Your Cell Phone is Covered in Spiders! (An Overview of Mobile Device Security)

Presented at HOPE Number Nine (2012), July 14, 2012, 11 p.m. (60 minutes)

Smartphones have changed the world. Your calendar, photographs, private documents, and communication with your entire social sphere is now just a swipe away. We are carrying exponentially increasing amounts of highly personal data around with us in our pockets. But are we doing enough to safeguard this data? Mobile devices are also becoming an important tool for social change, but with this they also become a more important target for governments and corporations. With so many attack vectors on mobile devices, it is important to know the ways that your mobile device can be compromised and how you can protect against these attacks. This talk will focus primarily on the security of the Android operating system. You will hear about how to protect your phone against warrantless search and seizure by law enforcement, as well as how much damage malicious apps can actually do and how to protect yourself from becoming the victim of malware. You will hear about password security concerns on Android and how to protect yourself, along with some of the many great security-related apps that Android has to offer. This talk will examine the question of whether you can protect yourself from the greatest of all threats to your phone: The Phone Company.


Presenters:

  • Cooper Quintin
    Cooper Quintin is a web developer working for social justice at radicalDESIGNS. He is also an organizer of and presenter at the Hackmeet conference. His passion is merging radical technology and radical politics.

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