Smartphone Apps a Threat to Security

When I am on the internet and asked to save my password, I hardly ever agree. Mostly, because in my Management Information Systems class I learned that once you save your password online, it becomes more accessible to others (I am obviously not very computer-savvy but that's the general idea). Since acquiring a smartphone, I have wondered about this issue even more.

Smartphones are now becoming the norm. If you walk into any service provider and ask for a new phone, they will probably only offer one or two phones that are not smartphones making it very likely that you will end up giving in (if you haven't already) and purchasing a phone that not only allows you to call and text but to access the internet, e-mail, bank accounts, cool apps, etc. In March 2012, 50.4% of consumers in the United States used smartphones, with that number most likely increasing since then. 48.5% of these users were Android users.

I own an iPhone and while I probably do not use it to its full potential, I do have some apps such as Facebook and e-mail that require me to access the apps by saving or using my passwords. So with the recent news from BBC that Android apps have been 'leaking' personal details, what does this mean for personal security and app use?

Scientists tested 13,500 Android apps and found that almost 8% failed to protect bank account and social media logins. "These apps failed to implement standard scrambling systems, allowing "man-in-the-middle" attacks to reveal data that passes back and forth when devices communicate with websites." The researchers revealed that an attacker could do a lot of things with access to your passwords including re-directing a request to transfer funds while making it look to the app user like the transaction was proceeding unchanged.

While I, as an iPhone user, may not be as worried as Android users, these findings force all smartphone owners to consider their personal security in using apps that involve their internet passwords. If such personal things as your bank account can be attacked through the use of apps, developers are going to have to figure out a way to secure data better for the future.

With an increase in marketing and PR for many companies on social media and internet, and therefore in many smartphone apps, these findings also have large implications for the PR and marketing industry. If individuals are unable to secure their information using apps on their smartphones, then the creation of apps as marketing and PR strategies may be in danger.

The Groundswell is more motivated by its peers' opinions and reviews of certain products so therefore apps like Foursquare, which allows individuals to check in to certain spots and announce the places they go to the rest of the Groundswell, are key in motivating consumers. What happens when these apps may create a threat to personal security? How will this aspect of marketing be affected? Will it be affected?

Personally, I feel a little bit worried about associating my online passwords with apps on my phone. At the same time, though, I think that we constantly take these risks when we are involved with social media and the internet. How many times have you gotten messages from Facebook friends that they did not mean to send? They were hacked! And most of us are still using and participating on Facebook, especially on our phones!

So, what's your reaction? Will you continue using social media apps that use your passwords?