This app used for several online banking scams in India gets ‘safer’ – morningtidings

Remote desktop app TeamViewer has added face and fingerprint lock for smartphones to prevent unauthorised access. While TeamViewer is a well-known platform for IT professionals, it is considered as one of the most dangerous apps in India. The app has become a concern for smartphone users in India as it is used by scammers, pretending to be customer care executives, to read passwords of online banking and UPI apps by forcing victims to download it in the context of providing customer support. The new update is expected to make it difficult for scammers to look inside your phone.
The TeamViewer Remote Control app can now be locked behind biometric authentication, which prevents unauthorised access even if the mobile device is left unlocked. Unauthorised access can be blocked on the account-level in TeamViewer with two-factor authentication (TFA) and incoming connections can also be verified via TFA push notifications.
For those unaware, with the help of remote desktop apps like TeamViewer or AnyDesk, another person can get access to whatever you are seeing on your mobile screen. While remote desktop apps are helpful for IT professionals, there’s very little awareness among smartphone users in the country as to how these apps actually work.
With the new update, after one or multiple mobile devices are registered, users will be asked to allow or deny each connection via the registered devices.
Other embedded security features include a ‘black screen’ for connections from mobile devices, keeping the information being accessed on the remotely located device private. “All connections are protected with end-to-end 256-bit AES encryption and other industry-grade security features,” said TeamViewer in a statement to the media.
The new update includes biometric protection with iOS FaceID/TouchID and Android Face/Fingerprint Recognition and Improved in-session interactions such as remote reboot and more intuitive use of black screen.
For IT professionals using the app, there’s a redesigned user interface to make it easier to fill in text fields and to use keyboard short-cuts like F5 and Ctrl+Alt along with full mouse support for iPads improves productivity on tablets.