporates unique biometric features to logins, effectively keeping attackers from infiltrating an organization’s systems because they lack the necessary biometric credentials to access the account.
Organizations will also be vulnerable to other security risks, including dated mobile systems and inadequate phone security. One can easily be fixed by monitoring updates and installing the latest ones, while the other will require users to stop using and reusing weak passwords. Generally, organizations will be more secure when they start using FIDO2 authentication solutions to protect their devices and employees’ devices.
For more information, see this article by LoginID.
