Adobe Reader may pop up an alert asking if you want to run the malware, but hackers can edit those messages to trick you into opening the file. (Read more on how to retain privacy on FourSquare and Facebook Places.)įeeling particularly paranoid? Uncheck ‘Allow opening of non-PDF file attachments with external applications’ (near the top) to head off certain PDF exploits.A newer variant takes an otherwise innocent-looking PDF document and inserts malware into it. On the other hand, weigh the privacy implications of services like FourSquare or the new Facebook Places feature, and consider how much you feel comfortable divulging. As shown in the screenshot at right services such as Yelp provide good examples of useful location-aware apps. If You Have to Go There: Be particular about the location-based sites, apps, and services that you use. The policy now states that “to provide location-based services on Apple products, Apple and our partners and licensees may collect, use and share precise location data.” You can read more on Apple’s new privacy terms and what they mean for you. In a less invidious example, a site called showed that–for a time–a stream of FourSquare check-ins indicated that a person was away from their home (the site’s goal, mind you, wasn’t to condone theft, but to raise awareness of the issue).Īs in this example showing restaurants in a San Francisco neighborhood, some smartphone apps, such as Yelp for iPhone, use your physical location to provide you with information on nearby businesses or points of interest.Apple recently updated its privacy policy to reflect changes in how it handles location data in iOS 4. In one case, a game listed on the Android Market was in reality a client for a spy app. Although plenty of legitimate uses for location data exist, the potential for inappropriate uses also exists. One possible concern is the use–or abuse–of geolocation. The smartphone market is still in its infancy, really, and so are the threats. Threat 7 > Geolocation–your smartphone and perhaps other parties know where you are “Unfortunately, staying away from those sites won’t keep you safe by itself, because innocent sites get hacked all the time, and are used as lures to draw victims to the attack servers.” If you make a habit of it, it’s a given that you’ll be attacked at some point,” says Roger Thompson, chief research officer with security firm AVG. “There is no doubt that visiting Websites of ill-repute is deadly dangerous. Porn sites have a reputation of being less secure than mainstream sites, but that assumption doesn’t tell the whole story. Threat 5 > Malware in photos or videos of scantily clad women Brand-new malware can be tricky to catch, but the delay in opening may allow your antivirus software to get the necessary signatures. Scan downloaded files and wait a couple of days before opening them. Use antivirus software, and keep it updated. If You Have to Go There: It’s probably best to avoid torrent sites entirely, given their untrustworthy content, but if you must visit, use a secondary PC to protect your main system.
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