For most of us with smartphones, the thought of losing it or having it stolen is a bit scary. We keep a lot of personal information in there that can be used against us if the wrong people get it. It’s always good to be reminded of ways to keep that information safe.
- It’s convenient to have apps remember login credentials. However, it’s a bad idea to have them remember your banking or other financial institution credentials. Take the extra effort to log in every time and it could save lots of headaches later.
- Having the GPS mark where you were when a photo was taken is fun. It’s not a good idea for safety and security. Shut that feature off and keep our whereabouts confidential.
- Don’t install apps from locations other than the official app stores. The owners of those sites request extra cautions before apps can be placed in the store, but others sites don’t necessarily have the same stringent requirements. It’s not guaranteed they will be free of malware, but the risk is lowered in the official stores.
- If you need to do business from your smartphone, avoid using public Wi-Fi. Use a VPN connection or your device's 3G or 4G functionality.
- Download and install security software for your devices and keep those as well as other software updated when security and critical patches and versions are released.
- Keep your devices backed up. This will be very helpful if you somehow acquire ransomware and need to recover your data.
- Enable the wipe feature. This will come in handy in keeping your information out of the wrong hands should your device be lost or stolen.
- And the simplest ways to protect your information is to put a passcode on the device and never leave it unattended.
Blog contributed by Stickley on Security
