Best (and Worst) Cybersecurity Apps to Keep Your Smartphone Safe

Installing apps on a smartphone might seem like the most ordinary thing in the world. After all, we all have hundreds of them on our mobile devices. You just open an app store, find the app you like, tap the big Install button, and you’re ready to enjoy all the benefits of your latest download.

We’re also a bit too eager to skip any “Terms & Conditions” screens and give our apps all the permissions in the world. After all, what harm could a simple weather app do? So, what if it asks to access the phone’s GPS data, camera, and local storage? It’ll be fine.

Well, that’s where the problem lies: it very may well not be fine. Over time, apps have become far too intrusive. What used to be a simple button on your home screen for turning the flashlight on and off is now an app that comes packaged with annoying ads. These apps still serve their primary purpose; however, due to reliance on advertising for their creators to earn money, it has become lucrative to stuff all sorts of trackers inside them.

Today, we’ll be looking at some of the worst offenders, talking about how to figure out if any particular app is harmful to your privacy, and also checking out a few apps that are good for cybersecurity.

Impact of Apps on Cybersecurity

Tracking and Permissions

User tracking is a growing concern. Nowadays, apps can harvest data even when they’re not running, as they still have a small process sitting in the phone’s memory responsible for tracking the user’s behavior. Again, ad serving is why problematic apps are built the way they are. If the app creators can serve targeted ads to their users, thus creating better chances for conversion, they’re making more money from each download.

Even though it’s not actually true that Google and Facebook “listen to your calls” and then figure out which ad to serve you, they do rely on GPS data and some additional trickery to figure out which products you’d most likely be interested in. That’s why it’s a smart move to check which permissions the app you’re going to download needs. If you believe it goes overboard in any way, chances are you’re better off without it.

Apps Going Rogue

Some apps aren’t made to sniff around users’ phones, yet they somehow end up doing precisely that. Usually made by a small developer on a shoestring budget, these are mostly security apps that supposedly only have a simple purpose, such as blocking ads on a video platform. But, at one point, the app might start harvesting user data, making strange snapshots, or worse – serving malware.

What usually happens is that due to the development studio being so small (usually just a single person), the app just doesn’t get updated as frequently as it should be. Hackers are constantly finding new exploits in mobile software, especially in apps that haven’t received security updates in ages. This leads to hijacking campaigns where hackers can take control of these apps to cause damage to their user bases. Hacking and hijacking isn’t the only way an app could suddenly change its purpose to something more nefarious. A wealthy enough company may outright purchase the app and then turn it into a vessel for identity theft through a phone. It has happened to more than a few browser extensions.

Fake Apps

There are also a number of apps that are harmful by design. Every once in a while, Google and Apple publishes lists of apps they have banned from their respective storefronts. Apps that were part of scam campaigns or were delivering some form of malware onto the users’ devices, card swipers, etc. In late 2021, Google banned 151 of these apps from the Play Store.

The worst part is that these applications sometimes amass millions of downloads. They look like legitimate and handy tools, like QR scanners or photo editors, making them appeal to a large user demographic. Most of them try to sign their victims up to some expensive subscription-based service, from which the bad actors behind the scam will get a commission.

The biggest telltale signs of fake apps are the developer’s profile, user reviews, and privacy policies. A fake app developer uses a fresh profile with barebones information, and the privacy policy section is written in a generic tone, so a quick search would lead you to a template they used. As for reviews, users tend to voice their dissatisfaction, so if you notice an avalanche of angry users and dozens of 1-star reviews, it’s highly likely that the app is broken, fake, or both.

Best Apps for Improving Cybersecurity

Now that we’ve seen how apps can harm our privacy and security, let’s talk about the other side of the coin – the apps you should use if cybersecurity is your primary concern. These apps protect the user data in various ways, encrypting all the data that goes through it and keeping your phone in top shape. We’ll offer some general advice in this section and point you towards some specific, top-tier apps you should install.

Ad Blockers

We’ve talked about how mobile apps tend to siphon personal information, so the developers can sell it to advertisers. Ads on websites tend to follow a similar route. That’s why getting an ad blocker for your mobile browser is a good start for stronger data protection. It will also improve your browsing experience as you won’t be seeing all those pesky ads all over the articles you want to read. Most of these apps are free, with optional paid upgrades, but again – check the required permissions before downloading anything.

VPN Apps

A virtual private network, or VPN for short, represents an extra layer to your online security. These apps act as a tunnel for your internet traffic, masking your actual IP address and encrypting all the data that passes through while the VPN connection is active. On top of that, by mimicking connection from another location, you’ll get to access region-locked content on various other apps and platforms, so a VPN is a good thing to have if your country is restricting access to certain services.

