Apps

The risks from shadow and unauthorized apps have been known for years, but new research from Armis finds employees of 67 percent of UK organizations are introducing risk to the business by downloading applications and software onto assets without the knowledge or management of IT or security teams.

In addition the study, carried out by Vanson Bourne, finds 39 percent of enterprises admit to feeling challenged by increasingly complicated regulations and governance requirements.

Nearly 87 percent of Android and 60 percent of iOS apps request access to device functions unrelated to their performance, according to new research by NordVPN.

Researchers analyzed the most popular mobile apps globally in 18 categories. They found that up to 14 percent of apps collect more unnecessary than necessary data for the apps' performance and only eight percent collect no unnecessary data. On average, every fifth requested permission was not actually needed for the app’s functionality.

Lots of apps are potentially transmitting and saving user data without express permission and this has led some administrations to consider bans.

In May, Montana passed the first bill to ban TikTok statewide due to data concerns, and India has banned 60 apps, including TikTok, claiming they were transmitting user data back to China.

Most organizations have some level of legacy apps. These can be hard to maintain and inhibit initiatives like data sharing. But the modernization process is challenging due to staffing, tools, training, and other issues.

We spoke to EvolveWare CEO Miten Marfatia to find out how enterprise IT can ease this complex process and ensure they get it right.

Fintech apps have simplified financial management to the point where 60 percent of people will now seek advice from personal finance tools before reaching out to financial professionals.

A new survey from Capterra makes gloomy reading for accountants as it finds 64 percent of fintech users feel that these tools have significantly reduced their reliance on financial advisors.

The Windows Start Menu has always been an essential tool for Windows users to launch programs, access system settings, or change the system’s power state.

Microsoft modified the Windows operating system significantly in the latest versions. Windows 10 introduced taskbar pinning, live tiles in the Start Menu, and several other changes.

When preparing for modernization, 70 percent of companies are confident or very confident in their understanding of their applications.

However, a new report from EvolveWare shows the high confidence level drops as companies plan their modernization project (41 percent) and begin their project (28 percent), suggesting that organizations only start to understand the level of knowledge needed for these efforts after they are further into their planning or execution.

According to statistics, there are almost 6,6 billion smartphone users in the world -- nearly 83 percent of the total population of the Earth. The revolution in the world of mobile devices has led to the fact that the phone has lost its primary function of making calls and has become a tool for entertainment, study, business, and much more.

All these functions are possible due to mobile apps available in specialized stores such as the Apple Store or Google Play as well as unofficial stores.

Thousands of Android apps have hard-coded secrets which means that a malicious actor -- and not necessarily a very skilled one -- could gain access to API keys, Google Storage buckets and unprotected databases and more.

Research from Cybernews shows that over half of 30,000 investigated apps are leaking secrets that could have huge repercussions for both app developers and their customers.

We're battling a swell of rogue apps, and companies and consumers alike are struggling to keep their heads above water as these applications quickly become the tool of choice for fraudsters. According to our recent fraud data, rogue apps now make up 39 percent of global fraud attacks, growing at a rate of 50 percent per quarter.

Rogue apps attempt to impersonate a brand's application with the intent of committing financial fraud. They have the ability to wreak havoc on consumers and organizations alike, with financial institutions being a particular target.

It used to be, people would scoff at the idea of switching to a Linux-based operating system due to a lack of software. While that is still true for some folks -- especially business users -- it is less of a concern these days. Why? Well, so many things are done through the web browser nowadays, lessening dependence on Windows software. For many consumers, just having the Google Chrome browser on, say, Ubuntu, is more than enough to accomplish their wants and needs. Not to mention, there are many quality Linux apps like GIMP and DaVinci Resolve.

But OK, lets say you really want to use a Linux-based operating system, but there's some Windows-only software that you absolutely cannot live without. Thankfully, you may still be able to ditch Windows and upgrade to something like Fedora or Linux Mint. How? Thanks to the excellent Wine! This compatibility layer (don't you dare call it an emulator), can sometimes enable you to run Windows software on Linux. Today, version 7.0 is released.

As more customers use apps and online portals, businesses need to ensure that these day-to-day interactions that are both inviting and secure.

However, developers often lack the expertise to incorporate CIAM (Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) into their applications. WSO2 is addressing this challenge with today's introduction of its next-generation identity as a service (IDaaS) solution, Asgardeo.

According to a new report, in mid-sized to large enterprises 50 percent of the software applications being developed are cloud based and another 30 percent are expected to migrate to the cloud within the next two years.

83 percent of respondents state that cloud-based development and deployment is a top IT priority in 2021 for applications their company develops and deploys.

Open banking is more than just a buzzword -- the emerging trend is reshaping traditional services and may become the industry’s future.

Through the use of application programming interfaces (APIs), third-party financial service providers (TPPs) can access customer data that would otherwise be kept secure. Some of these services include budgeting, comparing mortgage rates, creating savings portfolios and more. TPPs are growing in number due to the open banking revolution.

Over a third of the 1,020 most-downloaded Android apps on the Google Play store request access to a user's camera -- despite no obvious benefit for user experience and potentially placing sensitive data at risk.

Research from CyberNews also shows one in three apps request access to track a user's precise, or approximate, location. Excluding those that require such access to function, such as weather or navigation, applications attempting invasive access included gaming and even wallpaper, which appear to have no legitimate reason to track location data.