Smartphones have become our life easier, we carry our smartphone everywhere, we can leave our wallet at home but we can not leave our smartphone at home because a smartphone can replace wallet but vice versa is not true.
We use our smartphone for online shopping, paying bills, online transactions, surf the internet, email but most of the people are unaware of the cell phone cyber theft.
Smartphone Cyber Theft Facts
- Symantec’s Internet Security Threat Report states that 43% of the small business are targeted by cyber attacks.
- According to RSA, 3 times of mobile users likely to become victims of phishing attacks than desktop users.
- Mobile users are less aware of the mobile security.
- People are unaware that their debit card & credit card information can transmit confidentially.
- 32 Lakhs debit card in India is part of a cyber attack. ( Source : http://bit.ly/2zHMtYF )
A Little bit of your awareness and some small significant step can minimize the risk of cyber theft.
7 Tips to secure your phone from cyber attack
1. Be careful what you install
When you install any app, you are asked for various permissions, allow to camera access etc. Think before you accept, give best care to your smartphone it is especially for Android users, there have been a report of malicious apps on google play store for months. Apple’s verification process is strict so we can rely on that. Android also allows to install third-party apps so it is recommended not to install anything from unknown websites to secure your phone.
2. Frequently change the password and keep them strong
Keeping the password such as your birthdate, year, first name or last name increase the chance of cyber theft. 50% of the users keep their password weak. Be smart and keep a strong password which is a combination of letters, numbers and symbols and have no connection with your loved ones.
3. Keep your phone updated
Always update your software as soon as they available. Sometimes the updates can be annoying but it’s all for your software improvements and phone security. I strongly advise you to not to root your phone unless you know exactly what is happening. Sometimes the rooted phone can discard technical safeguards.
Recommended Read : How to protect your smartphone from water damage?
4. Don’t go for insecure connection
When you find that the site connection is not secure, don’t buy anything using a debit card or credit card. The website doesn’t have SSL certificate installed if the site URL is HTTP instead of HTTPS. It is recommended to installs ads to secure your smartphone from cyber theft which will warn you if the site is distributing malware.
5. Install an Antivirus
In the coming months, probably it will be necessary to install malware protect especially when you are doing any online transaction. The software lets you know if there is if any virus and delete that virus from your smartphone. It is highly imperative to secure your phone similar to the PC to protect your phone from any suspicious activity or loss your data. You can easily get free antivirus app but it is better to spend a small amount of money for buying antivirus app.
6. Be aware of the pirated apps
Those apps which are paid officially but claims to free to install or download. Stay away of the scam, yes we may be greedy but we know that we if they are giving us something for free, they are also taking us something for free.
7. Prepare for the situation when your phone will get stolen
If your phone is stolen, it may have a lot of secret things i.e. photos, messages or passwords. You can choose the option of automatically erase all the data from your phone when the wrong pin has entered more than 6-7 attempts. Yes, it is a bit drastic. Are you aware of this that Google and Apple provide service that you can locate your phone on the map when it is lost.
5 signs that your smartphone has been hacked
Mike Murray, VP of security research, states that two-factor authentication via phone has increased the chance of cyber attack.
- If your data is exhausted more than general, then malware could be using your phone to send spam. Check if any app is running in the background, they use a lot of data and battery too.
- Your credit card is automatically getting charged.
Apps are using more than usual space. Check how much each app is using because it may be malware. - Your phone is running slower than usual, maybe any malware is running in the background.
- Your device is physically hotter than before.
Most of the people are not aware that your smartphone data can be stolen or your phone can get attacked from malware. Follow these simple methods to secure your smartphone from cyber theft.
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