Smartphones are everywhere. In fact, they are so common that you may be reading this from one of the many that grace our airwaves. With the mobile revolution we’ve come across cheap, widely available smartphones, simple enough to be used by the everyday man. Almost 85% of Americans have them, with that number growing exponentially each year according to Wireless World Bixby iPhone Repair.
But they aren’t securing them.
The cold truth is that most people don’t secure their phones with any tools, as most of us have seen. Shockingly, most people do not use the many freely available services and tools to protect what’s on their mobile devices. A recent statistic found that just 33% of people actually take the effort to set a passcode. That means the overwhelming majority of smartphone users are leaving themselves wide open to a nasty set of vulnerabilities. We see this every single day at Wireless World iPhone Repair Bixby.
While people may think that “nothing could ever happen to me”, things do happen, and all too often, people learn to secure themselves the hard way- when data breaches occur or sensitive, proprietary information is leaked out onto the world wide web and into the hands of criminals.
Think about it, if a stranger were to find your phone, they’d get a boatload of information, ready to exploit. Your phone probably contains:
Personal information (contacts)
Email addresses and passwords
Location and GPS data
Web browsing history
Passwords galore
Online banking and financial data
Private pictures
Social network passwords
This is the kind of data attackers will look for, for example, after stealing your phone, a would-be identity thief’s jobs was just made a lot easier, as they now know what you look like, what your habits are, and your online credentials. Simply losing your phone can open you up to a whole can of worms trying to rectify the many issues that can result. So what can you do to protect yourself? Luckily, there are many options.
You can:
- Set a secure passcode with repeating numbers for added security
- Make sure the passcode is not easily guessable (such as 1234 or 609)
- Set your phone to lock out after a certain amount of attempts
- Use cloud based services such as Find My iPhone to locate devices
- Use the more secure Android pattern unlock or face unlock (harder to attack)
- Encrypt your phone with various password protected apps.
These are just a few ways to stay safe, but always remain vigilant with your digital devices. First, be sure to check for your platform’s native security options, such as Find My iPhone, Google Factory Reset Protection, Samsung Cloud, BlackBerry Protect, etc. Additionally, you will want to set a short timeout for the lockscreen, and a difficult to guess passcode, such as one with repeating numbers in it. However, avoid passcodes that can easily be cracked, such as the last four digits of a phone number, a birthday or just plain old ‘1234’.
These can easily be found out. Android device owners who use the platform’s signature pattern unlock might want to consider wiping down their screen to avoid showing the trails of oil left behind by your finger- which can spell out in plain sight what your lock pattern is. If you need any assistance with securing your smartphone, feel free to contact us for assistance at no charge!
Simple precautions like these can go a long way in protecting your data and personal information. Looking for a new phone with the latest protection features in it? Checkout our extensive inventory of smartphones and reserve yours today!