How To Protect The Data On Your Smartphone

The phone has become an extension of you. It is for this reason that many people are interested in it. While they do not necessarily need to steal your phone, they want to access your data, as they know that there is a huge amount of money to be made.

Your email address alone can generate a good chunk of money, much more so if you were hacked and people found out what credit cards you use or which payment processors you are enrolled in. In the digital age, data is a valuable thing.

So, how do you ensure that unauthorized people have no access to your data? Let us talk about a few ways how you can protect your data in your smartphone.

Use Powerful Passwords Upon Registration

Now, this is a bane for many people, as strong passwords are difficult to remember. Today, an ideal password must have the following characteristics:

• Must be at least eight characters
• Must have one number and one special character
• Must use a combination of small and capital letters.

Password choice is critical because hackers have programs that can generate millions of passwords. These millions are guesses, and if they chance upon guessing yours, they will have access to your phone data. Before you know it, you have been hacked.

You must never use the same passwords for different accounts. If one gets hacked, then all your accounts are accessible. Experts say you should not use simple variations, either. They recommend that you use complete different passwords to improve your online security.

Exercise Caution in Online Gambling

There is no way you can play slots like 20 Super Hot Slot without registering for an account. While you can play these games for free in the demo mode, you definitely have to register if you want to play with real money.

Now, what many people do wrong is that they do not investigate before joining. They input their full name, address, and credit card numbers, not realizing that they are in a spoof website. This is not uncommon in the gambling industry and the financial industry, hackers can create fake websites that look like the real deal, and victims will willingly supply their data.

Before you create a casino account, make sure that the URL of the company starts with HTTPS. The “S” stands for secure, which means that this website and its owners were verified by authorities and that all the information that passes through it is encrypted.

Use a PIN Code

It is a sad thing that more than 50% of smartphone users do not use PIN codes on their smartphones. What this means is that while the phone screen is not locked to prevent any accidental launch of an app, anyone who picks it up can simply swipe and access the phone’s content.

If you lose your phone or you leave it unattended, chances are someone who is physically with you would have unrestricted access to it. He/she will find out what email address you use, what phone calls you made, what banks you use, and all other sorts of thing that can result in financial loss.

The thing is, you do not even have to use a PIN if you do not want to, as phones come today with a swipe or pattern lock mode, while some also use face recognition. Choose at least one and keep your phone locked at all time.

Turn Off Your Bluetooth

While this is not commonly heard off, Bluetooth hackers exist. These are people who try to connect with other devices through Bluetooth, and once they succeed in doing that, they will access the data in your smartphone.

The common victims are those who leave their Bluetooth devices turned on. What happens is that they accept a Bluetooth invitation out of curiosity. Let us say that they are in a restaurant, and one random person attempted to connect. The victims accept: this is how the hacker gains access to their smartphone devices. Once the phone is accessible, the hacker can make phone calls, access data, listen to conversations, and even browse the internet. Keep your Bluetooth off, and only make it discoverable if you are actively using it.

Conclusion

Data privacy is everyone’s responsibility. While tech companies are doing what they can to protect you, you should also do your part in keeping yourself and your smartphone data secure.

Hackers will always find a way to gain entry to your device, but they can only do this by exploiting vulnerabilities. It is much easier to rob a house with its doors left open than one that has a lock, bolt and barrel put in use. Keep yourself safe. Create powerful passwords, remember your passwords, do not trust all websites without doing your due investigation, and lock your phone at all times like it were your house.