An Antivirus

Just like your PC and laptop, your smartphone can get infected with malware, too. You’ll need an antivirus to keep the intruders away and, in case of infection, clean up your phone’s storage. Popular choices are Malwarebytes, Kaspersky, and Bitdefender. If you’re already using a desktop antivirus, check your plan, as you usually get a mobile license in addition to the main product. If you’re using Bitcoin on your phone through a wallet app, an antivirus is a must. Most good ones aren’t free, but even basic protection is better than nothing.

WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal

The mobile market doesn’t lack variety when it comes to messaging apps. Nobody texts anymore, especially when they can send pictures and videos through various messengers, create group chats, call each other, and more – all for free. The rise of mobile messaging apps has led to increased concerns about data protection. Users were rightfully worried if a third-party could intercept their messages. That’s why the best messengers use end-to-end encryption, which strengthens the network’s security and allows only your recipient to read the contents of your message. WhatsApp has been at the forefront of cybersecurity among the messengers, with Viber, Signal, and Telegram following the lead. Pick any of these depending on which one your friends and relatives use.

Password Managers

Keeping all your passwords and logins saved inside a web browser isn’t safe. It’s even worse is if you write them all down on a piece of paper or in a notes app. Instead, get a password manager (LastPass is a popular choice). These apps protect all your logins with strong encryption and, at the same time, help you log in quicker by automatically filling out forms on websites and services. Don’t lose the password for your password manager, though!

Apps You Need to Avoid

While there are hundreds, even thousands of very useful apps, both Google Play and Apple App Store also host some apps that could be problematic. Apps that you want to avoid having on your business smartphone, or in general if you’re concerned about the security of your device. Here are some common apps that proved to be bad for cybersecurity.

Facebook and Facebook Messenger

Meta, formerly Facebook, is a company that’s no stranger to controversies. From data leakage to outright selling user information to third parties, Facebook and its messenger app should not find their way to your phone if you’re worried about online privacy. Be especially careful with the Facebook app since it’s a known “sniffer” of cookies and search queries.

Phone Cleaner Apps

Not too long ago, smartphones had trouble managing their memory. When phones didn’t come with 4+ GB of RAM, every megabyte of internal memory was important. Phone cleaners became a short-term solution, but with them came a lot of problems – intrusive permissions, access to OS-level files, and tons and tons of ads for questionable services. Your phone can handle itself just fine now, and you don’t need an external app to keep clearing the cache.

Generic Antivirus and VPN Apps

This one should go without saying, but under no circumstances should you download security software from completely unknown developers. It’s a huge gamble, and those apps could easily turn out to be trojan horses for malware delivery, or worse – they could let hackers take full control of your device.

Angry Birds

The original Angry Birds was quite a revolutionary game. It was one of the first huge hits in the mobile gaming world and attracted millions of players. Unfortunately, the NSA managed to hack into it and harvest user data at one point. The sequels got rid of the vulnerability, but the damage was already done.

Talking Animal Apps

If you have children, you might’ve been tempted to download one of the apps where they can play with and talk to a virtual animal. My Talking Tom and similar apps record all audio so the virtual cat can talk back, but underneath that cute exterior, they’re actually sending all voice data to the advertisers.

the Bottom Line

App stores have, unfortunately, become a minefield of malware apps. Still, if you take this advice and double-check everything you download, your phone and your data will be much safer. Remember to check user reviews on app stores and don’t give apps permissions just because they ask for them: only do so if it’s a proven app that really needs the permission it asks for to function properly.

Ivana Vojinovic

SUBSCRIBE HERE

First Name*

Last Name*

E-mail Address*

Create a strong password with a minimum of 7 characters using one uppercase, one lowercase, and one number.

Password*

State

Province/Region

Country*

Company*

Please select an Industry*

Please Specify Industry

Title/Role*

TERMS OF SERVICE AGREEMENT
PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING TERMS OF USE AGREEMENT CAREFULLY. BY
ACCESSING OR USING OUR SITES AND OUR SERVICES, YOU HEREBY AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS AND ALL TERMS INCORPORATED HEREIN BY REFERENCE. IF YOU DO NOT EXPRESSLY AGREE TO ALL OF THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS, THEN PLEASE DO NOT ACCESS OR USE OUR SITES OR OUR SERVICES. THIS TERMS OF SERVICE AGREEMENT IS EFFECTIVE AS OF 01/01/2014.

ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS
The following Terms of Service Agreement (the “TOS”) is a legally binding agreement that shall govern the relationship with our users and others which may interact or interface with American Publishing, LLC, also known as United States Cybersecurity Magazine, located at 17 Hoff Court, Suite B, Baltimore, Maryland 21221, and our subsidiaries and affiliates, in association with the use of the United States Cybersecurity Magazine website, which includes www.uscybersecurity.net (the “Site”) and its Services, which shall be defined below.

