Cyber Cat Voodoo

I haven’t written anything in a while on cybersecurity. Trying to get better on posting more often, I promise. There’s just so many more political things to talk about. 🙂

So…. TikTok, the ever-popular app that the kids these days can’t get enough of. Owned by China, not that most people care right now. Finally our FCC Commissioner is asking the popular mobile app stores to remove this application from their store.

“It is clear that TikTok poses an unacceptable national security risk due to its extensive data harvesting being combined with Beijing’s apparently unchecked access to that sensitive data,” Brendan Carr, one of the Republican members of the FCC.

Just last year, TikTok disclosed that there are a billion people that use its app every month. More than just being some short-form video version of Twitter, this app also hosts a lot of vulnerabilities and personal information leaks. There’s also rumors of a Beijing-based engineer with “Master Admin” rights. Sound nefarious? Probably because it is. Everything is seen in China and they are noted for monitoring their citizens very closely with their concept of social credit. Of course, worldwide users of TikTok are also being monitored. Just… be wary of how much of yourself you put out there.

*Cover photo- Silhouette of a mobile user seen next to a screen projection of the Apple logo in this picture illustration taken March 28, 2018. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration