BROKEN ARROW, Okla. — Unused apps on your phone could be opening the door to hackers and scammers. Cyber experts say a few small changes in habits can make a big difference in securing your devices.
Erin John told 2 News Oklahoma she has around 40 apps on her phone, but only uses about half of them.
Marcus Riley, director at Booming Agency, said those unused apps can create security vulnerabilities that users may not even realize exist.
"They may be open, without us realizing, so that could be a gateway for those who might be looking to break into our devices, our accounts. If we're not using it, let's get rid of it and keep our devices as lean as possible in terms of both the number of applications we've got, but also the amount of information that's being held in those applications," Riley said.
John said she has already started taking steps to reduce her exposure.
"I recently changed a lot of security settings and stuff just for that reason, like, location sharing, that kind of thing. I've changed settings on because I've been a little bit paranoid about that myself," John said.
Riley explained why the permissions users grant to apps are another area worth scrutinizing.
"There's a lot of things that we can say no to, which won't limit or reduce our access to the things we need to be doing," Riley said.
John said she has made a habit of disabling many app permissions.
"I usually disable a lot of things myself just because I'm more cautious these days," John said.
Cloud storage is another area of concern. John said she stores a significant amount of data in the cloud, including photos, and acknowledged that it presents a security risk.
Riley said users should be proactive about understanding how their data is being handled.
"So much data, information is being shared in the cloud, and there's obviously advantages to that, but we need to be really conscious of how secure that is. We shouldn't be shy in asking questions of those providers in terms of exactly what's being stored, where it is being stored, and how I can have it removed if I'm not comfortable with that," Riley said.
John said she has not yet asked those questions of her cloud providers but plans to.
Riley also warned that AI-powered scams are becoming increasingly difficult to detect, even for tech-savvy users.
"People who are very intelligent can fall victim to these sorts of crimes, because the fake communications do seem very real. As I said, they're very sophisticated, so it really pays to confirm whether it's our bank or other online platforms that we're using, to know their security measures and the way they are going to communicate to us. And if anything falls outside of the guidelines they work to, then we know to be suspicious and to err on the side of not engaging, so not pressing that button or making that payment. I think we really need to ensure we're not complacent, and as I said, err on the side of not doing something. We can always follow up later if we need to, whether it's make a payment or to send that email, or whatever it might be," Riley said.
Riley said the sophistication of modern scams makes everyone a potential target.
"Unfortunately, we do have to be more cautious, and perhaps live with more doubt, which is sad, but it's a reality at the moment, because these scams, these methods are so sophisticated, and they really do target people in a very specific way, which does make us vulnerable to those sorts of attacks," Riley said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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