DESCRIPTION OF WEBSITE SERVICES OFFERED
The Site is an e-commerce website which has the following description:
Any and all visitors to our site , despite whether they are registered or not, shall be deemed as “users” of the herein contained Services provided for the purpose of this TOS. Once an individual registers for our Services, through the process of creating an account, the user shall then be considered a “member.”

The user and/or member acknowledges and agrees that the Services provided and made available through our website as well as various social media networking sites and numerous other platforms and downloadable programs, are the sole property of American Publishing, LLC. At its discretion, American Publishing, LLC may offer additional website Services and/or products, or update, modify or revise any current content and Services, and this Agreement shall apply to any and all additional Services and/or products and any and all updated, modified or revised Services unless otherwise stipulated. American Publishing, LLC does hereby reserve the right to cancel and cease offering any of the aforementioned Services and/or products. You, as the end user and/or member , acknowledge, accept and agree that American Publishing, LLC shall not be held liable for any such updates, modifications, revisions, suspensions or discontinuance of any of our Services and/or products. Your continued use of the Services provided, after such posting of any updates, changes, and/or modifications shall constitute your acceptance of such updates, changes and/or modifications, and as such, frequent review of this Agreement and any and all applicable terms and policies should be made by you to ensure you are aware of all terms and policies currently in effect. Should you not agree to the updated, modified, revised or modified terms, you must stop using the provided Services.

Furthermore, the user and/or member understands, acknowledges and agrees that the Services offered shall be provided “AS IS” and as such American Publishing, LLC shall not assume any responsibility or obligation for the timeliness, missed delivery, deletion and/or any failure to store user content, communication or personalization settings.

REGISTRATION
To register and become a “member” of the Site, you must be 18 years of age to enter into and form a legally binding contract. In addition, you must be in good standing and not an individual that has been previously barred from receiving United States Cybersecurity Magazine’s Services under the laws and statutes of the United States or other applicable jurisdiction.

Furthermore, the registering party hereby acknowledges, understands and agrees to:
a) furnish factual, correct, current and complete information with regards to yourself as may be
requested by the data registration process, and
b) maintain and promptly update your registration and profile information in an effort to maintainaccuracy and completeness at all times.

If anyone knowingly provides any information of a false, untrue, inaccurate or incomplete nature, American Publishing, LLC will have sufficient grounds and rights to suspend or terminate the member in violation of this aspect of the Agreement, and as such refuse any and all current or future use of American Publishing, LLC Services, or any portion thereof.

It is American Publishing, LLC’s priority to ensure the safety and privacy of all its visitors, users and members, especially that of children. Therefore, it is for this reason that the parents of any child under the age of 13 that permit their child or children access to the United States Cybersecurity Magazine website platform Services must create a “family” account, which will certify that the individual creating the “family” account is of 18 years of age and as such, the parent or legal guardian of any child or children registered under the “family” account. As the creator of the “family” account, s/he is thereby granting permission for his/her child or children to access the various Services provided, including, but not limited to, message boards, email, and/or instant messaging. It is the parent’s and/or legal guardian’s responsibility to determine whether any of the Services and/or content provided are age-appropriate for his/her child.

PRIVACY POLICY
Every member’s registration data and various other personal information are strictly protected by the American Publishing, LLC Online Privacy Policy (see the full Privacy Policy at www.uscybersecurity.net). as a member, you herein consent to the collection and use of the information provided, including the transfer of information within the United States and/or other countries for storage, processing or use by American Publishing, LLC and/or our subsidiaries and affiliates.

MEMBER ACCOUNT, USERNAME, PASSWORD AND SECURITY
After completion of the registration data and creation of your username, you will receive a random password—which you can later change—and account designation. You shall be responsible for maintaining the secrecy and confidentiality of your password and for all activities that transpire on or within your account. It shall be your responsibility to notify American Publishing, LLC immediately if you notice any unauthorized access or use of your account or password or any other breach of security. American Publishing, LLC shall not be held liable for any loss and/or damage arising from any failure to comply with this term and/or condition of the TOS.

CONDUCT
As a member of the Site, you herein acknowledge, understand and agree that all information, text, software, data, photographs, music, video, messages, tags or any other content, whether it is publicly or privately posted and/or transmitted, is the expressed sole responsibility of the individual from whom the content originated. In short, this means that you are solely responsible for any and all content posted, uploaded, emailed, transmitted or otherwise made available by way of United States Cybersecurity Magazine Services, and as such, we do not guarantee the accuracy, integrity or quality of such content. It is expressly understood that by use of our Services, you may be exposed to content including, but not limited to, any errors or omissions in any content posted, and/or any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any content posted, emailed, transmitted or otherwise made available by United States Cybersecurity Magazine.

