OK is not always OK!
The Centre for Cyber Security Belgium and the Cyber Security Coalition are joining forces again for an annual cyber security awareness campaign. As co-founder and member of the Coalition, Proximus fully supports this campaign.
Almost everyone, from young to old, has a smartphone in their pocket these days. We use it for more and more applications: to stay in touch with friends, to make purchases, to watch movies, to play games or to do homework.
Criminals and crooks see a great opportunity in this. They are developing viruses specifically designed to target mobile devices (mobile malware). Therefore, be careful if you receive an e-mail or text message asking you to download an app.
The slogan for this year's national cyber security awareness campaign is: OK is not always OK! After all, clicking OK to download an app can have very unpleasant consequences. Only download applications from official app stores, it's safer.
Some tips to keep your smartphone safe
- Get a warning about installing an untrustworthy app? Immediately stop installing the app.
- When you install an app, it often requests access to other data: e.g., your photos, your contacts or your location. Only give permission if it is necessary and useful for using the app.
- Are you asked to perform software updates? Do it as soon as possible. Turn off your smartphone on a regular basis as well. On reboot, some updates happen automatically.
Video only available in Dutch and French available
A young woman walks through the station tunnel. She receives a message on her smartphone: "There is a package waiting for you. Now download the app to track the location of your package" and then clicks the download button. This is followed by a security warning that her smartphone does not recognize the app, but she decides to ignore it and click ok. The app then installs itself on her smartphone.
Suddenly she receives all kinds of messages from friends, asking what is wrong with her and why is she sending such strange things to them? The messages keep coming, the woman panics.
She had earlier downloaded a suspicious application on her smartphone, it has now infected her device with a virus.
The slogan for this year's national cyber security awareness campaign is: OK is not always OK! After all, clicking OK to download an app can have very unpleasant consequences. Only download applications from official app stores, it's safer.
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