The Michigan IT Experts

There’s been a consistent pattern that has emerged with popular software applications: a major update or other change is made, and uproar on social media ensues.

Just look at what happened when the Android platform’s Facebook application began requesting access to the user’s smartphone camera several years ago now. While this was required so that Facebook’s newly released native photo-taking capabilities could be embraced, there was still a lot said about it on social media.

Don’t get us wrong—many of the changes made in technology can be concerning, especially where it involves a user’s privacy. However, there is usually a ton of misinformation muddying the waters. Again, we’re not saying that you can always trust giant tech companies and their data collection policies… quite the opposite, in fact. You’re right to feel concerned at times and should be exercising the control over their collection of your data that you have a right to.

Having said that, we couldn’t help but notice an extreme response to the news of Apple and Google’s new COVID-19 contact tracing application framework.

So, Did Google or Apple Install a COVID-19 Tracking App on My Phone?

Nope.

Neither Google or Apple added an application to your mobile device without your knowledge or consent. What Google and Apple did was collaborate to develop an application framework, which can now be used by app developers as they create COVID-19 tracking apps.

However, due to sensationalism on social media, a lot of people are concerned. Just look at this post that has been making the rounds on Facebook:

“**VERY IMPORTANT ALERT!***

A COVID-19 sensor has been secretly installed into every phone. Apparently, when everyone was having “phone disruption” over the weekend, they were adding COVID-19 Tracker [SIC] to our phones!

If you have an Android phone, go under settings, then look for google settings and you will find it installed there.

If you are using an iPhone, go under settings, privacy, then health. It is there but not yet functional.

The App can notify you if you’ve been near someone who has been reported having COVID-19.”

There’s a lot of misleading information to unpack here. First, neither Google nor Apple secretly installed a new “sensor” (especially since we’re talking about a software update, not a hardware update).

This software update was simply a setting to enable the COVID-19 Exposure Notification system that the two platforms are preparing. When this system has its official applications developed, users will not only have to install the application and activate it, but also confirm that they want to participate with Google or Apple.

So, this update simply provides a unified framework for local governments and the health industry to use as they create their COVID-19 applications, while offering users the choice of whether they want to participate.

So No, This is NOT a COVID-19 Tracking App

Seriously, unless you consciously selected the option to “Install,” your mobile device isn’t going to start tracking you and those close to you to identify anyone with COVID-19. In fact, if you follow that Facebook post’s instructions to your settings, you’ll see that you have to A: install a participating application or B: finish setting up a participating application before your notifications can even be activated.

In a rare joint statement from Apple and Google, they go on record to say, “What we’ve built is not an app—rather public agencies will incorporate the API into their own apps that people install.”

To clarify further, an API is an Application Programming Interface. Think of it as the foundation of an application. By teaming up, Apple and Google have laid the foundation for others to build their own applications upon.

As a bonus, this also makes it easier for people to opt out. Unfortunately, if too many people decide not to use the system, it may not be reliable enough to work at all.

What Do We Know About these Tracking Apps?

Well, the system itself is extremely new, so responsibility for the official applications will fall to state and local governments.

The platform that Google and Apple co-developed is built to be decentralized, which will help to make it more secure. Basically, when a user opts to use one of these apps, their phone is assigned a random ID and it is then shared with other phones within the range of a Bluetooth connection. Each phone then stores an anonymous roster of the other IDs it has been in proximity to.

So, when someone is diagnosed with COVID-19, they would then manually share that with the contact tracing app. Then, with their permission, all the IDs that their phone has stored over the prior two weeks would be uploaded and those users would be sent a notification of their potential exposure. Your location isn’t shared, nobody’s identity is shared, not even Google or Apple will get this information. In addition to all this, that random ID is changed every 10 to 20 minutes, and the apps are not allowed to use your location or to track it in the background.

As a result, these apps are safe to use with complete anonymity, and to avoid opting in, you just wouldn’t install any COVID-19 tracking apps, official or not.

Uninstalling the COVID-19 Exposure Notification

Okay, since we know that some will want to ask this question, we felt we needed to address it.

In short, you shouldn’t because it isn’t an app, it is an API. As such, it can’t just be uninstalled. It is now part of the Android and iOS operating systems and is pushed to devices through security updates.

If you were to do some Internet snooping, you could find some walkthroughs on the Internet that take you through how to roll back your phone and other such processes, but that only leaves your device exposed to other threats. Again, there is nothing to uninstall, and neglecting future security updates is a terrible idea.

The API is nothing to worry about. It is nothing more than a setting, and one that is deactivated by default. If you really are worried, both Apple and Google have confirmed that not installing, or uninstalling, a COVID-19 Exposure Notification app is enough to avoid participation.

And again, since we can’t stress this enough:

DO NOT FOLLOW ANY INSTRUCTIONS ONLINE THAT WALK YOU THROUGH ROLLING BACK YOUR PHONE AND OPTING OUT OF SECURITY UPDATES. 