Furthermore, you herein agree not to make use of American Publishing, LLC’s Services for the purpose of:

a) uploading, posting, emailing, transmitting, or otherwise making available any content that shall be deemed unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, or invasive of another’s privacy or which is hateful, and/or racially, ethnically, or otherwise objectionable;
b) causing harm to minors in any manner whatsoever;
c) impersonating any individual or entity, including, but not limited to, any United States Cybersecurity Magazine officials, forum leaders, guides or hosts or falsely stating or otherwise misrepresenting any affiliation with an individual or entity;
d) forging captions, headings or titles or otherwise offering any content that you personally have no right to pursuant to any law nor having any contractual or fiduciary relationship with;
e) uploading, posting, emailing, transmitting or otherwise offering any such content that may infringe upon any patent, copyright, trademark, or any other proprietary or intellectual rights of any other party;
f) uploading, posting, emailing, transmitting or otherwise offering any content that you do not
personally have any right to offer pursuant to any law or in accordance with any contractual or
fiduciary relationship;
g) uploading, posting, emailing, transmitting, or otherwise offering any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional flyers, “junk mail,” “spam,” or any other form of solicitation, except in any such areas that may have been designated for such purpose;
h) uploading, posting, emailing, transmitting, or otherwise offering any source that may contain a
software virus or other computer code, any files and/or programs which have been designed to
interfere, destroy and/or limit the operation of any computer software, hardware, or
telecommunication equipment;
i) disrupting the normal flow of communication, or otherwise acting in any manner that would
negatively affect other users’ ability to participate in any real time interactions;
j) interfering with or disrupting any American Publishing, LLC Services, servers and/or networks that may be connected or related to our website, including, but not limited to, the use of any device software and/or routine to bypass the robot exclusion headers;
k) intentionally or unintentionally violating any local, state, federal, national or international law,
including, but not limited to, rules, guidelines, and/or regulations decreed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in addition to any rules of any nation or other securities exchange, that would include without limitation, the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange, or the NASDAQ, and any regulations having the force of law;
l) providing informational support or resources, concealing and/or disguising the character, location, and or source to any organization delegated by the United States government as a “foreign terrorist organization” in accordance to Section 219 of the Immigration Nationality Act;
m) “stalking” or with the intent to otherwise harass another individual; and/or
n) collecting or storing of any personal data relating to any other member or user in connection with the prohibited conduct and/or activities which have been set forth in the aforementioned paragraphs. American Publishing, LLC herein reserves the right to pre-screen, refuse and/or delete any content currently available through our Services. In addition, we reserve the right to remove and/or delete any such content that would violate the TOS or which would otherwise be considered offensive to other visitors, users and/or members. American Publishing, LLC herein reserves the right to access, preserve and/or disclose member account information and/or content if it is requested to do so by law or in good faith belief that any such action is deemed reasonably necessary for:
a) compliance with any legal process;
b) enforcement of the TOS;
c) responding to any claim that therein contained content is in violation of the rights of any third party;
d) responding to requests for customer service; or
e) protecting the rights, property or the personal safety of American Publishing, LLC, its visitors, users and members, including the general public.
American Publishing, LLC herein reserves the right to include the use of security components that may permit digital information or material to be protected, and that such use of information and/or material is subject to usage guidelines and regulations established by American Publishing, LLC or any other content providers supplying content services to American Publishing, LLC. You are hereby prohibited from making any attempt to override or circumvent any of the embedded usage rules in our Services. Furthermore, unauthorized reproduction, publication, distribution, or exhibition of any information or materials supplied by our Services, despite whether done so in whole or in part, is expressly prohibited.

CAUTIONS FOR GLOBAL USE AND EXPORT AND IMPORT COMPLIANCE
Due to the global nature of the internet, through the use of our network you hereby agree to comply with all local rules relating to online conduct and that which is considered acceptable Content. Uploading, posting and/or transferring of software, technology and other technical data may be subject to the export and import laws of the United States and possibly other countries. Through the use of our network, you thus agree to comply with all applicable export and import laws, statutes and regulations, including, but not limited to, the Export Administration Regulations (http://www.access.gpo.gov/bis/ear/ear_data.html), as well as the sanctions control program of the United States (http://www.treasury.gov/resourcecenter/ sanctions/Programs/Pages/Programs.aspx). Furthermore, you state and pledge that you:
a) are not on the list of prohibited individuals which may be identified on any government export
exclusion report (http://www.bis.doc.gov/complianceandenforcement/liststocheck.htm) nor a member of any other government which may be part of an export-prohibited country identified in applicable export and import laws and regulations;
b) agree not to transfer any software, technology or any other technical data through the use of our network Services to any export-prohibited country;
c) agree not to use our website network Services for any military, nuclear, missile, chemical or
biological weaponry end uses that would be a violation of the U.S. export laws; and
d) agree not to post, transfer nor upload any software, technology or any other technical data which would be in violation of the U.S. or other applicable export and/or import laws.

