Technology

Easy Party Packages For Every Occasion

1
Technology

Ultimate Web Slots Guide: Everything You Need To Know

2
Technology

Best Online Shopping Coupons And Discount Codes For Savings!

3

The Chinese app TikTok is already banned in India, the US government is considering similar measures, as is the Amazon group for its employees. How serious the deficiencies in terms of data protection, security and espionage actually are. 

The social media app TikTok breaks all records: never before has mobile entertainment software gained so many users in such a short time. According to surveys by the data service provider Sensor Tower , the number of downloads worldwide exceeded the two billion mark at the end of April . In June alone, more than 87 million additional users were added worldwide . TikTok was the most frequently downloaded mobile phone program from app stores worldwide , ahead of Zoom, Facebook , WhatsApp and Instagram . 

This means that smartphone software is not only a global phenomenon , it is also the first social network of global importance to come from a Chinese company. But in parallel with the rapid expansion, criticism of the platform is growing. The US government has been checking the security of the software for a long time, and now President Donald Trump is even threatening a ban in the US . Microsoft officially confirmed on Sunday for the first time that it wanted to buy TikTok’s US business. According to its own information, TikTok has 100 million users in the US.

India has already banned the app, and security gaps have repeatedly been discovered in Germany in recent months. The US group Amazon even published a request to its employees not to install TikTok on company devices – and withdrew them shortly afterwards.

“We are committed to protecting the privacy and security of our users and enabling fulfilling careers for those who create creative content on our platform,” says TikTok itself. Can the app do that? Four questions and answers about the controversial software.

What is TikTok about?

Similar to the Google subsidiary Youtube, TikTok is also a video service that lives from the fact that its users publish their own films on the platform. The program has been known under its current name since August 2018. At that time, the owner, the Chinese company Bytedance, renamed the popular app previously known as musical.ly to TikTok. 

The individual video snippets are usually much shorter than with other video services. The videos, often only around 15 seconds long, often show private karaoke recordings, dances, animals, everyday things or joke scenes – some of them characterized by very robust humor. One film follows the next, in a wild, colorful, almost infinite stream.

In view of its reach, companies and institutions are increasingly using the platform in addition to private users to reach younger target groups. The mail order company Otto and the Bundesliga clubs FC Bayern and Borussia Dortmund are already swimming in the TikTok stream, as are the German offshoots of the US beverage brand Punica and the Swedish fashion retailer H&M . The Tagesschau also regularly publishes short snippets of news via the service and has several 10,000 followers.

The enthusiasm of the user base, consisting mainly of teenagers and young adults, for the service is enormous. TikTok had reached the first billion users after just two years; faster than any other social media service before. It took eight years for the world’s largest network, Facebook , seven years for Messenger WhatsApp and the Chinese provider WeChat, at least six. According to various estimates, the platform has between 500 and 800 million regularly active users. In Germany, the number of users should now be well over nine million people.

Who is behind the app?

The company behind TikTok is Beijing Bytedance Technology , or Bytedance for short, founded in 2012 by the Chinese internet entrepreneur Zhang Yiming . She develops and operates several digital platforms that work with the help of adaptive software. This includes the news website Toutiao (in German: “Headlines”).

After taking over the competitor musical.ly for around 800 million dollars in autumn 2017, Bytedance has been operating the service worldwide under the name TikTok since summer 2018, in China it’s called Douyin.

Bytedance is privately owned, little is known about the exact ownership structure. One of the largest single investors is said to be Softbank founder Masayoshi Son, who invested around three billion US dollars in the company in 2018. Other investors include the large US venture capital firms General Atlantic, KKR and Sequoia Capital.

TikTok founder Zhang Yiming studied electrical engineering and software development at Nankai State University in Tjianjin. After working for several IT and Internet companies, including Microsoft at times , Zhang founded his first online company in 2009 with the real estate platform 99fang.com. With the proceeds from his exit from 99fang, he started Bytedance in 2012.

What allegations are there against TikTok?

There are criticisms of the video platform from different directions. One of the most frequently cited allegations at the moment is that the service may process user data to a large extent in China and that information about users there could therefore come under the control of government agencies.

This concern is thus similar to the criticism that is also raised against the IT and network equipment supplier Huawei . TikTok rejects any suspicions and emphasizes that as a private company it is independent of the Chinese state. However, critics consider such independence – especially against the background of the lack of rule of law in China – to be unenforceable.

