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Jailbreaking your iPad is a bad idea — here’s whyPeople have long criticized Apple software, particularly iOS, for being too rigid. Unlike Android OS, it doesn't give users a plethora of options for customization. Naturally, iOS device users resort to jailbreaking, which lets them fully customize their device by enabling the installation of third-party apps on it. But this “solution” is not without risks. […]

The post Jailbreaking your iPad is a bad idea — here’s why appeared first on Complete Technology Resources, Inc..

10 Mar, 2021 / by Complete Technology Resources / in 2021march10apple_b, app store, apple, ios, iPad, iPhone, jailbreak, malware, Security, spyware category
Jailbreaking your iPad is a bad idea — here’s why

People have long criticized Apple software, particularly iOS, for being too rigid. Unlike Android OS, it doesn't give users a plethora of options for customization. Naturally, iOS device users resort to jailbreaking, which lets them fully customize their device by enabling the installation of third-party apps on it. But this “solution” is not without risks. Here’s why you should think twice before jailbreaking your iPad.

Security vulnerabilities

Jailbreaking removes security features designed to protect your iPad and the sensitive information it contains. So when you download and install third-party apps onto your jailbroken iPad, you may introduce malware, spyware, and viruses that can compromise your data’s security and slow down or damage your device.

Warranty issues

Although modifying your own device is perfectly legal, Apple has made it clear that jailbreaking is a violation of the iOS software license agreement. As such, any jailbroken Apple device will not be protected under their warranty service coverage. Apple may even deny service for your jailbroken iPad, so if something goes wrong with it, you’re basically on your own.

No iOS updates

Technically, you can install iOS updates onto your jailbroken iPad, but you’ll lose your jailbreak. This means you have to go through the entire jailbreaking process again and reinstall all apps and extensions. What’s more, if you decide to update your iOS, you may have to wait for an updated jailbreak version to become available, which could take days, weeks, or even months.

Device instability

Jailbreaking can cause your iPad to randomly reboot or malfunction. Also, because third-party apps can access features and protocols not available for apps designed or approved by Apple, you may find that your jailbroken iPad crashes more often or that certain apps don’t work smoothly.

Shortened battery life

The jailbreak in and of itself doesn’t affect your iPad’s battery life. Shortened battery life issues on jailbroken iPads may be caused by installed third-party apps and tweaks. Some of these, like lock screen widgets and live wallpapers, might be increasing background activity on your device and thus draining your battery faster.

Unreliable voice and data services

If you use jailbroken iPads, you may experience dropped calls and spotty data connections more frequently. This can be a major issue if you use your device for work, as unreliable voice and data services can hinder your communications with your colleagues and clients. Additionally, you may encounter some location data problems on your jailbroken device.

Now that Apple has added so many features to iOS, jailbreaking iPads is not as prevalent as it was in previous years. But if you're still considering jailbreaking your device, keep in mind that doing so puts your iPad and data at risk.

If you want to learn more about jailbreaking or need help with your Apple devices, get in touch with our experts today.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

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How to remove adware apps from your Android deviceZscaler recently reported that 17 adware apps in Google Play were downloaded over 120,000 times. These apps display unwanted advertisements on your device and collect marketing-type data about you, generating revenue for their operators in the process. Read on to learn how to find and delete these adware apps from your device. Sneaky adware apps […]

The post How to remove adware apps from your Android device appeared first on Complete Technology Resources, Inc..

01 Feb, 2021 / by Complete Technology Resources / in 2020february01android_b, adware, adware apps, android, google play store, malware, ordered list, system apps, utility apps category
How to remove adware apps from your Android device

Zscaler recently reported that 17 adware apps in Google Play were downloaded over 120,000 times. These apps display unwanted advertisements on your device and collect marketing-type data about you, generating revenue for their operators in the process. Read on to learn how to find and delete these adware apps from your device.