CONTENT PLACED OR MADE AVAILABLE FOR COMPANY SERVICES
American Publishing, LLC shall not lay claim to ownership of any content submitted by any visitor , member or user, or make such content available for inclusion on our website Services. Therefore, you hereby grant and allow for American Publishing, LLC the below listed worldwide, royalty-free and nonexclusive licenses, as applicable:
a) The content submitted or made available for inclusion on the publicly accessible areas of American Publishing, LLC’s sites, the license provided to permit to use, distribute, reproduce, modify, adapt, publicly perform and/or publicly display said Content on our network Services is for the sole purpose of providing and promoting the specific area to which this content was placed and/or made available for viewing. This license shall be available so long as you are a member of American Publishing, LLC’s sites, and shall terminate at such time when you elect to discontinue your membership.
b) Photos, audio, video and/or graphics submitted or made available for inclusion on the publicly
accessible areas of American Publishing, LLC’s sites, the license provided to permit to use,
distribute, reproduce, modify, adapt, publicly perform and/or publicly display said Content on our network Services are for the sole purpose of providing and promoting the specific area in which this content was placed and/or made available for viewing. This license shall be available so long as you are a member of American Publishing, LLC’s sites and shall terminate at such time when you elect to discontinue your membership.
c) For any other content submitted or made available for inclusion on the publicly accessible areas of American Publishing, LLC’s sites, the continuous, binding and completely sub-licensable license which is meant to permit to use, distribute, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, publicly perform and/or publicly display said content, whether in whole or in part, and the incorporation of any such Content into other works in any arrangement or medium current used or later developed. Those areas which may be deemed “publicly accessible” areas of American Publishing, LLC’s sites are those such areas of our network properties which are meant to be available to the general public, and which would include message boards and groups that are openly available to both visitors and members . However, those areas which are not open to the public, and thus available to members only, would include our mail system and instant messaging .

CONTRIBUTIONS TO COMPANY WEBSITE
American Publishing, LLC provides an area for our users and members to contribute feedback to our website. When you submit ideas, documents, suggestions and/or proposals (“Contributions”) to our site, you acknowledge and agree that:
a) your Contributions do not contain any type of confidential or proprietary information;
b) United States Cybersecurity Magazine shall not be liable or under any obligation to ensure or
maintain confidentiality, expressed or implied, related to any Contributions;
c) United States Cybersecurity Magazine shall be entitled to make use of and/or disclose any such Contributions in any such manner as they may see fit;
d) the contributor’s Contributions shall automatically become the sole property of United States Cybersecurity Magazine; and

e) United States Cybersecurity Magazine is under no obligation to either compensate or provide any form of reimbursement in any manner or nature.
INDEMNITY
All users and/or members herein agree to insure and hold American Publishing, LLC, our subsidiaries, affiliates, agents, employees, officers, partners and/or licensors blameless or not liable for any claim or demand, which may include, but is not limited to, reasonable attorney fees made by any third party, which may arise from any content a member or user of our site may submit, post, modify, transmit or otherwise make available through our Services, the use of United States Cybersecurity Magazine Services or your connection with these Services, your violations of the Terms of Service and/or your violation of any such rights of another person.
COMMERCIAL REUSE OF SERVICES
The member or user herein agrees not to replicate, duplicate, copy, trade, sell, resell nor exploit for any commercial reason any part, use of, or access to United States Cybersecurity Magazine’s sites.
USE AND STORAGE GENERAL PRACTICES
You herein acknowledge that American Publishing, LLC may set up any such practices and/or limits regarding the use of our Services, without limitation of the maximum number of days that any email, message posting or any other uploaded content shall be retained by American Publishing, LLC, nor the maximum number of email messages that may be sent and/or received by any member, the maximum volume or size of any email message that may be sent from or may be received by an account on our Service, the maximum disk space allowable that shall be allocated on American Publishing, LLC’s servers on the member’s behalf, and/or the maximum number of times and/or duration that any member may access our Services in a given period of time. In addition, you also agree that American Publishing, LLC has absolutely no responsibility or liability for the removal or failure to maintain storage of any messages and/or other communications or content maintained or transmitted by our Services. You also herein acknowledge that we reserve the right to delete or remove any account that is no longer active for an extended period of time. Furthermore, American Publishing, LLC shall reserve the right to modify, alter and/or update these general practices and limits at our discretion.

MODIFICATIONS
American Publishing, LLC shall reserve the right at any time it may deem fit, to modify, alter and or discontinue, whether temporarily or permanently, our service, or any part thereof, with or without prior notice. In addition, we shall not be held liable to you or to any third party for any such alteration, modification, suspension and/or discontinuance of our Services, or any part thereof.