In the United States , a possible threat of espionage has been discussed in parliament since last year. According to media reports, investigations by a congress committee into the security of user data at TikTok have been ongoing since autumn 2019. However, the results of the investigations were just as little known as concrete evidence that information has actually flowed to the Chinese government.

At the end of May of this year, it was announced that Bytedance is looking for around 150 employees in California to expand the business there. Market observers also interpret this as an attempt to position themselves more internationally and possibly to make themselves more independent of Chinese influence. Another sign of internationalization is that the company hired the former streaming boss of the Disney group, Kevin Mayer, as TikTok boss at the end of June .

Another reason for criticism is the question of whether and to what extent the service may censor the content distributed there in the interests of the Chinese government. In November 2019, for example , the information portal netzpolitik.org documented the criteria that moderators use to evaluate content and filter it from the video stream. According to this, “TikTok […] operates a sophisticated system to identify, control, suppress and direct content.” It is also noticeable that, for example, videos about the protests in Hong Kong against the expansion of Chinese influence there, on the Portal are barely visible.

TikTok stated that they do not moderate content based on political orientations or sensitivities. “Our moderation decisions are not influenced by any foreign government, including the Chinese government. TikTok does not remove videos related to the protests in Hong Kong, nor are videos related to the protests in Hong Kong suppressed within their reach. “

At the end of June, the Indian government – together with around 60 other apps – banned the use of TikTok in the country. The services would jeopardize the “sovereignty and integrity of India,” said a statement from the Indian government . It is to be feared that the apps would steal the data of Indian citizens and transfer them to servers outside of India without authorization. 

However, the Indian government did not provide any concrete evidence of an outflow of data. Observers therefore suspect a political background to the ban, as tensions between India and China had recently escalated. 

In addition to the discussion about political independence and influence, there has also been criticism of the youth protection settings in the past. TikTok allows users aged 13 and over and initially made it possible for other users to also send them direct messages and digital “gifts”. According to reports from the Reuters news agency, the US Trade Commission (FTC) and the US Department of Justice opened an investigation into allegations of disregard for children’s privacy. 

The fact that TikTok initially set the privacy of its new users to “public” met with criticism from data protectionists. In the meantime, the platform has adjusted the settings and defines at least the accounts of children and young people as “private” by default. In addition, the exchange of direct messages with minors is deactivated, as is the sending of “gifts”.

When iOS 14 comes out, Apple will disable preset tracking. Facebook and Co. have to ask for permission if they want to use and pass on our data for advertising purposes. So will the update change the advertising industry from the ground up? An analysis.

Apple has already released a preview for iOS 14. The new operating system is expected to arrive in autumn 2020 and will make “everything even more helpful and personal”.

For example, we can expect new widgets that give us more information at a glance. A new app media library will automatically organize our apps in a user-friendly view. And a picture-in-picture function lets us continue watching videos if we want to use another app at the same time.

Users can therefore confidently look forward to the new operating system – very different from the advertising industry, because iOS 14 brings other, very important innovations with it.

iOS 14: Apps need to get ad tracking permission

Apple is tightening data protection considerably and switching off automatic advertising tracking. This means that apps must first obtain permission from users if they want to collect, use and pass on data for advertising purposes.

Apple itself exempts itself from this rule. His in-house advertising platform is still allowed to track us and display personalized or interest-based advertising. According to Heise developers who have access to the beta version of iOS 14 report this.

Now, of course, the advertising industry fears that many users will refuse tracking and that they will be able to display significantly less personalized advertising than before.

The British business and financial news broadcaster CNBC has already told Facebook that the iOS update could lead to a collapse of its so-called audience network advertising business – by a full 50 percent.

Facebook is sounding the alarm

With Facebook’s Audience Network, developers can advertise in their apps. This is played on the basis of the data that Facebook has collected from its users.

And so far, Facebook and Co. have been able to use the IDFA provided by Apple to collect this data. This is an identification number for users of Apple devices.

Advertisers could use them to see whether, for example, an advertising campaign resulted in a user installing a particular app.

This identifier from Apple should now be switched off with iOS 14. Users have to activate it manually for each app if they want the corresponding applications to track their data.

In summary, the new operating system can massively restrict the advertising tracking of user data.

How far can iOS 14 change the advertising industry?

