How to Secure Your Smartphone | Cyber Hub Intelligence

IS YOUR SMARTPHONE SECURED? THIS IS HOW YOU CAN SECURE IT

Smartphones are always a target for criminals. To avoid having personal information and passwords stolen, here are some tips on how you can make your smartphone more secure.

1. Lock your home screen.

Lock your home screen to prevent unauthorized access to your smartphone. This is the obvious step to take in keeping your private information safe and can protect you from unwanted prying eyes through your phone. Make use of a passcode that can’t be easily guessed. Also, utilize fingerprint scanning and Face recognition which is easier and faster than memorizing a passcode. Apps that contain personal data, such as email, banking, etc. should be protected with passwords.

2. Update your OS and Apps regularly.

Many people tend to ignore update notifications, be it Operating system update or Apps update. Leaving your smartphone not up to Date, means you are making your phone to be vulnerable. Because hackers are capable of identifying and exploiting vulnerabilities in systems, when a vulnerability is known by the software company, new features (updates) are made to increase security and eliminate weakness. The longer you wait to update your phone’s OS and Apps, the more outdated your systems are, thereby making it an easier target for hackers.

3. Use two-factor authentication.

An extra level of security, which is two-factor authentication (2FA) should be used wherever possible. The purpose of this extra step is to double-check your identity whether or not you are the legitimate owner of a particular account, like your email.

one common method of two-factor authentication is the auto-generated one-time password (OTP) that is sent to your phone through text message. This code is used only once, and the moment you enter it, you can access your account. It might sound tedious, but implementing 2FA gives difficult chance for your account to be a breach.

4. Ignore spam and phishing emails.

The easiest way a hacker can intrude into your phone and access your private information is through your email inbox. Many users have suffered security breaches, due to phishing scams. These are designed in such a way it can trick users to give out access to their account. So how can you prevent phishing? Avoid opening suspicious attachments and don’t click on links in promotional emails. Also, try not to access your bank account through random emails, instead, you should go directly to the bank website and log in to your account.

5. Manage App permissions

Try to know what permissions or privileges does your phone apps require. Some apps use permissions that are not supposed to be, but you have the right to grant or revoke apps permissions such as access to your camera, microphone, contacts, and your location. Keep track of which permissions are given to an app, grant, or revoke where necessary.

To access your phone permissions:

For iPhones, go to Settings and tap on Privacy, where you’ll see a list of all permissions and the apps you’ve granted them to.

For Android, go to settings and tap on security & privacy, click on permissions, you’ll see a list of all permissions. Note: On android, the exact path to permissions depends on the device.

6. Use Wi-Fi wisely

Most people don’t think twice before connecting to free public Wi-Fi. Free public Wi-Fi in places like airports, shopping centers, cafes, hotels, or any other public venue, is often less secure. Ensure to use your personal cell connection whenever possible and turn off your mobile Wi-Fi whenever you are in public places. Do not connect to an unencrypted public network, try using a VPN which helps to tunnel all your network traffic through an encrypted connection.

7. Avoid charging your phone in public ports.

Charging your phone in public places like airports, transit stations, planes, conferences,s and shopping centers can make you vulnerable to a security breach. Because connecting to a public port does more than charging your phone, it also transmits data. If an outlet is compromised, then a hacker could access your emails, texts, photos, and contacts. This technique of hacking phones is known as “juice jacking.”