With Valentine’s Day just round the corner, more singles are likely to turn to dating apps to look for that special someone. But watch what you do with those apps, which are vulnerable to cyber attacks, according to IBM.
In October 2014, the enterprise tech giant conducted a study of 41 dating apps in the Google Play app store, and found that 26 of them (about 63 per cent) had either “medium or high severity vulnerabilities”.
As those apps were able to access a smartphone’s camera, microphone, storage, GPS location and billing information, they could be used by hackers to hijack your dating profile, among other misdeeds.
IBM also found dating apps that can deliver malware created by cyber criminals to prey on unsuspecting users who are likely to let their guard down upon receiving interest from a potential date.
It said some vulnerable apps can be reprogrammed by hackers to send a seemingly harmless message that asks users to click for an update or to retrieve a message, though in reality, it is merely a ploy to download malware onto their devices.
Of all the apps analysed by IBM, 73 per cent also have access to current and past GPS location information. This allows hackers to find out where users live, work, or spend most of their time.
In addition, 48 per cent of the apps in the study were able to access a user’s billing information saved on their device. Through poor coding, IBM said an attacker could steal billing information on a device’s mobile wallet to make unauthorised purchases.
Enterprises are at risk too, as IBM found that nearly 50 per cent of organisations had at least one of these employee-installed dating apps on mobile devices that were used to access confidential business information.
So, what can you do to protect yourself against these so-called dating app hacks? For a start, IBM recommends being mysterious. That is, don’t divulge too much personal information on dating apps unless you’re really sure you want to hang out with a particular person.
Having good cybersecurity hygiene helps too. That includes using trusted Wi-Fi hotspots, applying strong and unique passwords, as well as updating apps and your device’s firmware regularly.
