Leaving your house without your mobile device can feel like you’ve left an arm at home. We carry so much information right at our fingertips that the thought of being without it can be terrifying!
While these little pieces of heaven can be a window to our lives, it can also be an open window that attackers can use to access your personal and your company’s sensitive information.
Here are a few ways you can lock that window and safeguard yourself from attacks through your mobile device:
Keep Your Devices Up To Date
One of the easiest and most important ways to keep your mobile device secured is to keep the operating system updated.
As we have seen with the recent vulnerability found within Android and Apple devices, security patches are essential to keeping your device safe. When an update is released, it explains exactly how attackers can compromise your system.
If you don’t keep up with updates, you leave yourself open to these types of attacks that are so easily prevented.
Screen Apps Carefully
Another vulnerability for malicious activity is through the apps you download. Applications that can appear legit can carry a significant payload that could destroy your device.
Make sure you read the reviews of an app carefully, download apps from known sources such as Microsoft or other big brand names, and check out how many people have downloaded the app.
These 3 things should give you a pretty good idea on whether or not the application can be trusted.
GPS Tracking
Lost your phone? Most mobile devices have a tracker built in so you can find it. All you have to do in most circumstances is just turn it on.
Both Android and iOS have a “find my phone” feature in Settings. When your phone is lost or stolen, you can at least see the last place it was before it ran out of batteries.
Emails & Texts
Spam messages come in all shapes and sizes now. You no longer just have to be careful of the links you click on through your email account, you also have to be aware of links sent to you in a text message.
Viruses are usually written for the most damage possible, and since just about every person owns a mobile device, viruses are being written for them daily. Clicking on any link either within your email or a text message that is unsolicited could lead to serious damage to your device.
Verify with the sender, that they, in fact, sent you the link and ask them if it is safe to click on. In cases such as these, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Open Wi-Fi Networks
Connecting to a public Wi-Fi network, such as at the coffee shop, can open your device up to all kinds of malicious attacks. There are some people who will sit on a public Wi-Fi network just to hack into devices and try to steal data.
When you are on a public network, don’t enter your password into websites, or access sensitive data. A better option is simply to use your personal cell data instead of the public hot spot if you need to work on anything or access anything important.
Mobile devices are amazing and allow us to work from virtually anywhere. Being aware of the risks and doing these few things can help keep you and your company’s data safe!
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