With convenience comes danger
Smartphones have gone far past being a fancy means of communication. They are our bank tellers, our maps, our offices-away-from-the office, and so much more, and all of this increased 
functionality is made possible by the use of apps.
Pretty awesome, right? Not so fast…our colleague and frequent contributor Andy Russell brought a study by Arxan Technologies to our attention that suddenly makes allowing all sorts of apps onto our phones much less appealing:
Top 100 Paid Apps and Popular Free Apps reveal widespread hacking
– 97% of top 100 paid Android apps and 87% of top 100 paid iOS apps have been hacked – This finding of a high percentage for Android hacked apps is in line with results from prior years. However, the iOS percentage represents a sharp increase over 2013, when 56% of iOS apps were found to be hacked.
– 80% of Popular Free Android apps have been hacked, and 75% of the Popular Free iOS apps have been hacked – The percentage of popular iOS apps hacked has steadily increased over the last 3 years.
App Hacking Targets Mobile Apps Across High-Risk Verticals
– Mobile financial apps are still at risk – 95% of the Android financial apps reviewed were “cracked,” while 70% of the iOS financial apps were hacked. This is an increase in both cases, with Android’s growing about 80%.
– 90% of Retail/Merchant Android apps and 35% of Retail/Merchant iOS apps have been compromised – Hackers are targeting growth in B2C retail apps, as stores launch mobile payment/wallet services, and in B2B merchant point-of-sale apps. In both cases, sensitive data, IP, and financial transactions are at risk.
– 90% of Android Healthcare/Medical apps have been hacked, 22% of which are FDA approved
Now we’re not saying you need to delete every app and go back to that Zack Morris-esque cell, but you do need to educate yourself on the vulnerabilities present in your current apps, as well as staying up to date on the latest threats. In this, as with so many other types of crisis management, knowledge is key to stopping issues before they become major problems.
The BCM Blogging Team
https://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com