Many things can be found on your smartphone, such as your location and contact information. This is helpful information for you, but if it falls in the wrong hands, you could be a victim of identity theft. Information that can be retrieved from your smartphone includes:
- everything your camera sees,
- everything your phone hears,
- personal financial information (from bank applications),
- the content of all your texts and emails, and
- your contacts (leaving them vulnerable to tracking apps)
These activities can occur even when your phone is turned off and thus have created an issue that concerns all smartphone users. Though there are apps available to protect your phone from viruses, none yet exist to protect you from identity theft. So what can you do about this? Here are ten steps you can take to prevent others from accessing your smartphone:
- Use a strong password to unlock the phone. A password including at least one number, one capital letter, and one non-standard character such as & or *. So the word Passkey becomes P@$$k3y, or something similar.
- Download an app that will allow you to delete all information from your phone in the event it is lost or stolen.
- Download an anti-virus program for protection against attacks through email and downloads.
- Do not open or respond to e-mails or text messages from anyone you don’t know.
- Set up the two-step verification for your email and Facebook accounts.
- Do not download apps that require third-party access.
- Be wary of Android apps that are not well known and review the permissions being requested. Simple applications, such as a flashlight, shouldn’t need access to your GPS but will need your camera.
- Remove financial and banking applications from your phone. If it’s not there, it can not be accessed.
- Do not store a master list of passwords on your phone in an unencrypted file.
- Do not store any medical or identifying information on your phone that can be used to steal your identity or access your accounts.
Although smartphone security is in its beginning stages, putting these tips into practice will make accessing your information more difficult and leave you in a more secure position. For more tech and safety tips, read 10 Tips to Make Your Phone More Secure or visit tachradar.com.