Sneaky adware apps

These potentially malicious apps are disguised as harmless system or utility apps. They pose as image editors, photo or document scanners, and even messenger apps. Their names even resemble those of legitimate system apps, chosen for the express purpose of tricking Android users into installing them onto their devices. These apps are:

  1. All Good PDF Scanner
  2. Blue Scanner
  3. Care Message
  4. Desire Translate
  5. Direct Messenger
  6. Hummingbird PDF Converter - Photo to PDF
  7. Meticulous Scanner
  8. Mint Leaf Message-Your Private Message
  9. One Sentence Translator - Multifunctional Translator
  10. Paper Doc Scanner
  11. Part Message
  12. Powerful Cleaner
  13. Private SMS
  14. Style Photo Collage
  15. Talent Photo Editor - Blur focus
  16. Tangram App Lock
  17. Unique Keyboard - Fancy Fonts & Free Emoticons

How to remove these adware apps

It’s important that you immediately remove these apps from your device to prevent them from exposing you to all kinds of IT security threats, like man-in-the-middle attacks. One way to do this is to use an anti-malware app that scans and automatically removes malicious software from your device. You can also check your phone or tablet’s app permissions to see if any questionable apps have permission to access your text messages, contact list, etc., and manually uninstall the dubious apps.

However, some apps are harder to detect because they display two different sets of names and icons — one on your device’s Settings app and another when they’re actually running. This makes it more difficult to identify and uninstall the malicious apps on your device, which is exactly what the developers want.

On the other hand, some apps appear on your app tray, but launching one triggers a message that says the app is incompatible with your device. You will then be redirected to a random page on Google Play. And when you return to your app tray, you’ll find that the app’s icon has disappeared.

If there’s no icon, how can you uninstall the app? Andrew Brandt, a researcher at Sophos, says deleting adware apps will require a little bit of digging on your part, as there’s no icon that you can click and drag to the top of the screen and into the trash.

To do this, you have to first identify the adware apps. Go to Settings > Apps & Notifications. This will direct you to a page that displays the most recently opened apps on your device. Next, check if any of those apps have the generic greenish-blue Android icon and/or have generic-sounding names such as Back Up, Update, and the like. If they do, they’re likely adware. Finally, tap the icon and then select Force Stop > Uninstall. Note that a legit system or utility app will have a Disable option instead of an Uninstall option.

There may be similar apps that are yet to be identified and are likely to be made available on Google Play in the future. The key takeaway here is to be mindful of what you download, even if it’s from Google Play or other official platforms. Check out the reviews — the reported adware apps got poor reviews from users who complained about getting a lot of pop-up ads.

Remember that malware can be hiding in even the most innocuous apps, and downloading them gives bad actors the chance to access any confidential information on your device. For advice on how to keep your Android devices safe from adware and other malicious malware, give us a call today.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

The post How to remove adware apps from your Android device appeared first on Complete Technology Resources, Inc..

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How to remove adware apps from your Android deviceZscaler recently reported that 17 adware apps in Google Play were downloaded over 120,000 times. These apps display unwanted advertisements on your device and collect marketing-type data about you, generating revenue for their operators in the process. Read on to learn how to find and delete these adware apps from your device. Sneaky adware apps […]

The post How to remove adware apps from your Android device appeared first on Complete Technology Resources, Inc..

01 Feb, 2021 / by Complete Technology Resources / in 2020february01android_b, adware, adware apps, android, google play store, malware, ordered list, system apps, utility apps category
How to remove adware apps from your Android device

Zscaler recently reported that 17 adware apps in Google Play were downloaded over 120,000 times. These apps display unwanted advertisements on your device and collect marketing-type data about you, generating revenue for their operators in the process. Read on to learn how to find and delete these adware apps from your device.

Sneaky adware apps

These potentially malicious apps are disguised as harmless system or utility apps. They pose as image editors, photo or document scanners, and even messenger apps. Their names even resemble those of legitimate system apps, chosen for the express purpose of tricking Android users into installing them onto their devices. These apps are:

  1. All Good PDF Scanner
  2. Blue Scanner
  3. Care Message
  4. Desire Translate
  5. Direct Messenger
  6. Hummingbird PDF Converter - Photo to PDF
  7. Meticulous Scanner
  8. Mint Leaf Message-Your Private Message
  9. One Sentence Translator - Multifunctional Translator
  10. Paper Doc Scanner
  11. Part Message
  12. Powerful Cleaner
  13. Private SMS
  14. Style Photo Collage
  15. Talent Photo Editor - Blur focus
  16. Tangram App Lock
  17. Unique Keyboard - Fancy Fonts & Free Emoticons

How to remove these adware apps

It’s important that you immediately remove these apps from your device to prevent them from exposing you to all kinds of IT security threats, like man-in-the-middle attacks. One way to do this is to use an anti-malware app that scans and automatically removes malicious software from your device. You can also check your phone or tablet’s app permissions to see if any questionable apps have permission to access your text messages, contact list, etc., and manually uninstall the dubious apps.

