CYBERSECURITY experts have warned to be wary of two types of apps.
If you have one on your phone, whether it’s iPhone or Android, you may want to consider deleting it.
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Security specialists at Kaspersky often find scam apps that should be deleted immediately.
They give lots of general advice on the company’s blog to help avoid downloading malicious apps in the first place.
Bogus apps are risky because they can sometimes allow hackers to your financial information and even let them take over your device.
One blog post recommends avoiding two types of apps if possible.
Those are apps downloaded from unofficial sites and apps that request unnecessary permissions.
The post explains: “If a fitness app unexpectedly requests permission to use Accessibility, for example, think twice (or more) before answering.”
A lot of scam apps disguise themselves as something useful like a fitness tracker or a new emoji keyboard but they’re actually designed to infiltrate your phone.
Official platforms like the Apple App Store and Google Play Store have a lot of security settings that make it harder for cybercriminals to upload scam apps.
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That’s why it’s better to download your content from these sites.
Kaspersky: “Nothing is wrong with third-party app marketplaces per se, but no one can know for sure whether any given store is trustworthy.
“In an official Android app store, be it Google Play or Huawei AppGallery, employees of the respective owner companies screen every application submitted by developers, weeding out any that are clearly malicious.”
If you’re using an alternative app store, watch out for bogus versions of legitimate apps.
Erich Kron, a security awareness advocate at specialist firm KnowBe4 explained to The U.S. Sun a warning sign that can help you avoid fake apps.
He told us: “One of the best things a person can do is to look at reviews related to the app, see how long the app has been available, and see if that developer has other apps as well.
“It’s also important to note, if someone is offering a paid app for free, there’s a good chance it will actually be malicious.”
Experts often say that if an offer seems too good to be true it usually is.
