Appdome today announced it has enhanced its award-winning Geo-Fraud Detection service to include two new defenses: Geo-Location Fencing and Geo DeSync Attack Detection. Combined with other Geo-Compliance features available on the Appdome platform, mobile app developers and enterprises can eliminate location-based fraud, ensure geo-compliance and deliver location relevant user experiences in mobile apps free from location spoofing, fake location, VPNs, Fake GPS Apps and other threats.
Geo-fencing is essential in finance apps and other regulated industries that need to meet Know Your Customer (KYC) and other compliance mandates, such as the US Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) requirements. Geo-fencing enables mobile app developers to restrict or limit app access on a country or regional level, ensuring that operations are compliant with local laws and regulations.
A Geo Desync Attack is a cyber-attack that intentionally creates mismatches in location data on a mobile device. By manipulating GPS coordinates, altering the time zone settings, and falsifying accelerometer readings, attackers can deceive location-based services and security systems. This type of attack can lead to inaccurate tracking, unauthorized access, and potential breaches of security protocols, undermining the integrity of location-dependent applications and services.
Unlike legacy geo compliance offerings that rely on proprietary, costly, and vendor-built geo service networks, the Appdome Geo Compliance solution zeros in on protecting the mobile device’s built-in location services and ensures these services have not been abused or tampered with. Appdome’s approach eliminates the need for third-party networks, SDKs, complex server-based implementations and does not require third-party monthly usage fees, allowing the enforcement to work even if the device is not network-connected.
The full Appdome Mobile Geo-Compliance solution puts an end to geo-fraud by detecting fake location, fake GPS apps, fraudulent location, detect VPN, no SIM (fake device), teleportation, Geo DeSync and other attacks. Customers simply select the Geo-Compliance features needed in any Android & iOS apps and initiate the build command from CI/CD or using the Appdome Platform’s “Build My App” button. Appdome’s patented technology uses machine learning to code the defenses into each application, so mobile developers don’t have to.
The Appdome Geo-Compliance solution is available in multiple enforcement modes including advanced telemetry and customized responses or workflows when geo compliance threats are detected, and monitoring geo-fraud attacks via the Appdome ThreatScope™ Mobile XDR, either before or after the deployment of geo-location defenses via the Appdome platform.
See the full Appdome Mobile Geo-Compliance solution live at Black Hat USA August 3-8, 2024 in booth #1350.
For more information on Appdome Geo-Compliance capabilities and to book a personalized demo, visit https://www.appdome.com/mobile-fraud-detection/geo-compliance/.
Metomic Finds Healthcare Organizations Are at High Risk of a Data Breach with 25% of Publicly Shared Files Containing Sensitive Data
Posted in Commentary with tags Metomic on July 24, 2024 by itnerdMetomic today released its “Healthcare Data Crisis – Uncovering the Alarming Gaps in Data Security and Compliance” report, offering deep insights on all the ways insecure file-sharing practices are putting healthcare organizations at risk of a data breach. Metomic revealed that 25% of publicly shared files owned by healthcare organizations contain Personally Identifiable Information (PII). Sixty-eight percent of private files that have been shared externally (giving access to people outside of the organization) contained PII and 77% of private files shared internally.
While publicly shared files that contain highly sensitive data pose the biggest risk for healthcare organizations and underscore the need for data security and DLP tools, many of the access permissions for private files are never updated or removed. This leads to “stale data” living in places like Google Drive where multiple people continue to have access to files they no longer need or should not be able to retrieve, creating high-risk environments that could easily lead to a data breach.
Metomic’s findings are extremely alarming considering the spiraling trend of data breaches happening across the healthcare space, a highly regulated industry that must follow strict data standards and legislative policies such as HIPAA and GDPR. According to The HIPAA Journal, the healthcare industry experienced more data breaches in 2021 than any previous year. That upward trend has continued to rise. Not only did 2023 see a record number of data breaches, but also a record number of the “most breached records” with more than 133 million records exposed.
This year, the ransomware attack on Change Healthcare wreaked havoc across the industry, disrupting payments to hospitals, pharmacies, and healthcare providers for more than a week. UnitedHealth claims the attack will likely cost the company between $1.35 billion and $1.6 billion by the end of the year.
Another concerning trend identified by Metomic is the amount of payment card industry (PCI) information, such as credit card numbers and banking information, that is saved in publicly shared and external files. According to Metomic’s research, 1% of publicly shared files owned by healthcare organizations contain PCI—a number that, at first glance, seems relatively tiny, but 1% means that there are easily accessible files that contain highly vulnerable financial data.
Given the distressing number of data breaches happening across the healthcare space, it’s imperative that PCI data be heavily monitored at all times.
The full report, which also includes common file-sharing errors and DLP tactics to stop high-risk data from being exposed, can be downloaded on Metomic’s website at: “Healthcare Data Crisis – Uncovering the Alarming Gaps in Data Security and Compliance.”
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