Best habits for maintaining smartphone security
Discover our four tips for ensuring you don’t fall behind when it comes to secure use of your smartphone.
Smartphones are the new El Dorado for hackers. Cyber-attacks – whether on our computers or our mobile devices – have become commonplace, due to the large amounts of sensitive data that we store on them. In consequence, failing to update your OS and mobile applications represents a real danger to the security of our personal data.
To avoid leaving vulnerabilities open on your mobile device that can be exploited by cybercriminals, it’s necessary to follow a number of best practices in the daily use of your mobile.
Habit #1: Update your operating system regularly
The updates offered regularly by your operating system provide optimization measures related to the operational safety of your device.
These updates are necessary for the proper functioning of your device and are meant to protect it from criminal intrusions, by fixing vulnerabilities and keeping technically ahead of hackers as much as possible.
Check regularly that updates to your OS are not pending, and don’t wait too long after they’re released to download them.
Habit #2: Don’t install insecure or unverified mobile apps
Faced with the plethora of mobile applications available in stores (Apple Store or Google Play Store), it pays to think twice before downloading any app, as they are certainly not all trustworthy.
Taking a bit of extra care in choosing the apps you download avoids awkwardly installing a mobile app that can pose a serious risk to your device and data. Aspects to be vigilant over:
- The source of the application,
- Its references,
- User reviews.
Habit #3: Be aware of incoming requests from third-parties, and phishing
Phishing is a technique used by cyber criminals who try to mislead a smartphone owner by making them believe they are in contact with a trusted third party (such as a known administration, a bank, or a known company).
The goal is to extort personal information from the mobile user such as:
- Bank details,
- Personal information,
- Passwords and PINs.
Many of us will already have had the experience of receiving a text message informing us that in order to collect a package we are expecting we must pay a sum of money. Or that you owe an organization a sum of money. This is called smishing – when the intrusion is carried out through SMS or MMS.
Phishing mainly targets smartphones. So, pay extra attention if and when you receive a request from a third party that is related to money or your personal data. Don’t be in a rush to respond without first making sure that you know the exact identity of the person you are speaking to.
Habit #4: Install a password manager
What is a password manager used for?
A password manager can guarantee the best possible security on your smartphone. It will act as a safe, for which you will only have one master password to remember in order to access all of your other passwords.
Not only will password managers generate very secure and strong passwords, but they’ll also store all of your passwords in one place so you don’t have to remember them anymore.
Most importantly – and this dangerous situation applies to many of us – a password manager will stop you from reusing the same password many times on several different applications or websites.
Controlling access to your data from your smartphone is a skill that all mobile users should acquire in order to protect their personal and professional data.
Optimizing the security of web and mobile applications is part of the daily life of our teams of offshore developers based in Madagascar, Mauritius or Vietnam.
Have a security problem? Or a development issue related to securing your applications? You’ve come to the right place – let’s discuss it without further delay.
