If you are part of the 2.5 billion users of smartphones in the world, chances are you have been accumulating a lot of private data on your phone, by now. Pictures, private messages, and so much more inside your mobile phone need to be protected from people with bad intentions. Here is a series of tips you can think of to protect your data and keep your smartphone safe and secure.
Most people know what to do to keep their phone secure, but they simply postpone doing it to tomorrow, which then becomes tomorrow again, and finally… it just never happens. Just like the thousands of photos, sitting there inside your phone. You keep thinking you should download them and keep them on a data medium such as a USB stick, in case something happens to your phone. They are small, come in a variety of shapes, and can fit inside your pocket. Why wait until it is too late when you finally lose your phone and all the pictures at the same time. Get yourself a USB stick and solve the problem in a few minutes!
All this to say if you haven’t taken care of the actions below yet, once you are done reading this article: Do it now. Better safe than sorry.
Probably half of the readers are now thinking: This is too obvious! But what about the other half whose mobile phone is still unprotected by this first layer of security? Some will say that it takes too much time to enter the code, every time you want to use the phone, but it only takes a second to lose it, and then anyone coming in contact with it will have access to all your data. If you really wish to gain time, install a touch id or a face id to make the process quicker.
We receive all kinds of information on our cell phones. Sometimes, it is advertising, others are messages from friends, but there are also links that could harm your phone or breach your security. If you receive a link from an unknown source, simply delete it immediately. If one of your contacts sends you a link that’s untypical, ask if they really sent it before you open it. Always err on the side of safety, even if it might make your friends mad that you did not look at their latest cute online video.
For the most important ones, like the OS, you should activate the automatic update. For the others, download and install them as soon as they are available. They usually contain the latest protection available, which will secure your phone from the latest threats.
If you use only one password, the day it gets stolen might mean doom for you. That is because once they have one of your passwords, cybercriminals will try to use it on all of your accounts, knowing most people stick to what’s easiest, which is a single password to remember. Don’t hesitate to create complex passwords. To remember them, write them down on paper, not in an electronic format, which could be found online or if someone enters your computer.
You should always use a VPN when you go online, in order to protect your privacy. But if you don’t use it all the time, then you should at least make sure to turn it on when you are on a public network to protect your data. Every time you proceed to an online transaction on a Wi-Fi network, the possibility that someone hacks your data is much greater. Don’t make it easy for them and keep the VPN open at all times; that way you will never forget to turn it on.
As we mentioned earlier in this article, if you don’t want to lose all the memories you have created during the years you had your phone, you need to do a backup of the information. Preferably, you need to store it in various places. A USB stick is probably best, as it is easy to store and remains away from the internet, so no one can hack it. But there is no doubt that storing your pictures and documents on the Cloud is the easiest and fastest way since it can do so automatically, every time you take a picture.
This tip is not one you can skip. In fact, as soon as you are done reading, you need to find one, download it and keep it going 24 hours a day on your phone. Installing a security app on your phone will protect it from people trying to hack it and also from malware.
Hopefully, this article reminded you of the importance of security for your mobile phone. It is all about the small actions you should take that will bring you peace of mind. To close this article, we also suggest that you go onto the web page of your OS (Android or iOS for Apple) and learn how to wipe your memory from a distance. That way, if you ever lose your phone, or it is stolen, you can keep your privacy by erasing everything that is on it!