So it looks like iOS 14 will be a real boon to users and a real threat to advertisers.

Until now, advertising tracking has been an extremely lucrative business model. Facebook and Co. were extremely dependent on it to display advertising and ultimately make a profit.

In addition, many users were or are not even aware of how valuable their data is. And above all that your data is tracked and used to display interest-based advertising.

Seen in this way, advertising tracking has always been morally questionable. And if the advertisers fail to actively point this out to users and convince them to reactivate the function, they have to come up with something completely new.

The advertising industry seems to be facing a fundamental change – whatever it will ultimately look like.

Even if Twitter is still silent about who is behind the abuse of various celebrity accounts, there are indications that an internal vulnerability was possibly decisive.

ack Dorsey was contrite: “This is a bad day for us and we feel terrible,” wrote the Twitter co-founder late on Wednesday evening. Shortly before, hackers had advertised dubious Bitcoin deals on the Twitter accounts of numerous US celebrities . Among other things, accounts of ex-President Barack Obama, presidential candidate Joe Biden, Amazon boss Jeff Bezos, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Tesla boss Elon Musk and rapper Kanye West as well as companies such as Apple and Uber were affected. 

The hitherto unknown cyber criminals had called in the tweets to transfer $ 1,000 in Bitcoin to a cryptocurrency account. “Within 30 minutes every payer will get double the amount back,” said the tweets of the same name that were sent via the hacked accounts within a few minutes before Twitter stopped sending them.

“We are investigating the incident and will provide detailed information as soon as we have a better understanding of what exactly happened,” Dorsey promised to clarify in the short term.

He has not yet made any specific statements. However, there are increasing signs that the accounts concerned were not hacked individually, but that the attack took place indirectly via Twitter insiders. There is a lot to suggest that the hackers have gained access to a so-called management account, through which employees of the short message service have direct access to the accounts of Twitter users in the event of malfunctions – including those of prominent customers such as Bezos, Gates or Obama.

Such management access would not only explain why the forged messages were sent at the same time. It also explained why remote control of the accounts was possible even though the majority of celebrity accounts were protected by so-called two-factor authentication. The master accounts with their special access rights should also be specially protected. In fact, there have been reports of cases in the past in which such accounts were accessed illegally, including on Facebook or Snapchat. Former Twitter employees were arrested only last year for allegedly spying on user accounts for an external client.

Human vulnerability

It is possible that there was such an internal vulnerability this time as well: In the meantime , the US online magazine “Motherboard / Vice” reports that members of a group of hackers contacted the medium and stated that they had taken control of the accounts using internal Twitter software. The hackers also said they paid a company employee to gain access to Twitter’s management platform.

Even if there is still no confirmation from the short message service – they say that alternatively a program or operating error is also conceivable – the incident again highlights a cybersecurity problem that experts call “insider threat”: the human weak point.

“The largest group of perpetrators [of security incidents ] are former or current employees,” writes the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) in a current recommendation for companies to avert cyber threats . According to the BKA specialists, bribery or disappointed employees who wanted to take revenge on the employer after being dismissed are not even the greatest risk of damage. “Most of the acts [are] not carried out with criminal intent, but rather because of negligence and a lack of awareness of the problem.”

In many cases, employees are simply not appropriately skeptical when, for example, they open messages or file attachments that supposedly come from superiors, colleagues or business partners – but are actually contaminated with malicious or espionage software. Then a careless, hasty click on the attachments or links in the messages activates, for example, a sniffing program that silently logs the user names and passwords entered by the employees in the background and later secretly sends the data to the hackers. A scenario that is apparently still being examined on Twitter.

A study by the market research institute Ponemon   and the IT group IBM from last year also shows how great the risk of damage is from insider threats . Accordingly, the average cost of damage from such security incidents rose within two years by 31 percent to a total of 11.45 million dollars per company affected. The total number of claims rose by as much as 47 percent. 

To be too good to be true

It is unlikely that the latest Twitter hack will be so expensive – apart from the damage to the reputation of the short message service because either the wrong employees had too many access rights or the management software was insufficiently secured. First of all, all those Twitter users who naively trusted the promises of the hacked celebrities and transferred Bitcoin have to pay for the cyber attack. Within a few minutes, security service providers determined, the crypto account specified in the tweets received payments of almost $ 100,000.