TERMINATION
As a member of www.uscybersecurity.net, you may cancel or terminate your account, associated email address and/or access to our Services by submitting a cancellation or termination request to austin@uscybersecurity.net. As a member, you agree that American Publishing, LLC may, without any prior written notice, immediately suspend, terminate, discontinue and/or limit your account, any email associated with your account, and access to any of our Services. The cause for such termination, discontinuance, suspension and/or limitation of access shall include, but is not limited to:
a) any breach or violation of our TOS or any other incorporated agreement, regulation and/or
guideline;
b) by way of requests from law enforcement or any other governmental agencies;
c) the discontinuance, alteration and/or material modification to our Services, or any part thereof;
d) unexpected technical or security issues and/or problems;
e) any extended periods of inactivity;
f) any engagement by you in any fraudulent or illegal activities; and/or
g) the nonpayment of any associated fees that may be owed by you in connection with your
www.uscybersecurity.net account Services.
Furthermore, you herein agree that any and all terminations, suspensions, discontinuances, and or
limitations of access for cause shall be made at our sole discretion and that we shall not be liable to you or any other third party with regards to the termination of your account, associated email address and/or access to any of our Services.
The termination of your account with www.uscybersecurity.net shall include any and/or all of the following:
a) the removal of any access to all or part of the Services offered within www.uscybersecurity.net;
b) the deletion of your password and any and all related information, files, and any such content that may be associated with or inside your account, or any part thereof; and
c) the barring of any further use of all or part of our Services.

ADVERTISERS
Any correspondence or business dealings with, or the participation in any promotions of, advertisers located on or through our Services, which may include the payment and/or delivery of such related goods and/or Services, and any such other term, condition, warranty and/or representation associated with such dealings, are and shall be solely between you and any such advertiser. Moreover, you herein agree that American Publishing, LLC shall not be held responsible or liable for any loss or damage of any nature or manner incurred as a direct result of any such dealings or as a result of the presence of such advertisers on our website.

LINKS
Either American Publishing, LLC or any third parties may provide links to other websites and/or resources. Thus, you acknowledge and agree that we are not responsible for the availability of any such external sites or resources, and as such, we do not endorse nor are we responsible or liable for any content, products, advertising or any other materials, on or available from such third party sites or resources. Furthermore, you acknowledge and agree that American Publishing, LLC shall not be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any such damage or loss which may be a result of, caused or allegedly to be caused by or in connection with the use of or the reliance on any such content, goods or Services made available on or through any such site or resource.

PROPRIETARY RIGHTS
You do hereby acknowledge and agree that American Publishing, LLC’s Services and any essential software that may be used in connection with our Services (“Software”) shall contain proprietary and confidential material that is protected by applicable intellectual property rights and other laws. Furthermore, you herein acknowledge and agree that any Content which may be contained in any advertisements or information presented by and through our Services or by advertisers is protected by copyrights, trademarks, patents or other proprietary rights and laws. Therefore, except for that which is expressly permitted by applicable law or as authorized by American Publishing, LLC or such applicable licensor, you agree not to alter, modify, lease, rent, loan, sell, distribute, transmit, broadcast, publicly perform and/or created any plagiaristic works which are based on American Publishing, LLC Services (e.g. Content or Software), in whole or part.
American Publishing, LLC herein has granted you personal, non-transferable and non-exclusive rights and/or license to make use of the object code or our Software on a single computer, as long as you do not, and shall not, allow any third party to duplicate, alter, modify, create or plagiarize work from, reverse engineer, reverse assemble or otherwise make an attempt to locate or discern any source code, sell, assign, sublicense, grant a security interest in and/or otherwise transfer any such right in the Software.
Furthermore, you do herein agree not to alter or change the Software in any manner, nature or form, and as such, not to use any modified versions of the Software, including and without limitation, for the purpose of obtaining unauthorized access to our Services. Lastly, you also agree not to access or attempt to access our Services through any means other than through the interface which is provided by American Publishing, LLC for use in accessing our Services.

