Mobile Security: How to Secure, Privatize, and Recover Your Devices: Mobile phones and tablets enhance our lives, but they also make you and your family vulnerable to cyber-attacks or theft. This clever guide will help you secure your devices and know what to do if the worst happens.

When we consider the number of reported malware attacks, the lack of awareness on the part of consumers becomes truly alarming. Between January and June 2012, Kaspersky recorded over 50,000 malware or virus attacks on smartphones. The number of attacks between January and March eclipsed the number of attacks for the entire year of 2011. In other words, there is a staggering amount of malware programs targeted at smartphones and that number is multiplying at an alarming rate (http://www.kaspersky.com/images/Kaspersky_Lab_Infographics_Android_Malware_Growth_2012-10-156085.png).

Facebook was not the first social networking site. Social networking, or the concept of using the Internet to form relationships and keep in touch with friends, may have begun as early as the mid 90s when sites such as Classmates.com and Geocities.com first gained prominence.

Facebook, the successful social networking site, was launched in 2004. Many of us already know the story of Facebook and its founder. Facebook originally began as a social networking site exclusive to Harvard students and alumni, but later expanded; first to all universities, and then to the general public. Today, Facebook has evolved into a complex and effective site which allows people to connect with one another in the online space. Members are no longer necessarily required to find and create their own friends network; Facebook has algorithms and automated processes which attempt to find friends for its members. In addition to the basic degrees method first pioneered by Friendster, Facebook also attempts to connect people based on criteria such as hobbies and geographical location.

The method by which Facebook collects this sort of information has even begun to expand beyond the details explicitly provided by members in their profiles. For example, Facebook has developed methods for monitoring external sites that its members visit. One that many may be aware of is the Facebook icon that adorns many websites. If a user clicks on one of these buttons, this provides Facebook with a method of linking a member's interests to their profile. What's more, this is done even if a Facebook member did not intend to provide such information to the site.

In 2006, Twitter launched with the concept that social networking may be best enjoyed in a smaller and more digestible format. Twitter's approach to social networking created a multi-layered network, whereby a visitor would easily be able to read both a particular member's post as well as the posts of that member's followed accounts. Of all of the social networking sites, Twitter may have been the most successful in the migration to the mobile space. The reason for this should be understandable; the screens on smartphones are smaller than laptop or desktop screens, and smartphones are often used in far more limited durations than computers.

Companies have always been interested in the demographics of their customers. Before the rise of the Internet, one of the more common methods of assessing customer demographics was through polling. A company spokesman might contact a customer after they have purchased a product or service and ask the customer about their experience. The company spokesman would then use this polling information to create a profile which might represent hundreds or even thousands of potential customers; demographic information, such as race, gender, income level, geographic locale, and personal hobbies or interests might all be incorporated into such a profile.

Today, companies still create exactly these sorts of profiles, but their methods for collecting our demographic information might be surprising; they do so by tracking our computer and smartphone activities. Do you shop on Amazon or at the online stores for Target or Walmart? Do you download music through iTunes? How about social networking sites? Do you use Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then you have provided some or all of these companies with demographic and personal information about yourself. Just like the polls mentioned previously, many company websites use monitoring algorithms to collect information on their visitors in an effort to understand their demographics. So, you might be wondering; how do they get this information? You may think that because you didn't purchase anything from Amazon or because you provided incomplete or inaccurate information on your Facebook account, that the company does not have your personal information. However, you would be surprised at exactly how much information a company is able to collect regardless of what you choose to provide. For example, you may have only browsed the products on Amazon.com, but not actually purchased anything. What you may not know is that sites, such as Amazon often have monitoring algorithms that trace their visitors back to their geographic point of origin. What's more, by browsing for certain items, Amazon can infer what age group you're likely to be in, what your gender is likely to be, and even whether you're married or have children. This may not worry you, but consider this; if you have an account on Amazon, they can use this information on your browsing habits to target you for particular sales. Some companies, though not necessarily Amazon, even sell these profiles to other companies.

