I thought you would find this useful. Rita's iDevice Advice for December 19, 2016: beware Hacking lurks in Wi-Fi, plugs and ports If you rent a car, its onboard infotainment system may offer to pair with your iPhone and you might Not want to pushed the "yes" button. Such convenient connections can be a trap for travelers, experts warn. The Federal Trade Commission recently sounded the alarm on smartphones interfacing with the onboard computers of rental cars, saying it could expose your personal information to future renters, employees or even hackers. There are other sources of danger for your data, including those charging stations at the airport and, of course, those "free" Internet hot spots in your hotel lobby."Smart systems installed in vehicles provide a new way for hackers to steal information or install dangerous software on your phone. A malicious application could theoretically be installed that would automatically tamper with any mobile devices that were connected to the vehicle. Cars are essentially computers on wheels. Consider the Ford F-150, whose onboard computer system has 150 million lines of code. That's more programming than a Boeing 787, which has 7 million lines of code. You may be prompted to 'trust this computer' when plugging in your phone. It is best not to trust it. What else shouldn't you trust? The "free" USB charging station at the airport. Plug in your phone or tablet and an infected station can take over your device via something called "juice jacking. Physical access to your iPhone port can be one of the most high-value avenues to exploit any weakness or vulnerability the device has. Charging stations are nothing more than potential data-harvesting points. You should be wary of "free" wireless networks at hotels and airports. There is significant risk with using Wi-Fi at airports, hotels and cafes to access the Internet. The risk is from poor authentication procedures and unencrypted networks, which can expose your username and password to hackers on the network. Do not use public Wi-Fi. Do not configure Wi-Fi networks or Bluetooth to automatically connect to your device. If your data have been compromised in any way while you've traveled, this could be why, but you'll probably never know. There is something all of these threats have in common. They're all "free. The infotainment system is part of the car. The recharging station is complimentary. And the lobby Wi-Fi is almost always free.
How to practice safe connecting: Use a virtual private network (VPN). A VPN creates a secure, encrypted tunnel between your device and a server somewhere on the Internet. That makes it nearly impossible for someone on the same network to eavesdrop on your network traffic. Tell your phone to say "no. Disable location services, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi when possible. Also, think about the permissions associated with third-party apps, which may have access to your microphone, camera and contacts. Use caution in cars. When renting a car, either manually enter the address into the car's navigation system or use your own device, but don't connect to the infotainment system. Do not connect your phone through the USB outlet connection in a rental car: Use the cigarette lighter, which only charges your device without grabbing data. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------- To post a message to iDevices send an e-mail to: [email protected] To reply to the entire list: hit the Control R. To reply directly to the sender of a message: then reply directly to that person by pasting their e-mail address in the "to field" and take out the iDevices e-mail address in the "to field". To join this list send an -email to: [email protected] To unsubscribe from this list send an e-mail to: [email protected]
_______________________________________________ ATI (Adaptive Technology Inc.) A special interest affiliate of the Missouri Council of the Blind http://moblind.org/membership/affiliates/adaptive_technology
