Whether you have an Android phone or an iPhone, you can prevent access to your device by adding a passcode or a lock pattern on Android. This simple security measure can save tour sensitive information This is especially important if you have a bunch of apps installed where personal data is stored like financial apps (Mint, bank apps, etc), note apps etc.The home screen passcode is important because a lot of the email apps (Mail on iPhone and Gmail on Android) don’t even have an option to passcode your email. Emails can contain a lot of private information and since most people go to parties and leave their phones on tables and counters. Sp passcode is necessary.
2. Protect Your iCloud & Google Account:
The second thing most is that if someone can access into your iCloud or Google account, they can gain access to a lot of data that you might be creating and editing from your smartphone. In these times, it’s a necessary to enable 2-step verification on both of these accounts.Your Google account basically logs you into all Google services from YouTube to Gmail to Google Play to Google Maps to Google Calendar to Picasa to Google+, etc, etc, etc.
3. Avoid Jailbreaking or Rooting Your Smartphone:
If you are jailbreak or root your phone for fun and enjoyment, then good for you. But you have to avoid this because it can mess up your phone and cause you more grief than happiness. Secondly, you won’t be able to update your phone with the latest updates to the OS since it’ll be in an unsupported mode.
4. Be Careful With the Apps You Install:
This is especially important on Android devices. Google recently removed 50,000 apps that were suspected containing viruses. There are a lot of apps that contain malware, viruses or other sneaky software to steal your data or damage your phone. The Apple app store also has this problem.So,be careful about installing apps.
5. Use an App Instead of the Browser:
If you’re doing banking on your phone or stock trading or anything else that contain personal sensitive information between your phone and the Internet, it’s best to use an official app for that site or company rather than opening using the browser on your phone.For example, Chase, Bank of America and lots of other big financial institutions have their own apps for iOS and Android.
6. Control What an App Can Access:
You’ve probably seen the following message on your iPhone a hundred times already:There are all types of these “AppName Would Like to Access Your Data” messages. Data can be photos, location, contacts etc. Don’t just click OK all the time. If you click anything all the time, it’s better to just choose Don’t Allow and if you really can’t use the app later on, you can manually go back in and change it to allow access.
7. Keep Data Backed Up:
It’s not only a good idea to keep your smartphone backed up in case if it gets stolen and you have to remotely wipe it clean. Apple users can install the Find My iPhone app, which will let you remotely lock a phone and remotely wipe it if you know it’s been stolen.If you don’t have your data backed up, you’ll lose it all if it’s stolen. If you back it up locally or in the cloud, you’ll be able to wipe your phone and get all your data back on your new phone.On Android, there is a built-in backup tool, but it doesn’t backup everything on your phone like the iOS does.
8. Report Your Phone Stolen:
There has been a stolen phone database created that is shared between the major wireless carriers. You can report your phone stolen and that will prevent anyone from connecting to the carrier and using data or minutes. If they try to wipe it, replace the SIM, etc, it still won’t allow them to activate on any of the carriers because of the serial number.
9. Update the OS:
Just like you have to constantly install Microsoft security updates for your PC, it’s a good idea toinstall the latest updates for your smartphone. If there are no major issues with the update like degradation of battery life, etc, but if nothing stands out, then update the phone.In addition to updating the OS, it’s also a good idea to update the apps installed on your phone.
10. Wireless & Bluetooth:
When you’re not at home, it’s best to try to disable the wireless and bluetooth altogether and use your 3G or 4G connection if you can. The moment you connect to an untrusted wireless network, you’re open to hackers scanning for victims over the network. A hacker try to connect to your smartphone and steal data, etc.If bluetooth is enabled and discoverable, it gives hackers another way to possibly see the data being passed between the bluetooth device and your phone.
