Cell phones are everywhere. A study revealed that more people around the world have mobile phones than they ever had land-lines. Consequently, there has been an increase in mobile app usage. In fact, Statista predicts that mobile apps would generate around 189 billion U.S. dollars in revenue via app stores and in-app advertising by 2020.
What the above implies is that mobile phones play important roles in our daily lives. Just think about it. Can you imagine going a day without using your phone? Probably not. That’s how much the world has come to place a premium on those little useful gadgets.
Not all that glitters is gold, however. The prevalence of cell phones has helped widen the landscape of security vulnerabilities. In other words, your mobile phones might be more harmful than you probably think. In this article, I’ll show you 12 ways to keep your phone secure.
But How Does This Even Concern A Business Person?
In obvious ways…
For mobile phones have grown smarter, people have become increasingly reliant on them. At times business owners make use of their phones to store confidential information, make transactions, send messages, and to generally do all kinds of stuff.
Unfortunately, today some common vulnerabilities affecting phone systems include data leaks, malware, operating system glitches, unauthorized modifications, etc. Although technologies like reverse phone lookup tools help to protect mobile phone users, they also fall into the hands of malicious crackers. Hence business owners should be concerned about how secure their phones are.
12 Tips to Aid Mobile Security
#1. Encrypt The Storage:
Certain phones are capable of encrypting a user’s phone storage; however, not all do this by default. Encryption comes in handy when you are super concerned about data confidentiality, come what may. With encryption, at the event of your phone being stolen or missing, you can be assured that a third party won’t gain access to your data. However, you need to ensure that your phone has encryption capabilities and your storage is encrypted.
#2. Make Use of A VPN:
VPN stands for Virtual Private Network. One of the many advantages of using a VPN is that it helps encrypt your connection so that you’re left with no worries when surfing the web on a public network. Without encryption, however, some packet sniffing software may be able to gain confidential information from your usage of the network.
#3. Download from Trusted Sources
It’s a safe practice to always download files and applications from trusted, secure sources.
#4. No Jailbreaking or Rooting
Certain tech savvy people consider jailbreaking or rooting of phones as a cool activity whose aftermath helps them bypass limitations made by phone manufacturers. To be clear, this sort of undertaking might expose you to some obscure security vulnerabilities. So, it would be in your best interest to steer clear.
#5. Keep your IMEI or MEID Numbers Secret:
Don’t be deceived into revealing your IMEI or MEID numbers. The knowledge of these could grant malicious hackers the ability to clone your device and use for whatever they wish.
#6. Update your Device’s Operating System:
Device updates aren’t fancy technical gibberish; they are super important to keep you safe from bugs that could expose your phone to vulnerabilities.
#7. Use A Passcode Lock:
This is a no-brainer. Passcode locks come in various forms. Perhaps the most secure is that which requests a user’s fingerprint to be used.
#8. Download A Reliable Anti-Virus Software:
Many mobile devices are prone to virus attack, so an anti-virus software is a good way to stay safe.
#9. Password Your Wi-Fi:
This would secure you from attempts at gaining access to your network without permission.
#10. Steer Clear of Untrusted Sites:
Phishing is one of the easiest ways malicious hackers can get to you. Always steer clear of suspicious links, as not all sites are what they claim to be.
#11. Back Up Your Phone Regularly:
Do I need to say more?
#12. Note App Permissions Before Installation:
Many apps need to access specific information for their operations. Permissions for them usually come up before installation. Hence, you should keep an eye on permission requests so you can be sure of what to expect.
