Tags: phones | privacy; security | security

The sad truth is we’re all vulnerable. If you use a smart phone or computer, you’re email and passwords are constantly in danger of attack by computer crooks. If it sounds slightly paranoid, it’s a good way for advisors to look at it.

Point is, A4A faithfully reports on security holes advisors need to know about it, like the one I read about today.

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“The research specifically names the HTC Legend, EVO 4G, and Wildfire S; the Motorola Droid X; and the Samsung Epic 4G. Most at risk are users of the EVO 4G, which displayed the most vulnerabilities,” says Mashable.

Mashable says the security flaw, described in a white paper, is specific to a certain implementations of the Android operating system. So it won’t necessarily affect all Android phones.

A hole is reportedly opened when companies like HTC or Verizon overlay their own software (sometimes called “bloatware”) on top of the Android operating system — for example, HTC’s Sense interface — to differentiate themselves.

Advisors don’t need to get worked up about this threat but you do want to be aware of it just in case your cell phone behaves a little stangely. Mashable’s article is the scariest of several stories I found on the Web about the white paper. But its alarmist interpretation could be correct.  

A financial advisor routinely deals with personal information, and you have a special obligation to your clients to treat their personal data with care. That’s the law.