And that although such damage could be prevented – with little effort, but with a little common sense: “If a message sounds too good to be true, then it is usually too good to be true,” says Michael Veit, IT security expert at Sophos. If Musk, Gates, Apple, Biden or a well-known company wanted to give away huge amounts of money, they would not require that you first make an advance payment, according to the expert. “Such an offer is not a gift but a trick. And it’s an obvious sign that the person’s account has been hacked. “

After Specter and Meltdown became known , it did not take long for Intel, as one of the major processor manufacturers affected, to quickly focus on security for future processors. The detection of hazards can be very computationally intensive, the CPU load is then not without it and can lead to significant performance losses in large systems. Intel wants to counteract this with Intel Threat Detection Technology.

 

Intel ThreatDetection Technology currently consists of two components, which can also be used separately from one another. For example, Microsoft will use Accelerated Memory Scanning in Windows Defender ATP. The advantage? The CPU load drops to up to 2 percent, from 20 percent with the previously common method. Accelerated memory scanning uses the integrated Intel graphics unit to call up the required computing power.

 

The second point is the Intel Advanced Platform Telemetry, which will be integrated into the Cisco Tetration platform. A combination of platform telemetry and machine learning algorithms to detect advanced attacks, reduce false positives and have less performance degradation.

 

Also new: Intel Security Essentials for Intel Core, Intel Xeon and Intel Atom processors. These are technologies for secure boot, accelerated cryptography, hardware protection and other areas that are of security interest. Manufacturers can offer so much more security without having to do the whole thing at the expense of performance.

For more information on Intel endeavors, please contact Intel directly .

At E3 2019, many manufacturers are not only presenting new games, but also new hardware to accurately display those games. Asus is also there and presents a new ROG (Republic of Gamers) monitor, which has not yet been given a precise name. The technical data are very appealing.

It is a gaming bolide with a 43-inch diagonal, 4K resolution (3840 x 2160 pixels), 144 Hz and also HDR10. As a special highlight, according to Asus, the display is the first of its kind to add Display Stream Compression (DSC) to the scales. This allows you to transmit 4K at 144 Hz, but only requires a single cable for DisplayPort 1.4.

Unfortunately, two DisplayPort connections are usually currently required to use 4K and 144 Hz. Unfortunately, this often leads to complicated driver configurations and also slows down HDR / VRR. Asus wants to deal with this with DSC technology – without chroma sub-sampling, which can otherwise negatively affect image fidelity. According to Asus, DSC does not lead to any noticeable deterioration in image quality.

The new ROG monitor also supports AMD Radeon FreeSync 2 HDR (Adaptive Sync) and VRR, which should both prevent tearing during games and keep input lag as low as possible. In addition, the upcoming gaming monitor has also been certified by VESA with DisplayHDR 1000 . As a result, it masters 1,000 nits and 10-bit image processing.

Asus emphasizes that the optimized local dimming achieves excellent HDR display and excellent black and contrast values. In addition, the ROG monitor covers 90% of the DCI-P3 color space. Everything sounds great, I’m not the only one thinking. Unfortunately, Asus is still hiding both the release date and the price of the upcoming ROG monitor. You will certainly have to dig deep into your pockets for this diagonal and the technical data.

For a long time, Mac users have been able to use the technology preview in addition to the normal version of Safari and test certain functions in front of other users – it’s a beta version, so to speak. Now there is a small, but certainly not unimportant message that is hidden in the release notes of version 99. 

Adobe already announced in 2017 that Flash would be buried – by the end of this year it should be ready. Steve Jobs leaned out the window a long time ago and claimed nobody needs Flash. He got a lot of malice for it, but was proven right. The Technology Preview now completely loses support for the Adobe tool.

The whole thing is certainly not a surprise, because Flash has not been pre-installed on Macs for a long time and also on other platforms and has to be banned onto the computer by hand. However, there are still far too many websites that use this technology and hopefully will soon turn to other, more modern options.

Avira is largely taken over by Investcorp Technology Partners (ITP). Avria has already officially confirmed this in a press release. The founder of Avira, Tjark Auerbach, announced: “In Investcorp I have found an investment partner who shares my values ​​and supports the management team’s strategy of continuing to protect people over the long term.”

If, contrary to expectations, Avira doesn’t tell you anything: The company offers virus scanners and other PC optimization and protection solutions. According to Avira, profitable growth in the segments for both private and OEM customers should continue to be the top priority. Thanks to Investcorp Technology Partners, your own opportunities would now increase significantly.