WARRANTY DISCLAIMERS
YOU HEREIN EXPRESSLY ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT:
a) THE USE OF AMERICAN PUBLISHING, LLC SERVICES AND SOFTWARE ARE AT THE SOLE RISK BY YOU. OUR SERVICES AND SOFTWARE SHALL BE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND/OR “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS. AMERICAN PUBLISHING, LLC AND OUR SUBSIDIARIES, AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, PARTNERS AND LICENSORS EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND WHETHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY
IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF TITLE, MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.
b) AMERICAN PUBLISHING, LLC AND OUR SUBSIDIARIES, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES,
AGENTS, PARTNERS AND LICESNSORS MAKE NO SUCH WARRANTIES THAT (i)
AMERICAN PUBLISHING, LLC SERVICES OR SOFTWARE WILL MEET YOUR
REQUIREMENTS; (ii) AMERICAN PUBLISHING, LLC SERVICES OR SOFTWARE SHALL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE OR ERROR-FREE; (iii) THAT SUCH RESULTS WHICH MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF THE AMERICAN PUBLISHING, LLC SERVICES OR SOFTWARE WILL BE ACCURATE OR RELIABLE; (iv) QUALITY OF ANY PRODUCTS, SERVICES, ANY INFORMATION OR OTHER MATERIAL WHICH MAY BE PURCHASED OR OBTAINED BY YOU THROUGH OUR SERVICES OR SOFTWARE WILL MEET YOUR EXPECTATIONS; AND (v) THAT ANY SUCH ERRORS CONTAINED IN THE SOFTWARE SHALL BE CORRECTED.
c) ANY INFORMATION OR MATERIAL DOWNLOADED OR OTHERWISE OBTAIN BY WAY OF AMERICAN PUBLISHING, LLC SERVICES OR SOFTWARE SHALL BE ACCESSED BY YOUR SOLE DISCRETION AND SOLE RISK, AND AS SUCH YOU SHALL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR AND HEREBY WAIVE ANY AND ALL CLAIMS AND CAUSES OF ACTION WITH RESPECT TO ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER AND/OR INTERNET ACCESS, DOWNLOADING AND/OR DISPLAYING, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF DATA THAT COULD RESULT FROM THE DOWNLOAD OF ANY SUCH INFORMATION OR MATERIAL.
d) NO ADVICE AND/OR INFORMATION, DESPITE WETHER WRITTEN OR ORAL, THAT MAY BE OBTAINED BY YOU FROM AMERICAN PUBLISHING, LLC OR BY WAY OF OR FROM OUR SERVICES OR SOFTWARE SHALL CREATE ANY WARRANTY NOT EXPRESSLY STATED IN THE TOS.
e) A SMALL PERCENTAGE OF SOME USERS MAY EXPERIENCE SOME DEGREE OF EPILEPTIC SEIZURE WHEN EXPOSED TO CERTAIN LIGHT PATTERNS OR
BACKGROUNDS THAT MAY BE CONTAINED ON A COMPUTER SCREEN OR WHILE USING OUR SERVICES. CERTAIN CONDITIONS MAY INDUCE A PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN CONDITION OR UNDETECTED ELILEPTIC SYMPTOM IN USERS WHO HAVE SHOWN NO HISTORY OF ANY PRIOR SEIZURE OR EPILEPSY. SHOULD YOU, ANYONE YOU KNOW OR ANYONE IN YOUR FAMILY HAVE AN EPILEPTIC CONDITION, PLEASE CONSULT A PHYSICAN IF YOU EXPERIENCE ANY OF THE FOLLOWING SYMPTOMS WHILE USING OUR SERVICES: DIZZINESS, ALTERED VISON, EYE OR MUSCLE TWITCHES, LOSS OF AWARNESS, DISORIENTATION, ANY INVOLUNTARY MOVEMENT, OR CONVULSIONS. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY YOU EXPLICITY ACKNOWLEDGE, UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT AMERICAN PUBLISHING, LLC AND OUR SUBISDIARIES, AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, PARTNERS AND LICENSORS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY PUNITIVE, INDIRECT, INCIDENTIAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES WHICH MAY BE RELATED TO THE LOSS OF ANY PROFITS, GOODWILL, USE, DATA AND/OR OTHER INTANGILBE LOSSES, EVEN THOUGH WE MAY HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF SUCH POSSIBILITY THAT SAID DAMAGES MAY OCCUR, AND RESULT FROM:
a) THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE OUR SERVICE;
b) THE COST OF PRECURING SUBSTITUTE GOODS AND SERVICES;
c) UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR THE ALTERATION OF YOUR TRANSMISSIONS
AND/OR DATA;
d) STATEMENTS OR CONDUCT OF ANY SUCH THRID PARTY ON OUR SERVICE;
e) AND ANY OTHER MATTER WHICH MAY BE RELATED TO OUR SERVICE.

SPECIAL ADMONITION RELATED TO FINANCIAL MATTERS
Should you intend to create or to join any service, receive or request any such news, messages, alerts or other information from our Services concerning companies, stock quotes, investments or securities, please review the above Sections Warranty Disclaimers and Limitations of Liability again. In addition, for this particular type of information, the phrase “Let the investor beware” is appropriate. American Publishing, LLC’s content is provided primarily for informational purposes, and no content that shall be provided or included in our Services is intended for trading or investing purposes. American Publishing, LLC and our licensors shall not be responsible or liable for the accuracy, usefulness or availability of any information transmitted and/or made available by way of our Services, and shall not be responsible or liable for any trading and/or investment decisions based on any such information.

EXCLUSION AND LIMITATIONS
THERE ARE SOME JURISDICTIONS WHICH DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN WARRANTIES OR THE LIMITATION OF EXCLUSION OF LAIBILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES. THEREFORE, SOME OF THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS OF SECTIONS WARRANTY DISCLAIMERS AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

THIRD PARTY BENEFICIARIES
You herein acknowledge, understand and agree, unless otherwise expressly provided in this TOS, that there shall be third-party beneficiaries to this agreement.

