Smartphones have come to define us by being the portal to our online identity and as such should be treated with care and secured against any wrongdoing online (hacking) or offline (stolen). If you are not careful, losing your smartphone may mean more than just a loss in contacts and phone numbers. We’re talking about your social media accounts, your synced files, important documents, your emails, photos and messages.
Your entire information is traceable and downloadable and may be shared all over the World Wide Web if you are not careful enough.
(Image Source: HDW)
While we’d love it if people don’t mess around with other people’s personal information, putting morale aside, this is the virtual world where thieves and hackers hide behind anonymity and are hard to trace. There is no one better to protect your own data, than you. We hope these tips and tricks will be of help in that endeavor.
Recommended Reading: Top 10 Security Tools For Your Smartphone
1. Do Not Save All Of Your Passwords
Many users tend to save their passwords to online services and sites on their device, never once thinking about what it would mean to a person who got their hands on the phone. Avoid having all important passwords saved in your device particularly when it comes to banking or payment apps.
2. Use Android In-Built Security
If you are running on Jelly Bean, you can have a screen lock and encryption enabled to further enhance your security. There are many types of screen locks available for you to choose from such as password, pin, pattern and face unlock, available in your Android settings. Even when setting pins or pattern locks, try not to make it easy for hackers to guess your password.
3. Lock Your Apps
It is necessary to lock your apps, especially the ones holding private information that you wish nobody but you could see. This is a second layer of security to prevent anyone from using your lost device particularly if they have managed to bypass your locked Android.
You can use a free app like App Lock for this exact purpose. The idea here is not to lock every single app in your device, just really data-laden ones like your email apps or file managers.
While you at it, avoid using a combination of a pin or pattern lock that can be traceable from the smudges of your screen (Yes, it is traceable).
4. The Importance Of App Permissions
Before you begin installing an app from Google Play, a list of requested permissions will pop up to show you what permission the app requires. Apps require permissions to do things but not all of them are necessary.
Always read through the permissions to make sure they make sense and correspond to what the app actually does eg. an alarm app does not require a permission to access your text messages. This is a real important step because not all apps in the Play Store are safe.
While you’re at it, make it a habit to read the comments as well as the rating of the app that you are going to download. This helps you understand more about what the app really does without trying it out firsthand.
5. Securing Your Network
One of the most important thing in protecting your Android is to secure your network. Try to avoid using public WiFi whenever you want to do something important like doing your banking online. As long you are sharing the same network with the public, they can easily sniff out your packets and translate it into actual data of your private information i.e. your passwords.
You can protect your information by using apps like Hideninja VPN so that your outgoing connection is always encrypted, making it harder for anyone to sabotage your data. If you suspect that your device is being attacked, WiFi Protector can help fend off these attackers. To further enhance your network security you can apply settings from SecDroid but note that this app is only for rooted phones.
6. Use Mobile Security App
It will make your job easier to have an app that handles most of your security issue. Fi
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