New government warning for iPhone and Android users
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The latest alert for iPhone and Android users will see millions of apps removed from their phones, and millions more that were never installed in the first place. This warning is not new in nature, but this time it comes directly from the US government. With this, we hope that users will take it more seriously this time.
Security vulnerabilities in SMS and RCS text messages are the focus of this month’s FBI and CISA warnings, but the agencies also urge users to keep their phone’s firmware up to date and use Safe Browsing and DNS. I am instructing you to use it. Masking and password manager (if available).
This final warning hasn’t made the headlines yet, but it’s as much a security vulnerability as open texting over mobile phone networks. “Do not use your personal virtual private network,” warns the U.S. government’s Cyber Defense Agency. “Personal VPNs simply shift residual risk from the Internet Service Provider (ISP) to the VPN provider, often increasing the attack surface.”
This is not news. Cybersecurity experts have warned as much over and over again. Kaspersky Lab warned last month that the number of installations of dangerous free VPNs is currently surging, with a “2.5x increase worldwide compared to Q2.” These apps were malware or programs that could be used by malicious attackers. This surge continued into the fourth quarter,” Kaspersky warned.
And in June, specialist website Top10VPN tested “the 100 most popular free Android VPN apps on the Google Play Store…apps installed 2.5 billion times worldwide” and found the following issues: .
More than 10% of apps had an “encryption error”. Almost 90% of apps “suffered some kind of breach.” Almost 70% of apps “requested at least one privacy-compromising permission. Almost one-third of apps abused permission requests.” Almost three-quarters of apps “requested at least one privacy-compromising permission.” Nearly three-quarters of apps “shared personal data with third parties.” ” I did. Approximately 20% of apps were flagged as malware by antivirus scanners.
As CISA itself states, “Many free and commercial VPN providers have questionable security and privacy policies.” Their advice: “Organizations need a VPN client to access their data.” Avoid such apps unless you want to, but I wouldn’t go that far.
VPNs are fine to use, but they can be difficult to use in completely open or untrusted environments, especially if you’re using public Wi-Fi abroad, or if your location is visible to people monitoring the sites you visit or your web traffic. This is important in certain situations, such as when you want to hide the
Users behind the digital curtain in countries like Russia, China, and Iran can only access foreign websites and communication platforms by using a VPN. This is why Apple’s removal of VPNs from the Russian App Store caused such headlines.
I’ll reiterate my golden rule for using a VPN here, and I highly recommend you follow it.
Only install VPNs from the Play Store or App Store Use only paid VPNs with reasonable open subscriptions and never use obfuscated in-app purchases Easily research and find on mainstream websites If you are using Android, always make sure Play Protect is enabled, and never use VPNs from well-known developers. Play to install Do not disable or suspend protection. Flagged as dangerous. Actions when your app is flagged by Android 15’s new live threat detection.
“The demand for VPN apps is growing,” says Kaspersky. “Users tend to believe that when they find a VPN app on an official store such as Google Play, it is safe and can be used to obtain content that is not otherwise available in that location. However, this is often a trap, as evidenced by recent incidents and statistics showing a sharp increase in encounters with malicious VPN apps. ”
Now the US government has added its own warning. Let’s hope that eventually users will be encouraged to stay away from such risks. These free or low-cost apps often have a huge number of installs. That has to stop.