Originally, smartphones were any cell phones designed to perform tasks in addition to just making phone calls. These early smartphones had a dedicated and limited operating system. Today, however, smartphones are a specific class of device with a broad array of capabilities and features; what this is means is that the operating systems on smartphones are similar to the fully featured operating systems, such as Windows that run on our computers. Regular cell phones, by contrast, run on Real Time Operating Systems (RTOS) operating systems, which possess more limited capabilities and are designed to be more streamlined in nature. A smartphone is merely a mobile phone/cell phone that has more advanced computing capabilities, connectivity, and functionality than a conventional phone, which is limited in functionality to a basic handset or feature phone. The latter usually having the ability to run the third party apps via J2ME or BREW, but which have limited integration with the phone capabilities. Smartphones, on the other hand, usually have more advanced APIs that allow the third party apps to have tighter integration with the phone features and capabilities. Beyond this basic requirement, the variety of functions that smartphones can perform is seemingly limitless. Smartphones can organize our calendar and fax our documents, but they can also be used to update our Facebook status, download movies, and countless more functions through a variety of applications. You might say that this is what makes them smart; their focus on their additional functions as opposed to their ability to serve as mobile telephones.

The iPhone is the elephant in the room when it comes to smartphones. According to a report by technology publication Engadget, the iPhone commanded a staggering 34.3 percent of the cell phone market share in the US as of October 2012 (http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/02/comscore-iphone-moved-up-to-34-percent-us-share-in-august/).

When you consider that the remaining market share is spread out across all other cell phone manufacturers, from Samsung to Motorola, you can see why Apple's competitors might be envious of the iPhone's success. After all, according to Engadget, three out of every ten cell phones in the US are iPhones. But this data is changing quickly. Smart mobile devices, including notebooks, smartphones, and tablets, shipped 308.7 million units during the first quarter of 2013. This shows a net increase of 37.4 percent over the figures compiled from the previous year. The Android operating system, accounted for a hefty 59.5 percent. Apple's iOS took 19.3 percent of the market share, just 1.2 percent ahead of Microsoft's share of 18.1 percent.

Released in 2007, the iPhone was originally conceived as an iPod with the added functionality of a cell phone. The original iPhone could make and receive phone calls, but it could also play music and interact online. Subsequent iterations of the iPhone only cemented the success of the first release. In July 2008, Apple released the iPhone 3G. The primary feature of this device was in the title; it ran on the third generation of the mobile telecommunications network. The iPhone 3G was also the first generation of the device to include GPS functionality and included a maps application.

As you can see, in the years since the iPhone's release, functionality has been expanded that might allow the device to be easily tracked and monitored. Of course, users benefit from this functionality because they are able to find their iPhone, should they misplace it or should it be stolen. However, other parties may be able to use this same functionality. As will be discussed further in Chapter 3, Privacy – Small Word, Big Consequences, Apple is able to use the GPS functionality to track your phone's geographical location. Ostensibly, this is only for the purposes of targeted advertising and customizing consumer support. However, even if you consider Apple to be a trustworthy company, their ability to track your phone's location does render you vulnerable to an outside party. In addition to legitimate parties, such as corporations, illegitimate parties may also be able to utilize these new features. Consider that a hacker may be able to locate your phone geographically through the iPhone's Find my iPhone cloud feature; all a hacker would need is your user identification information and a working knowledge of iTunes (http://ign.com/articles/2010.06/24/the-history-of-the-iphone).

Most of Apple's competitors use the Android mobile operating system to run their user interface.

Comparatively, the iPhone runs on iOS (iPhone Operating System). This is Apple's internally developed operating system, which cannot be used to operate other devices without Apple's permission (and Apple has not, as of the time of this writing, provided such permissions to any other manufacturers). From the perspective of maintaining your mobile security, this is significant because Apple is the sole entity which is able to operate and monitor this platform. Apple protects this operating system (OS), so that it is not easy for the standard end user to alter and/or modify the OS. The best way to understand the difference between the Android and the iOS operating systems for smartphones is by considering the difference between the Windows and Apple operating systems that run on PCs and Macintosh computers. The latter, like iOS on iPhones, only runs on Apple products. The former, like the Android, runs on a variety of devices produced by a variety of manufacturers.

The Android operating system, like the iOS on iPhone, is an operating system designed for the use on smartphones with a multi-touch screen. The Android operating system is currently open source, which means that anyone can access the code and make alterations. What this means for the consumer is that the Android operating system can run quite differently on different phones that use it.

