Get serious about antivirus for phones

The recent Landfall spyware is just a reminder to install shields on personal devices

- SREYA DEB

A RECENT UNANTICIPATED Android spyware hack, with the potential to weaken a handful of Samsung Galaxy mobile phone models, has left people concerned for their data privacy.

This particular LANDFALL spyware is equipped to access and steal photos, sensitive documents, text messages, phone numbers and all manner of private data from mobile devices.This particularkind of breachis calleda'zero-day vulnerability which refers toaloophole orvulnerability that had not been foreseen by the makers.

The LANDFALLspyware and its efficacy is being compared to the Israeli cyberarms company NSO's Pegasus software, which was famously used to spy on international human rights activists and journalists in 2022 and 2023.Experts say since these spywares are extremely sophisticated, and until nowunprecedented even bythe makers of the software systems under attack — the only way one can stay relatively cyber-safe is by employing the aid of antivirus applications of softwares designed formobile phones, turning off automaticdownloads on the device,and regularly updating the device software whenever there is a new one.

While people generally make sure to purchase antivirus software for their computers, doing so for mobile phones is not as common. In light of these events, however, and with nearly every electronic device nowa potential inroad into all our personal data, it might be time to brush up on our antivirus know-how.