NOTICE
American Publishing, LLC may furnish you with notices, including those with regards to any changes to the TOS, including but not limited to email, regular mail, MMS or SMS, text messaging, postings on our website Services, or other reasonable means currently known or any which may be herein after developed. Any such notices may not be received if you violate any aspects of the TOS by accessing our Services in an unauthorized manner. Your acceptance of this TOS constitutes your agreement that you are deemed to have received any and all notices that would have been delivered had you accessed our Services in an authorized manner.

TRADEMARK INFORMATION
You herein acknowledge, understand and agree that all of the American Publishing, LLC trademarks, copyright, trade name, service marks, and other American Publishing, LLC logos and any brand features, and/or product and service names are trademarks and as such, are and shall remain the property of American Publishing, LLC. You herein agree not to display and/or use in any manner the American Publishing, LLC logo or marks.

COPYRIGHT OR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY INFRINGEMENT CLAIMS NOTICE
& PROCEDURES
American Publishing, LLC will always respect the intellectual property of others, and we ask that all of our users to the same. With regards to appropriate circumstances and at its sole discretion, American Publishing, LLC may disable and/or terminate the accounts of any user who repeatedly violates our TOS and/or infringes the rights of others. If you feel that your work has been duplicated in such a way that would constitute copyright infringement, or if you believe your intellectual property rights have been otherwise violated, you should provide to us the following information:
a) The electronic or the physical signature of the individual that is authorized on behalf of the owner of the copyright or other intellectual property interest;
b) A description of the copyrighted work or other intellectual property that you believe has been
infringed upon;
c) A description of the location of the site which you allege has been infringing upon your work;
d) The physical address, telephone number, and email address;
e) A statement, in which you state that the alleged and disputed use of your work is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agents or the law;
f) And finally, a statement, made under penalty of perjury, that the aforementioned information in your notice is the truth and accurate, and that you are the copyright or intellectual property owner, representative or agent authorized to act on the copyright or intellectual property owner’s behalf. The American Publishing, LLC Agent for notice of claims of copyright or other intellectual property infringement can be contacted as follows:
Mailing Address:
American Publishing, LLC
Attn: Copyright Agent
17 Hoff Court, Suite B
Baltimore, Maryland 21221
Telephone: 443.231.7438
Fax: 410.238.2835
Email: karen.austin@uscybersecurity.net
CLOSED CAPTIONING
BE IT KNOWN, that American Publishing, LLC complies with all applicable Federal Communications Commission rules and regulations regarding the closed captioning of video content. For more information, please visit our website at www.uscybersecurity.net.

GENERAL INFORMATION
ENTIRE AGREEMENT
This TOS constitutes the entire agreement between you and American Publishing, LLC and shall govern the use of our Services, superseding any prior version of this TOS between you and us with respect to American Publishing, LLC Services. You may also be subject to additional terms and conditions that may apply when you use or purchase certain other American Publishing, LLC Services, affiliate Services, third-party content or third-party software.

CHOICE OF LAW AND FORUM
It is at the mutual agreement of both you and American Publishing, LLC with regard to the TOS that the relationship between the parties shall be governed by the laws of the state of Maryland without regard to its conflict of law provisions and that any and all claims, causes of action and/or disputes, arising out of or relating to the TOS, or the relationship between you and American Publishing, LLC, shall be filed within the courts having jurisdiction within the County of Baltimore, Maryland or the U.S. District Court located in said state. You and American Publishing, LLC agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the courts as previously mentioned, and agree to waive any and all objections to the exercise of jurisdiction over the parties by such courts and to venue in such courts.

WAIVER AND SEVERABILITY OF TERMS
At any time, should American Publishing, LLC fail to exercise or enforce any right or provision of the TOS, such failure shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of this TOS is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties’ intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the TOS remain in full force and effect.

NO RIGHT OF SURVIVORSHIP NON-TRANSFERABILITY
You acknowledge, understand and agree that your account is non-transferable and any rights to your ID and/or contents within your account shall terminate upon your death. Upon receipt of a copy of a death certificate, your account may be terminated and all contents therein permanently deleted.

STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS
You acknowledge, understand and agree that regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or action arising out of or related to the use of our Services or the TOS must be filed within year(s) after said claim or cause of action arose or shall be forever barred.

VIOLATIONS
Please report any and all violations of this TOS to American Publishing, LLC as follows:
Mailing Address:
American Publishing, LLC
Attn: Copyright Agent
17 Hoff Court, Suite B
Baltimore, Maryland 21221
Telephone: 443.231.7438
Fax: 410.238.2835
Email: karen.austin@uscybersecurity.net

Please confirm that you agree to our privacy policy

Only fill in if you are not human

Cookie	Duration	Description
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional	11 months	The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance	11 months	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy	11 months	The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.