The Android OS is being used in a variety of electronics, including laptops, TVs, cameras, smart glasses, treadmills, headphones, and many other items. This is due to the customizable open and native nature of the Android operating system. One cool use of Android is the Android@Home technology that provides home automaton. This technology provides a mechanism to remotely manage smart house devices, including:

As one might imagine, this lack of parity between the Android phones can also create some problems for the end user, in terms of performance and functionality. Some apps purchased on the Android App Store may only work on certain phones, and thus it is the user's responsibility to ensure that their phone can run the application in question before they choose to download it.

Google introduced a security service to automatically scan applications that are posted in the Google Play Store known as bouncer. This service reviews the applications to determine if there are any malicious applications. This service is not a 100 percent solution and there is no guarantee that this will block all malicious applications. The bouncer program does the following:

Because of the open source nature of Android, Android phones are at a greater risk to security infringements than the iOS phones. According to Bloomberg news, Android phones are far more vulnerable to malware and virus attacks than the Apple devices (http://www.kansascity.com/2011/11/15/3267279/android-more-virus-prone-than.html). The primary reason for this is the lack of a rigid infrastructure like the one that exists with Apple's products. While you may utilize Google's official Android App Store to purchase apps, you may also choose from half a dozen other application markets that are available for Android users (http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/smartphones/iphone-or-android-five-questions-to-help-you-decide/4456). The oversight on these alternative application markets varies, which means a user may be less assured that a particular app does not contain a virus or malware.

There was a time when, if someone wanted to purchase something, they might write a check. By the late 1990s, checks had been largely replaced by credit cards for most transactions. In either case, however, a customer would often be asked to provide a form of ID such as a driver's license to verify that the name on the check or credit card was their own. The next evolution in this vein might well be the usage of smartphones, thus eliminating the need to carry both a credit card and an ID to make purchases.

In 1999, Digital Convergence Corporation released the CueCat. The CueCat was a small device which was, appropriately enough, shaped like a house cat. The purpose of the device was to redirect a user, through scanning a barcode or through an audio tone broadcast during a television program, to a particular website. The idea was that a user could automatically be routed to a website through another medium, such as print or television without the need to enter in a URL or to search for a company through a search engine. While the device was ultimately unsuccessful, it foretold the later developments in the mobile space.

Today, the concept of a barcode containing a variety of personal or company information has evolved into the Personal QR, or Quick Response Code (QR Code). To many, the Personal QR Code will look like little more than a random series of black and white pixels within a small box. However, this box can contain a website address, product specifics, or even personal information. Put another way, a QR box can contain any sort of information. So, you might ask, how does one access this information? You may be surprised; all you need is your smartphone.

To enable your smartphone to read the QR boxes, whether it is an iPhone or a Galaxy S, all you need to do is download a QR reader app. There are a bewildering number of apps which can perform this function; a search on the Apple App Store for QR Reader, for example, will yield 559 results. Once downloaded, a user can use this app wherever they see a QR code box. Recently, big-box stores have been the most aggressive in creating these QR boxes for customer convenience; a March 2012 article by consumer advocate website Adage relates how Macy's, BestBuy, and Post Cereals were just a few of the companies that were expanding the QR box usage in their stores and on their products (http://adage.com/article/digital/qr-codes-gaining-prominence-macy-s-buy-post/149474/). In the case of Bestbuy and Macy's, the companies attached the QR boxes next to the product information displays in their stores. If a customer so chose, they could scan this box using a QR app on their smartphone and obtain pricing and product information.

Recently, some governments and companies have even begun to use the QR codes for official uses. In China, the tickets for bullet trains have been augmented with a QR code to combat ticket fraud and passenger impersonation. Placed on the bottom-right corner of a ticket, the QR code can contain the passenger's name and more worryingly, the passenger's passport or other personal identification number (http://www.techinasia.com/qr-train-tickets/). In 2011, the Royal Dutch Mint even issued an official coin with a QR code which would route a user to a website about the Royal Mint's centennial. The company Hackerspace created the world's largest QR code in 2010 by painting on the top of their company building in Charlotte, North Carolina (http://www.wcnc.com/news/neighborhood-news/Rooftop-QR-code-in-NoDa-verified-as-worlds-largest-146726605.html).

Keep an eye out for updates; see http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/ for the latest record for the largest QR code.