If you are that serious about your privacy, it just doesn’t make sense to expose that privacy to greater risk.

In our professional opinion, understanding the technology used to create the COVID-19 Exposure Notification system, every effort has been made to ensure the security and anonymity of its users. Keep in mind, there are also healthcare regulations to comply with as well, and our clients will know how stringent they are where data privacy is concerned.

The decision whether or not to use the COVID-19 Exposure Notification system falls to you, but you can rest assured that both Google and Apple have done everything right to keep their system safe, private, and secure.

Please, to learn more about these technologies, don’t hesitate to give us a call.

Excessive Permissions

Data security is a priority for many people, but even amongst them, mobile applications often aren’t even considered a potential threat to their data. While you should ever only download applications from an official application store, some attacks can potentially slip through the vetting process to be distributed via these means. Therefore, it is important to carefully consider every application you have installed and the permissions that each one demands. If these permissions seem excessive for the application’s needs, reconsider if the app is necessary to use (chances are, it isn’t). This helps protect you against the tactic that many cybercriminals use: getting a harmless app to the store, and then turning it malicious with an update once it is downloaded.

Rapid Battery Loss

Buckle up, it’s time for a lesson in physics.

According to the first law of thermodynamics, there is a set amount of energy present in the universe. Energy isn’t created or destroyed; it is simply transferred in different forms from one thing to another. This is important to our point.

Have you ever set your fully charged phone down, not touching it or interacting with it at all, only to later pick it up and find a significantly lower charge? While the technology behind the battery isn’t perfect, the amount of energy lost should not be that extreme. Your phone may be infected with malware, which uses your phone’s battery as it operates in the background processes. Check your battery settings to see which applications are using more power than they should be.

Sudden Password Changes

Let’s say that you type in the password to one of your accounts, and it bounces back labeled as incorrect. Fair enough, everyone makes mistakes. However, if this keeps happening, and you know that you’ve entered it correctly, there’s a good chance that your account has been infiltrated and taken over.

To resolve this, you’re going to have to reach out to the company and reclaim your account, if possible. Whether or not your account can be retrieved, you need to change the passwords for all the others too, just to be safe. Keeping to password best practices and restoring your device from a recent backup to clear out any lurking malware, are solid practices.

From your on-site infrastructure, to the cloud environments you’ve deployed, to the mobile devices your employees use, NuTech Services can help you manage your IT. Learn more about our many managed services by calling 810-230-9455.

Making the Most of What You Have

As states have mandated that businesses either close or move operations offsite for the well-being of their employees and clients, many people seem to have been caught off-guard by the duration of these orders. As a result, many businesses have since shifted from a “shut down and wait it out” strategy to trying to do whatever they can—which, for many, is implementing a remote workforce.

Regardless of whether a business tried to cobble together remote operations at the onset or later on, there are still a lot of issues that they will need to contend with. Paying the bills, setting everyone up with the solutions needed to work, and maintaining productivity are all necessary to consider.

Some businesses took the route of laying off their workforce as shutdowns began as they put their businesses on pause and were then provided a lifeline in the form of the paycheck protection program. This subsidy enabled them to keep at least some of their team working and employed. A major tool that helped to accomplish this for many was automation, as this helps to keep your finances fluid.

Automation helps businesses spend their time more productively, fulfilling tasks like payroll processing, managing operations, and invoicing. This not only helps save time, but also money, mainly because these common tasks are commonly outsourced. Of course, other business needs like collaboration, supply chain management, and project management can also be benefitted by leveraging automation.

Security Amidst Security

Cybersecurity is another critical business need that has been largely pushed to the back burner. There has actually been a decline in cybersecurity spending, despite an upwards trend in business being conducted online. Small businesses actually cut their cybersecurity budgets when revenues began to disappear. The cybersecurity industry has been growing at a rate of approximately five percent each year for the past eight years. This year? A little over one percent.

If you’re currently depending on a remote workforce, you want to give them every opportunity to experience success. This is true of most. Most organizations, while they are reducing their overall cybersecurity budget, are still investing in endpoint and intrusion protection. This shows us that, despite the uncertainty of the future, they are still reducing organizational risk by securing their network endpoints.

Of course, you shouldn’t rely on automation to eliminate cyberthreats. Despite IT solutions now heavily featuring artificial intelligence to identify threats, many attacks now rely on phishing attempts. These only become more dangerous when your employees are working remotely, and even more so on their personal devices. As a result, you need to ensure your team is aware of the phishing attempts that will be directed against them. This will require ongoing training in updated best practices, if only to prevent a major malware attack from infiltrating your network.

One way or another, businesses will almost certainly have a larger focus on remote operations moving forward. For assistance with the solutions and strategies that will keep your processes progressing from here on, reach out to the IT experts at NuTech Services today. Give us a call at 810-230-9455.