Hacking your smartphone might make you feel like your home has been robbed. Intruders can tell which of your possessions are the most essential to you by looking at your smartphone, which does more than simply contain your assets. By definition, anything is meaningful if it’s on the phone you carry around with you at all times. It could take some time to realize how seriously your personal space has been violated by this tremendous invasion of privacy.
Small gadgets like smartphones, which are continually transmitting and receiving signals online, are a common target for fraudsters. You need to create a plan for safeguarding your personal information if you want to keep your phone and its contents safe and secure. Here are some recommendations for safeguarding your smartphone from hackers and intrusions.
ALWAYS UPDATE YOUR OS
Many software updates and bug fixes include security enhancements that help protect your smartphone against data breaches and incursions or block-off vulnerabilities, making it more difficult for hackers to break in. Software firms are continually improving their products. Install any updates for the operating system of your smartphone as well as any applications you use right away, or better yet, set up automatic updates for all of them.
AVOID PUBLIC WI-FI
Everyone should be aware of the risks associated with using public Wi-Fi since it’s easy to get into trouble online utilizing the free Wi-Fi found in airports, shopping malls, and other public places. When feasible, try to limit your use of private cell connections and turn off Wi-Fi on your mobile device entirely anytime you are in a public setting. If that isn’t an option, think about utilizing a VPN program, a tool that passes network traffic over an encrypted connection. But be selective; not all VPNs are created equal. Unless you are wearing a smartwatch that needs Bluetooth, you should also think about turning it off when you are out and about.
ALWAYS LOCK YOUR PHONE
Use a four- or six-digit passcode every time you want to access your smartphone. Passcodes may not be very practical, but for your own piece of mind, the first person to find your smartphone if it slips out of your pocket while you’re testing out new sofas at Ikea shouldn’t be able to access your email, contacts, photographs, and financial information. Consider creating a passcode that is even longer and contains both letters and digits. Not a huge lover of passcodes? Not to worry. Punching in numbers may be easily and quickly replaced by fingerprint scanning and Face ID. While you’re about it, ensure sure apps that access sensitive data are password-protected as well.
KEEP YOUR CELLPHONE NUM1BER CONFIDENTIAL
Don’t immediately provide your cell number to any app that asks for it, just as you wouldn’t give out your old landline number to someone who asked for it. Your vulnerability to SMS scams and invasions, as well as the invasion of your protected 2FA accounts, increases the number of locations where your phone number is stored. Think about getting a second line for your cell phone. Google Voice, as well as programs like Sideline, Line2, and Hushed that make it easy to connect a second line to your mobile phone, are great ways to protect your phone number from cybercriminals.
DON’T DISCLOSE TOO MUCH ON SOCIAL MEDIA
While it’s acceptable to use your actual name on social networking platforms like Facebook and Twitter, stay away from posting a lot of personal details about yourself. Do not provide home cities, particular addresses, job locations, phone numbers, family names, or other information that might be used by hackers to trace you. These days, Facebook’s privacy settings and features allow you to hide the great majority of your personal information, including the majority of your images, friend lists, and other information. Curate and organize your feed to remove stale data that could expose more about you than you’d want. Remove Facebook applications that you no longer need or use, and revoke their rights. Even better, if you can, use your home computer to visit Facebook rather than your phone.
TRAVEL LIGHT
Limit the quantity of geotagged photographs in your Camera Roll or Gallery and don’t save any personal papers, files, or information on your phone. Make it a practice to delete private emails from banking, employment, and health-related accounts and to unload photographs and documents to your computer to keep your phone reasonably clean.
PROTECT YOUR ACCOUNT USING 2-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION
Another annoying security measure that most people detest is this one. People dislike two-factor authentication (2FA) because it adds an extra step and can be a hassle if they forget to have their phone or watch with them. But much like passwords, it serves a function by adding an additional degree of security in case your password is stolen.
USE STRONG PASSWORDS
Nobody likes using passwords. Don’t skimp when it comes to appointing them, though. Use only secure passwords that are difficult for hackers to guess. They should have between 16 and 20 characters, a combination of upper- and lowercase letters, digits, and symbols. Using your birth date, the name of your pet, or the identical password across the board is a particularly awful idea because brute-force password crackers can break many strong passwords.
