When you install an app and it asks permission for your location, camera, contacts or microphone audio, experts say you should think twice before clicking yes.
Cyber security expert Kevin Haley says the report found a lot of apps that want to get really personal.
“We tracked the 100 most popular applications and found that almost half of the Android apps and a quarter of the iOS apps are asking to track location and access your camera,” he said.
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Haley says it’s time for people for think before saying yes.
“If you don’t see a clear benefit, don’t agree to it with the app,” he said.
Some of the other findings in Symantec’s report: Formjacking attacks, when crooks use computer code to steal credit card information from a checkout page, skyrocketed in 2018. Attackers are also targeting smart speakers more and more.
The report says more than 70 million records were stolen from the cloud last year.
To protect yourself, Haley said, beef up your passwords and be careful opening e-mail attachments. That’s the No. 1 way cyber criminals can get to your information.
