Perhaps most ironic of all, however, is the advice to 'download protective applications' (assuming the FBI means apps here). Studies have revealed this to be too difficult for users: Most people just have no idea what permissions are reasonable. One piece of the FBI advice that doesn’t work is that we must review and understand the permissions we’re granting to applications (apps) before installing them. He holds over 50 patents and 100+ pending patents has published a collection of () and is a co-founder and CTO of FatSkunk, a Silicon Valley-based mobile malware startup. Markus Jakobsson is one of the main contributors to the understanding of phishing and crimeware. For example: 'Users should look at the reviews of the developer/company who published the application' and 'Turn off features of the device not needed to minimize the attack surface of the device.' Heck, I’m a security researcher, and I’m fuzzy about what all that means.Ī security (), Dr. Unfortunately, the advice the FBI alert shared was vague and maddeningly difficult to follow.

While these threats appear to have been developed for government surveillance purposes, they can of course be used by any organization.Īnd therein lies the problem. In this particular case, the FBI was warning against the Finfisher and Loofzon malware, which spies on our data and leaks GPS positions to track our movements. The FBI recently put out a mobile malware alert, providing us with a sobering reminder of this 'evil software' for phones and tablets.

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