Phone hacking was once a headache reserved for celebrities, but with the copious amounts of personal information on smartphones today, it is now a legitimate concern for everybody.
Not only does the smartphone hold your valuables, but it also points intruders to your most valuable assets. Further, the phone can easily get stolen or lost, and it is continually receiving and sending out signals, making it a juicy target for hackers.
To keep your smartphone and its contents away from sticky fingers, you need to have an IT security strategy for protecting your valuable data. Below are a few essential tips on how you can protect these small devices from intruders and hackers.
Do not use unsecured public WiFi
Unsecured Wi-Fi provides phone hackers with an opportunity to place themselves between your device and the connection point. Instead of connecting directly to the network, you end up sending information to the hackers. This information includes everything from business data, emails, credit card information to phone numbers - giving a hacker the keys to your kingdom!
Cautionary steps include:
Switching off Wi-Fi wherever you are in public spaces
Disabling Bluetooth, unless you have it connected to a smartwatch
Using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) app tunnel network communication via an encrypted connection
Avoid using unknown USB ports
The power and data cables in public charging stations can provide illegitimate access to your personal information. These "juice jacking" cyber-attacks take place at the USB charging port installed in cafes, airports, bus stands and other public areas. A connection is established the moment you plug in a device, installing malware or secretly copying sensitive data.
Protect yourself from juice jacking by:
Keeping your smartphone, tablet and other computer devices always charged, or by carrying a power bank or personal charger
Locking or powering down your phone, if you must use a public charging port
Using USB cables that do not have pins 3 and 2 to prevent data transmission
Fixing USB condom adaptors that allow power transfer without connecting the data transfer pins
Create a strong password
While many people hate creating new passwords for everything, you must diversity and use a strong password for various log-ins that cannot be easily cracked by hackers. IT security specialists advise using 16 to 20 characters that feature a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and even symbols. While brute force password crackers can still bypass strong passwords, using your pet name, birthday, or the same password for all your e-wallets is a bad idea.
Change your password regularly
Many professionals recommend that you should change passwords regularly - but not necessarily monthly. Apart from the times you are prompted to change a password, when is truly the best time to make the change?
Change passwords when any of these situations occur:
After server intrusion disclosure like when hackers attacked F1 websites
After you have shared passwords with someone who no longer requires access to an account
If it has been more than 12 months since your last change
When malware is running on your mobile device or computer system
Immediately after receiving an unauthorized account access notification
After using a shared or public computer
Use protective apps
Your smartphone has an operating system, apps and at least one internet browser, making it a prime target for intruders. On average, one out of every 300 phones has a high malware infection threat level, making it critical to secure your device - especially if it is an android.
Just like on your computer, you need to install mobile security apps. Other apps help by automatically rejecting known phone numbers used in well-known scams, including the "Say Yes" scam identified by IT security TriadaNet experts.
Further, phone application makers are continually updating their software to introduce security improvements that help guard your device against intrusions and data breaches. When phone security updates are announced for the operating system or any apps you are using, install them immediately.
Do not store personal information on your phone
Increase your device security by not storing your files, documents or information on the device. Additionally, reduce the number of geotagged photos you have in your gallery.
IT security experts recommend regularly keeping the phone in pristine condition by offloading documents and images to your computer. Likewise, be sure to remove health, employment and financial-related emails from your device.
Final Thoughts
After taking the steps above to protect your phone from intruders and hackers, be confident that you have done all that you can to shield your private information.
Remember, you are not paranoid; this is about being smart and prepared!