You don’t have to come up with them yourself because there are several safe password generators available online. Every six to twelve months, or as soon as you learn of a data breach involving any application you use, change your passwords. Oh, and one last thing regarding security questions: lie. Change your answers for various configurations and don’t be honest while answering security questions. Instead of answering such questions with the name of your first pet, for instance, you might use a password-style answer made up of letters and numbers. This makes it more difficult for hackers to use information about you that is available online to figure out how to access your phone.
BE WARY OF SPAM AND SCAM EMAILS
Your email inbox is one of the simplest places for hackers to get into your phone and access your data. Scams including phishing are intended to deceive you into providing access to your accounts. Avoid executing program updates that are requested by email, downloading dubious attachments, or clicking links in promotional emails. Do not attempt to access financial accounts via arbitrary emails; rather, go straight to the website of the financial institution and sign in using the correct login and password.
USE BUILT-IN DEVICE PROTECTIONS
For this reason, they are referred to as “smartphones.” Device monitoring programs like Find My iPhone and Android’s Find My Device, which can find your missing phone on a map and, in certain circumstances, immediately wipe it, can help you minimize the damage if your phone is lost or stolen. These services can also activate the ringer on your phone to assist you in finding a lost item. Additionally, you can set the phone to erase all data after a predetermined number of failed passcode attempts.
USE ANTIVIRUS APPS
To steal passwords and account information, hackers prefer to use malware. A smartphone antivirus app, some of which are clones of well-known desktop programs like Avast, McAfee, and Panda, can help you resist this. By ensuring that any apps, PDFs, images, and other files you download are free of malware before you open them, the smartphone app variations offer enhanced security.
MANAGE APP PERMISSIONS
To see whether any of the applications on your phone have more rights than they require, check them out. You have the option of granting or denying access to the camera, microphone, contacts, or location. Observe the permissions you granted to your apps and revoke those that are no longer required. You can get a list of all the apps you have installed on your iPhone under Settings > Privacy. On an Android smartphone, the precise location of app permissions varies depending on the model, but on a Google Pixel, check in Settings > Apps & notifications > Advanced > Permission manager, and on a Samsung Galaxy, look in Settings > Apps > App permissions (via the three vertical dots at the top right).
BACK UP YOUR SMARTPHONE
Making ensuring your phone is backed up will help secure important files and photographs in case it gets lost or stolen, so you should always be prepared for the worst. At least in this way, you can still access those priceless pictures or files if your phone is stolen or erased. You may set your iPhone to automatically delete after 10 consecutive failed passcode attempts if it is backed up.
KNOW THE SOURCE OF THE APPS YOU USE
Don’t just fill up your phone with any old app. It is more straightforward to sideloa apps on Android, which simply refers to downloading and installing them from a source other than the Google Play Store, but your options for iPhone apps are confined to Apple’s App Store, which vets all programs offer on the platform. To enable it, you must, however, delve into the settings. The Google Play Store’s picks, which have been review by Google, are the greatest method to stay away from malware on Android. Never download programs over text messages since this is a well-known way for hackers to infect your phone with malware.
AVOID USING PUBLIC CHARGERS
Only plug your phone into reputable USB ports, such as those on your computer and in your car. When using USB connections in public locations like airports, libraries, or coffee shops, you put your personal information at risk of cyberattacks from skulking hackers. If you’re traveling, bring your outlet adaptor in addition to your USB cord. Additionally, a USB adaptor helps protect your phone’s sensitive data from online threats.
DON’T JAILBREAK (iPHONE USERS)
While jailbreaking your phone exposes it to viruses and spyware, it also enables iPhone owners to access applications and software that aren’t offer in the Apple App Store (a major no-no in Apple Land). If you choose to jailbreak your phone, Apple support services won’t be able to help you. Your warranty will be void, and Apple staff probably won’t be able to help you if something horrible happens.
CONCLUSION
When you are proactive about putting the right safety measures in place, you can feel secure knowing that you have done all in your power to protect critical and personal information from cyberattacks. This greatly reduces the likelihood that identity thieves will be able to take your identity, snoop into your personal matters, steal your money, take over your phone, and overall ruin your life.