Investcorp prefers to invest in medium-sized technology companies in the areas of IT security, data / analytics and financial technology / payments. Past investments include Utimaco, Sophos, Optiv, SecureLink, CoreSec, Nebulas, iT-CUBE, CSID, OpSec and Impero. The takeover is currently not quite complete, as it is still subject to antitrust approval.

Incidentally, the two companies do not publicly disclose how much money has now been moved back and forth. It was said, however, that Avira was valued at around 180 million US dollars. Even if ITP is now to hold the majority stake in Avira, the founder Auerbach will keep a significant stake. Avira would like to expand into other markets under the new patronage, e.g. B. the Middle East, where Investcorp is already active.

 

Fitbit today announced its new fitness smartwatch, the Sense. The price goes up a bit, because the wearable should change hands for 329.95 euros. Fitbit wants to offer a lot for this – such as the EKG measurement (initially only USA) and EDA scans, which measure the electrodermal activity of the skin and can thus provide conclusions about your current stress level.

A heart rate monitor is logically on board. Fitbit also advertises the scythe with its stainless steel housing and integrated GPS, which should be very helpful to athletes. Because then the running route can be recorded correctly even without a smartphone. The smartwatch can also warn you if your heart rate is particularly high or low. The smartwatch also tracks sleep or REM phases and also has the new active zone minutes – see also my test of the Charge 4.

The Fitbit Sense can measure your skin temperature, even at night, to provide information on health. The purchase price also includes 6 months of Fitbit Premium. This gives you extended statistics and, for example, access to video workouts and more. The smartwatch also forwards notifications to you and, thanks to the microphone and speaker, even allows calls to be made directly on the wrist – but a connection to the smartphone is still necessary.

The Sense can record over 20 workouts – automatically via SmartTrack or when you start it manually. Swimming is also possible because the smartwatch is waterproof to a depth of 50 meters. You can also use the scythe to use the Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa to e.g. For example, you can call up the weather or control smart home devices. According to Fitbit, music can also be controlled directly on the Sense via Spotify and Deezer.

The Fitbit Sense is based on an AMOLED display, protected by Gorilla Glass 3 and should offer up to 6 days of battery life. All kinds of different bracelets are also planned – the bracelets of the new Versa 3 will also be compatible with the Fitbit Sense. You can pre-order the new fitness smartwatch from today. The Sense should be available in stores from the end of September 2020.

Accessories for Fitbit Sense and Fitbit Versa 3 are available separately and in different versions, including woven Repreve recycling ribbons in the colors dark gray, coral, camouflage and rainbow as well as sports ribbons in the colors black / moon white, camouflage green / moon white, gray / mint green, melon / Rose and sapphire / fog gray, infinity bands in the colors black, moon white, midnight blue and old pink, from € 24.95.

Also available are Pendleton styles for woven Fitbit Repreve bands in the colors blue / gray Canyonlands and blue / pink Basket Maker as well as Victor Glemaud styles for knitted Fitbit Repreve bands in the colors chevron red / gold, black layered / Red and gold metallic / black, from 39.95 euros.

 

 

Medion had already presented the new gaming notebook Erazer Beast X10 in June 2020 – the manufacturer’s new, mobile flagship. At the time, availability was expected at the end of July 2020, but now it has been the end of August 2020. Because from now on the laptop can be ordered through the Medion shop.

 

Under the hood are an Intel Core i7-10750H, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super and 32 GB of DDR4 RAM. The display has a 17.3-inch diagonal with a refresh rate of 144 Hz, but unfortunately only 1080p resolution – a big minus point in my opinion. A 1 TB SSD provides storage space. The gaming optics are produced, among other things, by a keyboard with RGB lighting.

The speakers are certified with Dolby Atmos, which is of course more of a marketing number for a notebook. With the purchase you get the Xbox Game Pass for PC for one month as a nice bonus . In addition to the Beast X10, the Erazer Crawler E10, Deputy P10 and Defender P10 are also available – all presented at the same time.

Availabilities and prices

  • The Erazer Beast X10 is now available at the promotional price of 2,099 euros.
  • The Erazer Crawler E10 is now available at the promotional price of 949.95 euros.
  • The Erazer Defender P10 is available now from 1,462.14 euros.
  • The Erazer Deputy P10 is available now for € 1,267.18.