Creating a QR code is actually a relatively simple process. With the following steps, you can create your own QR code box for personal use:

Now that the QR box image is saved to your hard drive, all you have to do is choose where to post it. The options are numerous, and should depend upon what sort of information you've chosen to place into your QR code. If the information is about your company or business venture, you might place the QR code on your company's website. If it's a URL for your personal portfolio, you might place the QR code on your resume to allow potential employers a convenient and automated link to your work. The QR box can, as mentioned previously, contain almost any information imaginable. How you use it, of course, is up to you.

The advent of smartphones, along with their associated App Stores, has allowed for new methods of monitoring and spending money. While mobile banking has been around for a while now, banks including Chase and Washington Mutual have recently released apps that allow their customers to conduct all necessary transactions from the convenience of their smartphones.

The convenience of this new ability is evident; imagine that you just went to the store to purchase some Christmas gifts, but you didn't remember which account you'd organized the necessary funds for in anticipation of your purchase. Normally, you might have to find the nearest bank branch to check on your balance and rearrange funds. With these banking apps, you can simply log into your account and make the necessary changes while you wait in line to purchase your gifts. Recently, Chase has even added a new feature that allows their customers to transfer funds to other Chase bank customers by simply having their smartphone and the smartphone of their recipient in close proximity. In later chapters, we'll discuss how this convenience carries with it a number of associated risks, and why it may, in some cases, not always be the best idea.

On some occasions, smartphones have even made it possible to purchase goods without needing a credit card or cash. Recently, Salt Lake City has implemented a method of paying for parking by using smartphones. To be able to pay for parking with this method, visitors only need to download the Quick Pay app from the Android or Apple App Stores. After setting up an account through the app, customers can then automate the process through their smartphone (http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865562673/No-quarters-No-credit-card-No-problem-Just-use-your-phone.html?pg=all). One early example of using a device for e-commerce is from an example in Asia. In Singapore, one can even buy a Coca-Cola with only your smartphone. This development may be one of the oldest applications of smartphone purchasing possibilities, as it was first introduced back in 2001 (http://articles.cnn.com/2001-06-20/tech/phone.buys.coke.idg_1_singtel-vending-machines-cell-phone-users?_s=PM:TECH). Although these purchasing methods have not yet spread to other cities, these practices should still be seen as a sign of things to come; the ease of using a smartphone for transactions may be too alluring for businesses to long ignore.

Because of the bewildering possibilities afforded by App Stores, smartphones are increasingly being utilized as a method of simplifying our most common financial transactions. Today, we can use our smartphones to check our account balance, transfer funds from one account to another, pay for parking, purchase products through various online outlets, and even take payment for goods on those occasions when we are the ones selling goods. Although there are still some limits to what our smartphones can do, we should expect that these limits will only continue to recede as the capabilities of these devices are further realized.

Although the benefits of cloud computing are numerous, there are also some risks of which we should be aware. Clouds are hosted by an external provider. It is the provider's server, after all, that we use to store our data. Thus, just as we can access our data, so can the provider; how safe the data is depends upon the provider you have chosen. There are safe providers out there, but how do you decide which one to use? It is important that each user conducts some requisite research regarding the security protocols of each provider. Apple's security protocol, for example, which may be found in its service agreement, pays particular attention to those sections which concern the iCloud and user privacy.

Regardless of the service provider, it is important to remember that uploading data to a cloud carries some inherent risks. By deciding to place your data on a cloud, you are sacrificing your ability to control that data. Consider the case of Mat Honan; hackers were able to use some of Honan's personal information to convince both Apple's and Amazon's tech support departments to provide them with Honan's cloud login information. Once they had Honan's login for these services, the hackers were able to access all of the data Honan had chosen to upload to both clouds. Unfortunately for Honan, he had chosen to upload certain sensitive documents that allowed the hackers to extrapolate his login information for his Facebook and Twitter accounts. The result was that Honan's online persona was hijacked because hackers were able to access his cloud data (http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/08/apple-amazon-mat-honan-hacking/). To mitigate the risk of something similar happening to you, it is important to carefully choose which sorts of data you wish to upload to the cloud. Documents or data which contain sensitive personal information should not be considered for upload; should you wish to back up these sorts of documents, you should instead use an external hard drive or thumb drive.