IBM is warning that BYOD culture combined with the security vulnerabilities of dating apps is creating serious confidentiality and security risks for companies, according to a TechRadar article by Jamie Hinks. The warning is the product of an IBM research project that found medium- or high-level security flaws in 26 of the 41 Android dating apps.Putting aside the matter of the buried lede here – there are 41 Android dating apps! – this is serious and troubling news for companies taking advantage of the benefits of BYOD policies. If a hacker can exploit a security vulnerability on one of these flawed dating apps, and if that app is on a mobile device frequently used for work, there is the potential for that hacker to then access highly sensitive data from the victim’s employer. As Hunks points out, a hacker could even take control of a mobile device’s mic to listen in on confidential meetings.
Add to this the further vulnerabilities that could come along with software augmenting these apps, and that could make for a very problematic security scenario. One also must wonder what potential issues could arise from the increasing interconnectivity of the Internet of Things. On the other hand, there is a kind of arms race of developing security technologies that can counter these emerging vulnerabilities, and it may well be that companies providing BYOD security solutions like the Tactivo readers will evolve to cope with the changing security landscape. They’ll certainly try.
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