Technical equipment and data of the Medion Erazer Beast X10 (MD 61804):

– Intel Core i7-10750H (2.60 GHz, up to 5.00 GHz, 6 cores, 12 threads and 12 MB Intel Smart Cache)

– NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER with 8 GB GDDR6 VRAM

– Matt 43.9 cm (17.3“) Full HD display with IPS technology, 144 Hz and a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels

– 1 TB PCIe SSD

– 32 GB DDR4 memory

– High definition audio with 2 speakers – Dolby Atmos Gaming certified

– Backlit keyboard with 16.7 million colors

– Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 with integrated Bluetooth 5.0 function

– Integrated IR webcam with Windows Hello function and microphone

– Network controller Gigabit LAN (10/100/1000 Mbit / s)

– Reliable performance – 6 cell battery with 91.2 Wh (3)

Software:

– Windows 10 Home

– Free 30-day trial for Microsoft 365

– Steam client

– McAfee LiveSafe – 30 day free trial pre-installed

– Xbox Game Pass for PC – 1 month free trial

Connections:

1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type A, 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type A, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type C with Thunderbolt 3, 1 x HDMI 2.0, 1 x LAN (RJ-45), 1 x Kensington Lock, card reader for Micro SD, Micro SDHC, Micro SDXC memory cards, power adapter connection

Audio: 1 x mic-in, 1 x audio-out

Dimensions (W x H x D) / Weight:

Without feet: 394.8 x 24.6 x 261.8 mm / 2.25 kg (including battery)

With feet: 394.8 x 26 x 261.8 mm / 2.25 kg (including battery)

Scope of delivery:

Notebook Medion Erazer Beast X10, integrated 6-cell lithium polymer battery, external power supply unit, warranty card.

 

Hopefully you’ve secured your smartphone with a code, fingerprint or Face ID. But that alone is not enough. Because with the right technology, experts can crack your smartphone – within minutes. Fortunately, you can change that.

The security of smartphones is such an issue. Actually, all users know that it is important to protect your own device with a password, a fingerprint or even face recognition.

On the other hand, there is man’s greatest problem: his laziness. Even if a user knows that an eight-digit password is significantly better than a four-digit one, the perceived effort in comparison to the added value is not great enough to be active.

Cracking a smartphone: This is how long an exploit technology takes

It makes sense that you take the time to set a (secure) password. Because what is certain in this case is a subject for an entire novel.

In short, the security increases with the number of characters and the (special) characters used. Or to put it another way: Anyone who wants to crack your smartphone – and that in a violent way – is annoyed by every additional number.

In 2018, cryptography expert Matthew Green calculated how long it would take a technology like Graykey to decrypt your password. The researcher is referring to iPhones and their numeric code.

For example, Graykey’s hacking technology requires a maximum of 13 minutes for a four-digit password. The average is 6.5 minutes . With six digits, the value rises to 22.2 hours in the worst case and 11.1 hours on average. These values ​​are still comparatively low.

With eight digits, the worst value is already 92.5 days. The average is 46 days . And with ten digits, the worst case decryption takes 9,259 days. That’s more than 25 years . Even the average is incredibly high at 12.6 years.

Use letters, numbers, and special characters

Both iPhones and Android smartphones now offer the option of defining individual codes of any length. That means: In addition to numbers (ten options per position), you can also use letters (26 options per position) and special characters (variable options per position) – and that makes a huge difference.

This can be calculated nicely using a simulated brute force attack . With their help you can, for example, crack a password. This software then generates more than 2.1 billion different keys per second.

This technology can only be transferred to smartphone codes to a limited extent. Nevertheless, the comparison is interesting from a security perspective.

The brute force software only needs 4.7 seconds for a ten-digit number code . A letter code made of lower case letters comes to 18.3 hours . If capital letters are also used, we are already at 2.13 years .

And the best protection to prevent strangers from cracking your smartphone is a combination of numbers, lowercase and uppercase letters. A ten-digit code corresponds to a time of 12.4 years . Of course, the value increases significantly again with special characters.

Conclusion

Basically – and certainly also a bit simplified – it can be said: the longer your smartphone code is and the more different characters it contains, the more secure your device is. That’s why you should take action now. Because who wants strangers to crack their smartphones? Exactly: nobody.