Cybersecurity and Technology

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Tag: social proof

Understanding If Your Device Has Been Hacked

Understanding if Your Device Has Been Hacked

From social sites to banking, smart devices are increasingly becoming part of most people’s daily lives. Unfortunately, they are also exposing them to data snatchers, popularly known as hackers. The hackers may gain access to a device in many ways, but we will discuss how to know when that happens.

Receiving Random Pop-ups

Random pop-ups are not annoying, but they are among the most popular signs that a device got hacked. If one is getting random pop-ups from their browser, something has compromised their device with adware. Adware is popular with hackers when trying to force someone to view certain websites to drive revenues through viewership.

Draining Battery without Any Reason

If one notices that a device battery is quickly losing power for no reason, that is a sign that it has malware. This sudden loss of battery power is due to malware or spy-app that is operating from the background. The spy-app uses a lot of battery power to scan the device and transmit it to the hacker.

Poor Performance

One may notice that their device is suddenly crashing all the time or loading web pages much slower. When such happens, first try shutting down the machine, and take notice of what happens. If the device has gotten hacked, it may fail to shut down correctly or not shut down at all.

One can also notice slowed functionality of some operations, such as making calls or receiving text messages. Such things shouldn’t take long unless the device has a spy-app.

 

Increased Data Usage

Another indication of a compromised device is the exceptionally high data usage. The usage may be a result of a background running app communicating to a third-party.

Contact List Gets Call and Tests That the Owner Didn’t Make

When a device gets hacked, the hacker leaves the malware in the gadget and may use the contact list to spread it. One’s email list, text messages, or instant messages may transmit the malware to his contact through messages with links or attached files. Check out for complaints from the contact list about notifications that they supposedly received.

The Device’s Settings Change

If the hacker physically accesses a device, they may manually change its settings. For instance, one may notice that their device Bluetooth is on, despite them not switching it on. Such settings change maybe a sign of malware interfering with the device settings to spread it to other devices.

There are many ways to know when a device has gotten hacked. To prevent losing data or money, always take preventive measures. For example, one can run a malware scanner on their device.

What is Social Proof?

Social proof is the process where a customer researches a business, whether online or from close friends and family, to determine its popularity, professionalism, or efficacy. Before a customer commits to a product or service, they are likely to find the most popular option and go with that.

Based on the need to conform, social proofing aims to guide social awareness in a specific direction. In the digital age, it occurs mostly on social media sites where a customer would research the product from a pool of friends or reviewers to validate its authenticity. With this understanding, a business stands to benefit significantly through increased sales by Social proofing.

Social proofing is accomplished through several means such as:

Celebrity endorsements: Since celebrities wield a lot of influence over their fans, an endorsement goes a long way in drawing attention to a business. This type of promotion works even better, where the celebrity uses the same product that they endorse.

Customer reviews: Hearing the feedback from different users of the same product encourages a new customer. Reviews are considered much more honest and personal than regular ads. Rating systems on products also point an uncertain buyer to the most popular product based on other customers’ purchases.

Trust & Award badges: A business awarded with a client satisfaction award or trust badge from a regulated governing body also draws many new customers. These awards eliminate or diminish the fear of poor-quality products or services. The same effect can also be accomplished with a warranty offer, making a new customer feel safe in their purchase.

Social Media: This is one of the fastest-growing means of social proofing. Most younger buyers and online purchasers use platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter to determine where to focus their attention.

Businesses with an online presence specifically stand to gain from this than those without. A professional, active and engaging social media presence for businesses presents them as far more appealing options than abandoned accounts, or worse, nonexistent ones.

Other social proofing methods, such as crowd wisdom and expert testimony, serve social proofing where adequately applied. Therefore, through crowd mentality manipulation, an upcoming business can benefit significantly from utilizing social proofing well.

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