What is App Permissions?

Whenever you go to install an app on your smartphone or your tablet or other devices, sometimes if that App needs access to certain features on your phone, it needs to ask you permission to gain access to those features. Most people probably just say “Yeah, yeah, yeah!” … click the button … “Just give me the app. That’s all I care about.”

But maybe you should be more careful and think about what permissions that app is looking for.

What kind of permissions do we need to watch out for?

1. Why would a shopping app need access to your phone? It could then make calls if it had that feature or that ability.
2. A fitness app needing access to your microphone? Does it want to listen to you groaning and grunting as you exert yourself during your exercise? That doesn’t make sense.
3. How about a music app? If it looks for permission to gain access to your contacts. That’s giving it access to every person you have in your phone book. Their telephone numbers, their email addresses. Whatever you have. That really doesn’t make sense.
4. Finally a torch app, looking for location access??? Now location access is really, really very important and it can be monetised heavily by bad people. So a torch app does not need access to your location data, so just don’t give it to it.

So it would be best to check the App Permissions before you install then?

When you’re installing apps in the future, just take a moment and think about what permissions is it looking for and if it doesn’t make sense, maybe consider using a different app and certainly not install that one.

So that’s it for this week. Let’s be careful out there and we’ll talk to you again next week.

How can L2 Cyber Security help you?

We offer a full range of training programmes, which can be delivered online or in-person*. One of the modules that we offer is in regards to mobile security and we cover off things like App Permissions in that.

L2 Cyber Security are also a partner of CyberRiskAware for online self-directed Cyber Security Awareness training and Phishing testing.

Contact us for more information at info@L2CyberSecurity.com.

*With appropriate social distancing and other health and safety measures adhered to.

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