\u201cMuch worse is to come and parents are warned to be fully aware of what is going on on their children\u2019s cellphones,\u201d Mr Jacques van Heerden said this week.<\/p>\n
Mr Van Heerden who describes himself as an ethical hacker, is the owner of Global Technology Security Providers in Centurion, leaders in the South African cyber security industry.<\/p>\n
www.mobserver.co.za<\/strong> contaced Mr Van Heerden this week following reports in the daily media about a child playing the Blue Whale suicide game in Bronkhorstspruit.<\/p>\n \u201cThe problem is that no charges can be laid with the police against the developers of the game which is downloaded as an App from Google Playstore on Android phones.<\/p>\n \u201cTherefore it is up to parents to police their children\u2019s cellphones.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Mr Van Heerden warned that Blue Whale is the tip of the ice-berg and said that he foresees an upsurge in damaging cyber material on social media, amongst which is child pornography.<\/p>\n More that 70% of the 135 Google Play Store Apps available for Android phones contains malicious viruses.<\/p>\n Hackers can use some of these viruses to even activate a cellpone\u2019s microphone and camera without the owner being aware there-of.<\/p>\n Using adverts embedded in some cellphone Apps, the developers of these Apps can also send prime rate SMS\u2019s of up to R30 without the cellphone owners\u2019s knowledge.<\/p>\n