People are waiting to use information in a “bad way.”
AB Wire
A research team at Binghamton University has developed a new smartphone security app that protects personal details of online surfers, denying third parties from stealing user information while searching online.
Linke Guo, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at Binghamton University who led the team said “The trend of people using searches and social networks on smartphones which aren’t well-protected is going up. Sometimes people share too much information. This is a way to help provide some security.”
“With Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and others we provide a huge amount of data to the service providers every day. In particular, we upload personal photos, location information, and daily updates to the internet without any protection,” Guo added.
Guo also warned users that going online without protection might end up in tragedy as there are people waiting to use the information in a “bad way.”
“When we release personal information to the internet, it is out of our control, and can be easily searched and used for malicious purposes,” Guo said.
“We are trying to provide a more efficient and feasible solution to make sure that kind of information is secure,” he added.
While the users surf internet, in the background, the smartphone sends vital data to many servers regarding the background of the search, GPS location of the user, hotspots of other apps installed in the smartphone.
The research paper submitted by Guo received the “best paper” award at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) GLOBECOM Conference in San Diego recently.