There aren’t many people these days that don’t have a smartphone. You only have to take a look around you in a public place to see the vast amount of people staring down at them, scrolling away. They are a fixture of the 21st century and it’s safe to say that they are here to stay. Let’s be honest, they are more than just a phone. Many people have their entire lives stored on them, but how do you keep your smartphone safe?
In this article we’ll be taking a look at some tips that you can start doing today, to keep your phone and your personal information both safe from prying eyes and safe from those that want the information for more sinister reasons, such as hackers.
Keep it locked (and on auto-lock)
You would think that this goes without saying, but so many people don’t even bother having a PIN set up on their phone. The more modern type of smartphone has face ID and a PIN as a back-up and it is strongly advised to use this wherever possible. Even if you use touch ID, it’s the first thing you should be doing when setting up your smartphone. Also, make sure you set your phone to auto-lock after a few minutes. This way, if you lose it, or it’s stolen whilst unlocked, it will still be safe after it has automatically locked itself.
Finally, don’t use your banking PIN number, if anyone sees you using this, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out what else could happen.
Be careful of unknown links
You wouldn’t click on a suspicious link on your computer and so the same applies for your smartphone. By doing this you could unwittingly expose your phone to malware that could, in turn, lead your phone to be open to hacking. Be extra curious and if you’re in the slightest bit suspicious, don’t click on it. It’s better to be safe than sorry.
Try not to use public wi-fi
As tempting as it is to log on to free wi-fi in public places, it really should be avoided. You don’t really know what you are connecting to and it is open for all kinds of online mischief. In fact, when you are in public, it’s even advisable to switch off Wi-Fi on your mobile phone altogether.
There are so many more things that you can do to keep your smartphone safe. Pop Telecom, is a broadband provider around the UK, and they have produced the infographic below, that is full of tips and tricks for ensuring your phone doesn’t get hacked when accessing things like the internet, public wifi and iCloud.
It also has a really handy section on what to do if you suspect that you may have been hacked, so it’s worth keeping the link to this article or pinning the infographic in case you need it in the future. But if you follow the tips in this post, you’ll know how to keep your smartphone safe and with a bit of luck, you won’t need to.
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