However, some apps are harder to detect because they display two different sets of names and icons — one on your device’s Settings app and another when they’re actually running. This makes it more difficult to identify and uninstall the malicious apps on your device, which is exactly what the developers want.

On the other hand, some apps appear on your app tray, but launching one triggers a message that says the app is incompatible with your device. You will then be redirected to a random page on Google Play. And when you return to your app tray, you’ll find that the app’s icon has disappeared.

If there’s no icon, how can you uninstall the app? Andrew Brandt, a researcher at Sophos, says deleting adware apps will require a little bit of digging on your part, as there’s no icon that you can click and drag to the top of the screen and into the trash.

To do this, you have to first identify the adware apps. Go to Settings > Apps & Notifications. This will direct you to a page that displays the most recently opened apps on your device. Next, check if any of those apps have the generic greenish-blue Android icon and/or have generic-sounding names such as Back Up, Update, and the like. If they do, they’re likely adware. Finally, tap the icon and then select Force Stop > Uninstall. Note that a legit system or utility app will have a Disable option instead of an Uninstall option.

There may be similar apps that are yet to be identified and are likely to be made available on Google Play in the future. The key takeaway here is to be mindful of what you download, even if it’s from Google Play or other official platforms. Check out the reviews — the reported adware apps got poor reviews from users who complained about getting a lot of pop-up ads.

Remember that malware can be hiding in even the most innocuous apps, and downloading them gives bad actors the chance to access any confidential information on your device. For advice on how to keep your Android devices safe from adware and other malicious malware, give us a call today.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

The post How to remove adware apps from your Android device appeared first on Complete Technology Resources, Inc..

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Your business’s cybersecurity needs an MSPWith the prevalence of cyberattacks on companies of all sizes these days, businesses cannot afford to relegate cybersecurity to the bottom of their budget priorities. When it comes to cybersecurity, even small businesses should partner with a managed IT services provider (MSP). Here’s why it's crucial to partner with an MSP that can implement robust […]

The post Your business’s cybersecurity needs an MSP appeared first on Complete Technology Resources, Inc..

17 Nov, 2020 / by Complete Technology Resources / in 2020november13security_b, cybersecurity, data breach, it security, malware, managed services, msp, phishing, Security, smb category
Your business’s cybersecurity needs an MSP

With the prevalence of cyberattacks on companies of all sizes these days, businesses cannot afford to relegate cybersecurity to the bottom of their budget priorities. When it comes to cybersecurity, even small businesses should partner with a managed IT services provider (MSP). Here’s why it's crucial to partner with an MSP that can implement robust cybersecurity solutions for your business.

The numbers

According to the Ponemon Institute’s 2019 State of Cybersecurity in Small and Medium-Sized Businesses (SMBs) survey, cyberattacks have increased dramatically. Here in the United States, 76% of companies were attacked in 2019, a significant leap from 55% in 2016. Sixty-nine percent of US businesses reported data breaches in 2019, up from 50% in 2016.

The financial consequences have also increased considerably. The average cost spent by companies because of damage to or theft of IT assets and infrastructure increased from $1.03 million in 2017 to $1.2 million in 2019. Costs due to disruption to normal operations increased from an average of $1.21 million in 2017 to an average of $1.9 million in 2019.

The attacks

Globally, the most common forms of attack on SMBs are those that rely on deception: phishing (57%), stolen or compromised devices (33%), and credential theft (30%). Worse, cybercriminals are targeting SMBs more, with reported attacks having increased from 60% in 2017 to 69% in 2019.

Why managed services?

Partnering with MSPs is the most effective way to prevent attacks and protect your business from malicious threats. MSPs offer a full range of proactive IT support that focuses on advanced security, such as around-the-clock monitoring, data encryption and backup, real-time threat prevention and elimination, network and firewall protection, security awareness training, and more.

And because managed services are designed to identify and fix weak spots in your IT infrastructure, you’ll optimize the digital backbone of your business processes. You’ll have faster network performance, a solid business continuity and disaster recovery strategy, and minimal downtime. One of the best things about managed services is that you get a dedicated team of IT professionals ready to assist you for any technology problems you may encounter. This is much more effective and budget-friendly than having in-house personnel handling all your IT issues.

Being proactive when it comes to cybersecurity is the only way to protect what you’ve worked hard to build. If you’d like to know more about how managed services can benefit your business, just give us a call — we’re sure to help.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

The post Your business’s cybersecurity needs an MSP appeared first on Complete Technology Resources, Inc..

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