How secure is your smart phone?

People have been using anti-virus software, firewalls, strong passwords, backup systems and many more techniques to keep their data and information on their PCs safe. From using basic password protection to advanced data encryption, people have implemented various security measures in PCs but how many of us are truly concerned about the data protection in our smartphone? As the mobile usage grows at a surprising speed, I think it is the best time to talk about mobile security.

Smartphones are repositories for large amounts of personal and corporate data. Such data may include proprietary information and material you don't want broadcasted publicly, and in the wrong hands. Therefore it is important to make sure that your data is safe in your device. On the other many of us connect to the Internet with smartphones today, which means we are vulnerable to number of threats and attacks on the Internet. As a result, we may lose our confidential data or such data may be exposed to wrong people. Here are few steps you can take easily to protect and safeguard your device and data.

First it is important to keep a backup of your data. For this purpose you can use either a physical storage medium or a cloud service. Both Apple and Google offer free and secure online backup services or you can use another trusted service provider. If you lose your data on the device, you can easily recover them through your backup. 

Using a strong password is another measure you can take to protect your data. Make sure that you don’t use your name, phone number, name of your spouse or pet or anything that can be easily guessed as your password. Experts suggest you use upper and lower case letters interspersed with symbols and numbers to make your password stronger.

The next important thing is, you should apply all vendor-supplied updates to the operating system and check applications regularly for updates. You may wonder how it secures your data in your device. Updates come with improvements to the application. If there has been any loophole in the previous version, those are corrected in the latest update. If your application is not up-to-date, your device is vulnerable to a known threat and can be exploited easily. Therefore it is important to keep your device up-to-date. 

Almost all of us use an anti-virus software in our PC. But people rarely use it in their mobile device. Data stored in your mobile device is as important as the data stored in your PC. Therefore, it is important that you use an anti-malware software in your mobile device as well.  When installing an anti-malware software to your mobile device, make sure that it comes from a trusted vendor. Otherwise, the anti-malware software can be a malware itself.

The Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store take security pretty seriously. Therefore when downloading apps, download apps only from approved sources. It is important that you check your apps’ permission before you install them. Many apps require more than the basic default permission. For instance, you can reasonably expect an SMS app to send and receive text messages just as a mapping app will request your GPS location. If they request permission for your private details such as your contact lists, such apps should be treated with extreme caution.

Public Wi-Fi networks is a common trend today. You find free Wi-Fi networks at restaurants, cinemas and even in railway stations. You are less secure and more exposed to security threats. So it is advised not log into any financial web site such as your online bank account or do any online purchases with your credit card over a public Wi-Fi network.

The final and the most important thing is, turn off automatic Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and NFC when not in use. Most of us forget to turn them off after using, allowing hackers easily access our data and device. Also you should be careful when pairing devices. Don’t accept any request from an unknown device.

The risk of the cyber crimes and attacks in mobile platform are rapidly increasing today. Unawareness and wrong habits of the users are the major reasons behind this situation. Hope this article will be useful in securing your device and data from unwanted attacks.

Article By: Anjalee Abeysekera