When I first saw the Pokemon Go story going crazy, stats about how it is going to be bigger than Twitter by Tuesday etc, there is that cynicism that kicks in to say … this will end badly.
For those who have not caught up with this… it is an augmented reality app that randomly puts Pokeman characters via your device into the real world around you . The aim of the game is to go find the characters.
When I first hear this I thought …
- First there will be the kids (and adults) getting themselves into unsafe areas
- Next will be the trespass issue
- Then the abduction or robberies
- Then the largest breach of all time
And I actually thought they would happen in that order.
I guess we are seeing it already, finding dead bodies and now we’re seeing people being robbed.
Then came yesterday (11th July 2016) the infosec community to put the dampener on everything (or at least to show some of the weaknesses to this viral game). From backdoors to privacy issues this app is going viral and netting a huge wealth of people into it’s data pool and soon we will see the criminals exploiting the app directly (rather than via their own version).
Will it get any better ? Should we be worried ? Well actually no and yes. Each day more and more are taking on this app with no thought to their privacy and security and are going off wandering around without observation of their surroundings and so this issue will grow. Also, expect to see the copy apps that will be created in the same genre that will ask for more app permissions… access to more of your data.
So, I urge you all. Put down this device. Turn it off and welcome to the real world. Where real people are waiting for you to interact with rather than fictional ones. Where you interact in 3D rather than with a swipe and best of all… your privacy and security are under your control.
Pokemon ? No Go thank you !
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