An Algorithm for Improvement of Email Security on Android Operating System in the Era of Industry 4.0.

Abstract

The world is attesting a tremendous change today which is remarkably coined as industry 4.0. Several terminologies have developed as a result of the emergency of industry 4.0, notably is cybersecurity which entails the security of communication and network operations activities either on or offline and the measures taken to achieve such security. The most common form of communication by organizations and Business today is the electronic mails (Email), although email is a valuable tool, it also creates security challenges when not properly managed. There is a growing adoption of email as official form of communication in many organizations with majority of users on mobile android devices due to the popularity of the android operating systems and the proliferation of mobile devices. Banks, health care, educational institutions and many other service providers are communicating to their clients through email where sensitive and confidential information are shared. One major threat to email communication is lack of confidentiality for emails accessed via android mobile devices due to weaknesses of android operating system (OS) platform that presents possibilities to penetrate by hackers and android email client since it accepts a onetime login and password authentication which is only required again if the email account is deleted from the android mobile device. In this study, an algorithm was designed and implemented on an android application that allows an email sender to compose an email and set the time the email will stay in the receiver inbox before it automatically wipes off. Primary data was collected from email users using tightly structured questionnaires and respondents comprised of those with email technical background and those that are typical email users inorder to get their opinion on the lack of confidentiality on the android mobile email client, while secondary data from scholarly journals and articles informed the study design. The designed algorithm was tested and evaluated through expert opinion. The result of the study indicates that the designed algorithm addresses the confidentiality issues and threats on android email clients.