Smartphone Safety: Everything You Need to Know to Keep Your Phone Safe
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These days your smartphone is more than fair a way to call people or send text messages – it acts as an external backup brain that contains most of your life’s essential data. It is how you protect all your valuable data.
Now that our smartphones contain everything from emergency contacts to banking information, it’s more important than ever to keep these assets out of the wrong hands. Read on to discover all the mobile security threats to be aware of, and the steps experts recommend to keep your device safe.
If you still don’t follow us on social media, this is an excellent time to get involved on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Let us know your security concerns about your smartphone and how else we can protect it.
The fundamental principles of smartphone security
Irrespective of the type of smartphone you have, these are the top four security concerns to be aware of.
I. Virus Protection – Like your laptop or desktop, phones are prone to hacking and viruses.
- Smartphone Privacy – Whether you are a nosy business partner, friend, colleague, or hacker doing no good, maintaining privacy on your device is of the utmost importance.
iii. Phone security – Your phone is often your lifesaver and increasingly serves as your digital wallet, making it a prime target for thieves.
- Collection of personal data: Applications, and even your phone, are constantly trying to collect info about you. Find out how abundant is too much and control what information is and what is not about you.
Phone security best practices
1. Ignore and avoid phishing attacks
Hackers and digital thieves are getting smarter when it comes to stealing your identity keys. Once you know its tricks and learn about the latest scams, including Apple ID phishing and vishing scams, don’t become victims or accidentally download a virus on your phone. Your first line of protection: Immediately delete any questionable email or text and learn how to stop spam altogether.
2. Use antivirus for phones
Did you know that even with the newest iPhone safety informs, iPhones can get viruses? Android users want to know the details of Google Play Protect. If you accidentally download a virus, we can also help you and explain how to remove hidden malware from an Android phone. Of course, investing in one of the safest phones is critical to avoiding security concerns in the first place.
3. Protect your messages for privacy reasons
Whether you’re in a career that requires privacy or just planning a surprise birthday party for a friend, you should learn these strategies to keep your text messages and phone calls safe. Start by hiding text messages on an iPhone. Next, consider whether you need an encrypted phone. Then, find out what this buzzword means and why and how to encrypt your iPhone or Android phone. Finally, the most secure messaging apps are a must for anyone with privacy concerns.
4. Manage your application permissions.
Your smartphone and the applications you download to your phone know a lot about you, sometimes too much. One of the fastest ways to keep your information private is to take care of your app’s permissions. For example, does your carpooling app need access to your contact list or calendar? Both iPhone and Android have made it easier than ever to control app permissions, but you still need to do your homework to limit them to what the app needs.
Apple followers will want to know how to delete apps on an iPhone and privacy settings on an iPhone that they should try out as soon as possible.
Also, everyone should know how to delete cookies from your phone (cookies are small pieces of information that can tell you what you like, don’t like, and your habits) and say a lot about you.
5. Lock your phone
According to a 2017 Pew account, nearly 30 percent of smartphone owners don’t even use a screen lock or other security feature; However, the easiest and most obvious way to protect your phone is to lock your home screen and use two-factor authentication regularly. Also, experts recommend going the extra mile. So, make sure you don’t have a weedy password and learn how to lock apps on your phone.
6. Beware of public Wi-Fi networks
Sure, it can be suitable to check your email while waiting for the subway or bus, and now and then, you can walk down the street to work at the cafe. However, logging into an open Wi-Fi network can open up your device to hackers if you’re not cautious.
7. Use a retrieval app to find a missing phone
A lost or stolen iPhone is perhaps the worst thing that can happen in the world, but there are steps you can take correct now to keep yourself and your data safe. The built-in Find My iPhone app can also help you reconnect to your lost phone.
Lost phones aren’t the only way to steal your data. So, make sure you know how to factory reset your iPhone or Android and do it before you drop it off or recycle it.
8. Don’t jailbreak or root your device
Finally, experts strongly recommend not to jailbreak your iPhone or root your Android. Why? While jailbreaking your phone may look attractive, it is not worth making your phone vulnerable to hackers or other viruses.
Bottom line
While the iPhone and Android are constantly adopting better and more sophisticated security measures, and these are the most secure phones out there, it is largely up to you to keep your phone and personal information safe at the end of the day. If you get a suspicious SMS scam message or iPhone virus alert, think twice before automatically clicking a link to open it. Are you looking for tell-tale misspellings? Does the URL start with “https:”? And remember, Apple (and other reputable companies like your bank) will never ask you for your password. Common logic will always be your best defense.
