21st Century Learning and Teaching

A shake-up is coming to the mobile security industry, and it will happen when Google begins to secure its Android environment, David Duncan, CMO of Webroot, says.

When you look at most of the mobile apps, you accept the application and its privileges settings, and there is very little ability for you to customise those settings, so you either agree or disagree.

App developers are trying to monetise their apps, because remember, most of these are being sold for $1.99 or they're free, so the only way that they are going to make money is collecting and harvesting data, and selling it to a data house, who in turn is going to sell it to advertisers.

Learn more:

- http://gustmees.wordpress.com/2014/03/05/often-asked-questions-are-there-cyber-security-dangers-with-apps-and-whats-about-privacy/

- http://www.scoop.it/t/apps-for-any-use-mostly-for-education-and-free

There has been a veritable parade of headlines and news stories in even the mainstream consumer press about the increasing security risk presented by smartphones – a.k.a. the small yet powerful computers that most of us carry around in our pockets.

===> Trend Micro recently released data showing that there will be more than one million malware variants in the market by the end of this year.  <===

Summer 2013 App Reputation Report to examine the hidden behaviors behind free and paid mobile apps

The cloud-based, fully automated Appthority App Risk Management Service performed static, dynamic and behavioral app analysis on the 400 most popular free and paid apps on the iOS and Android platforms.

Appthority analyzed each app for particular behaviors within a test environment

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Highlights from the App Reputation Report are:

- Overall, 83% of the most popular apps are associated with security risks and privacy issues.

- iOS apps exhibited more risky behaviors than Android apps. 91% of iOS apps exhibit at least one risky behavior, as compared to 80% of Android apps.

- 95% of the top free apps and 77.5% of the top paid apps exhibited at least one risky behavior.

- 78% of the most popular free Android apps identify the user's ID (UDID).

- Even though Apple prohibits its developers from accessing the UDID, 5.5% of the tested iOS apps still do.

- 72% of the top free apps track for the user's location, compared to 41% of paid apps.

- Although paid apps already generate revenue when downloaded, 59% of paid iOS and 24% of paid Android apps still support in-app purchasing.

- Furthermore, 39% of paid iOS and 16% of paid Android apps still share data with ad networks.

By now, most everyone has heard the story: on April 23rd, the AP’s twitter account was “hacked.” The tweet, which was a fairly obviously fake, still managed to send Wall Street into a panic. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 145 points in 2 minutes.

So why is this important? It highlights the reality of the threat landscape.

The point of the story is that mobile security isn’t just about protecting you from viruses. Threats don’t only come in the form of malicious applications that one inadvertently “sideloads” onto his or her device. Mobile security is also about making sure your data is protected.

It doesn’t matter whether the economic climate is good or bad, there is always a market for fraud. The marketplace for carding is growing and will continue to grow. And as the engineers behind these types of attacks get smarter and smarter, we can only expect to see them more and more often.

There are a few snags that can get in the way of implementing BYOD in schools and are worth knowing about before setting out on a BYOD path.

1. Security

2. Safety

3. Affordability

4. Networking and Compatibility

The Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) movement is gaining traction, but before you bring your phone to work you'd better think it through.

What you must realize is that your employer may insist at some point to scrutinize what's on your BYOD phone. Perhaps there's a rumor that an employee is grabbing company information, or that someone is snapping photos of sensitive things in the office. Maybe your company simply wants to update your work apps or settings.

Whatever the reason, it's not outside the realm of possibility that one day your employer may analyze the information on your phone. Yes, it's your personal phone but the BYOD situation means it's also the same as a work-provided phone.

Maybe it's not a big deal if your boss asks you to hand your phone over, but it still won't be a comfortable situation. What personal photos have you taken that reside on the phone? What intimate text messages have you exchanged with your spouse? You get the picture. It would be sort of like inviting your boss to your home when you're not there. What might he find snooping around your hacienda?

With the growth of BYOD, what security measures can IT take to ensure security of enterprise data – and does MDM have a role?

Unfortunately, the "EdTech vs. IT" mindset is all too prevalent in many organizations.  Operational IT looks down disdainfully on their users from an ivory tower, viewing them as "threats" to be carefully controlled and monitored. 

Teachers view the IT department as a bunch of out of touch control freaks who hinder rather than facilitate their work. As a former teacher, I have seen it from both sides.

This sad situation is wrong on many levels. 

===> The relationship between IT and users should be a partnership, not a boxing match! <===

BYOD A practical guide that will get you thinking!

Laut einer Studie von NQ Mobile hat sich die Anzahl der Malware 2012 gegenüber 2011 verdreifacht. Im vergangenen Jahr gab es über 65.000 Schadprogramme.

Mobile service provider NQ Mobile today released a study of malware covering 2012, using data gathered from the company's Security Labs.

NQ’s data indicates that Android is a big risk for malware, but iOS has also recently come under fire for free apps that leak more personal data than on other platforms. Overall, mobile security is likely to be a growing concern, and one that could potentially become more complicated as the pace of improvements to mobile tech increases and our usage of those devices grows higher still.

===> For now, common sense is probably the best defense against security threats, but a more unified Android platform would help to limit malware problems as well as significantly improve developers’ lives. <===