Breaches and Bugs: How Secure are Your Family’s Favorite Apps?

Breaches and Bugs: How Secure are Your Family’s Favorite Apps?

Is your family feeling more vulnerable online lately? If so, you aren’t alone. The recent WhatsApp bug and social media breaches recently have app users thinking twice about security.


Hackers behind the recent WhatsApp malware attack, it’s reported, could record conversations, steal private messages, grab photos and location data, and turn on a device’s camera and microphone. (Is anyone else feeling like you just got caught in the middle an episode of Homeland?)


There’s not much you and your family can do about an attack like this except to stay on top of the news, be sure to share knowledge and react promptly, and discuss device security in your home as much as possible.


How much does your family love its apps? Here’s some insight:


Facebook Messenger 3.408 billion downloads
WhatsApp 2.979 billion downloads
Instagram 1.843 billion downloads
Skype 1.039 billion downloads
Twitter 833.858 million downloads
Candy Crush 805.826 million downloads
Snapchat 782.837 million downloads

So, should you require your family to delete its favorite apps? Not even. A certain degree of vulnerability comes with the territory of a digital culture.


However, what you can and should do to ease that sense of vulnerability is to adopt proactive safety habits — and teach your kids — to layer up safeguards wherever possible.


Tips to Help Your Family Avoid Being Hacked


Don’t be complacent. Talk to your kids about digital responsibility and to treat each app like a potential doorway that could expose your family’s data. Take the time to sit down and teach kids how to lock down privacy settings and the importance of keeping device software updated. Counsel them not to accept data breaches as a regular part of digi ..

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