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Ok I'm on it now. Its asking me if I want to save my User ID/Password so I don't have to type it in each time I want to log in. Good idea?
My banking apps will save the User ID but not the password. Bad idea, do not save the password. Most of them also let you use your fingerprint to sign in, if your phone has that capability.
If you have security ON YOUR PHONE like a pin code, pattern, or fingerprint, face unlock: YES it is perfectly fine to save your login details.
THIS INFORMATION IS NOT GIVEN TO APPLE OR WHO EVER YOUR PHONE COMPANY IS. Anyone who thinks otherwise, looking at you turf3, does not understand how this works.
Just don't do it while connected to public WiFi and it's very safe.
This wouldn't matter as far as the information being transferred, you just need to make sure there is green lock on the address bar. Transferring information to a website using https is about secure as it gets.
Briefly when you request the page the first thing that is sent to the browser is the the sites public certificate/key, this is digitally signed by trusted third party which the browser can use to verify through the third party it's the correct public certificate for example.com.
The browser then uses that public key to encrypt some information and it's sent to the server along with key to encrypt return data. The server has a private key which is the only means to decrypt that message, it can then verify itself as legitimate by decrypting the message and answering the browser. It's little bit more complicated that that but that is the gist of it.
The only break down that can occur is if the server is compromised and the private key is obtained. In that case the certificate is revoked and the public key will no longer be verified by the trusted third party.
Mobile apps (and specifically, those used for mobile banking) - often use the same security protocols a webpage uses to encrypt the session between your phone and the bank's server(s) that runs mobile banking. So you doing mobile banking and you going to the online banking site from your computer is pretty much the same from a communication perspective (done over a TLS session).
Public Wifi's. The general consensus is that you want to be careful. And the biggest reason is that you don't always know who actually owns that hotspot/access point. I walk into a Starbucks, and I see "startbucks-guest" as the strongest network. Well - that could be the one owned by the shop, or it could be setup by the dude sitting across the shop from me.
With that said - just because I'm connected to someone else's network doesn't' necessarily mean they will automatically to get all of my information. Anything not encrypted will certainly be theirs. So in this case, they will see any CD posts I make and get my CD credentials if I'm browsing this site. However, when I fire up my mobile banking app - it's making that encrypted session with the bank. This include my phone and the bank verifying each other. That person isn't going to see that traffic (unless the banking app is badly developed).
There is a concept called man-in-the-middle attack. Where an attacker injects themselves between two parties and acts as a proxy (and therefor, sees all the traffic). Is that possible with an encrypted session - in theory, yes. However, unless the configuration is done very poorly, it would be a monumental task. And the likelihood this person at Starbucks is all prepared to specifically attack you and your bank is fairly low.
Of course, if you have an easy option to avoid this - why not? Hence, use your cellular connection or wait till you're at home.
Or, use a VPN. This will encrypt all traffic between your phone and the VPN provider. So for our example, my CD traffic will also be encrypted int this tunnel now.
The biggest risk we face on our phone and computers isn't really wifi hotspots, etc. But our own actions. You can avoid using any public wifi and have your home network secured like a bank. However, if you're downloading all types of applications or surfing all types of sites without regard - theres a likelihood that you'll be picking up something malicious. And once you have that malicious code on your device - no amount of encryption or VPNs is going to help you.
On the subject of public WiFi we never use it for any reason. No matter what you’re doing you’re device can still be hacked. Talk to my daughter. She was hacked at a Starbuck doing general stuff.
There is certainly potential security flaws in the device but those are typically patched before they become a problem. If you are one these people that do not update devices/software or are using something that EOL and no longer updated you are putting yourself at risk.
Nothing is so easily lost, stolen or miss placed as a cell phone. The cheap phone I use is not capable of the latest security features. Not for me.
That's a good point but the data on newer cell phone might as well be om mars. Its encrypted. The analogy I like to use is your data is in a giant safe that for all intents and purposes is impossible to penetrate. There is a massive key for this safe which of course is not practical to carry around. That is stored in smaller safe that is easy to crack... if it weren't booby trapped.
Even older cell phones SECURED WITH AN ACCESS METHOD (pin or pattern) are ridiculously safe.
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