Mobile wallet safety

[PNGento]

I've seen a number of posts citing mobile wallets being unsafe. Can someone explain exactly how or why the mobile wallet is unsafe? I can certainly understand if the phone is lost or stolen, and a password can be figured out, but beyond that, what are the risks and what is the potential for a wallet to be compromised if someone practices decent safety and secure practices?

If I were to lose my phone, and I have my backup stored safely, I assume I should be able to recover access to my account/wallet. If I re-access it, I can change passwords if the wallet hasn't yet been compromised, right? If I get that done before the wallet has been hacked into, it should then be safe, right?

I use Abra (which is only a mobile wallet) and have created a Jaxx account, which is available both as a mobile wallet as well as on the computer (both of mine are iOS/OS). If I were to delete the Jaxx phone app, and if I have the cryptos addresses saved safely, but available to me while I am away from my computer, wouldn't I still basically be able to do transactions while mobile?

Anyway, would be great if people could elucidate the real risks to the use of a mobile wallet. Thanks in advance.

 

[GrandMasterDash]

Android is mostly open source, but it's also a commercial product. As such, it is wide open to government / deep state abuse. The word "abuse" is a subtle one. When a vulnerability is found, companies like Apple, Google and Microsoft will sometimes (often?) defer the official "discovery". They will do this intentionally and sometimes it will remain for years. In this way, they are able to build a treasure chest of hacking tools. Over time, for one reason or another, some of those hacking tools find their way into the wider hacker-sphere.

But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Governments also partner up with chip makers to insert back doors and vulnerabilities. Remote exploits exist that can, for example, enable bluetooth / wifi / 4G while keeping the visual icon "disabled". The whole thing is one big illusion.

Having said all that, it's okay to store some play money on your phone / tablet, just don't put significant amounts. You'll have to define "play money" for yourself, it might be a few hundred or a few thousand, it depends.

 

[DK Spencer]

The leather wallet you carry your cash around in is as safe as a mobile wallet on your phone. Someone gets ahold of your old fashioned wallet, and they've got everything in it. Someone gets ahold the digital wallet on your phone, same thing.
There are different levels of security that can be applied to any form of cash, and each has its uses. Most people keep a little on their phone, more on a Trezor and/or "paper wallet", which is somewhere between printing your own currency or converting your savings into money orders.