WEEKEND SPICES: 5 Steps to Protect Your Mobile Devices

As smartphones and tablets become more popular, cybercriminals are devising new methods to exploit you while you’re on the move. Here’s how to avoid the most frequent assaults and protect your mobile devices, as well as your identity and funds.

1. Be Proactive
Mobile security software can help protect your mobile devices against malware-infected applications, dangerous websites, phishing scams, and other types of threats. Make sure the software is always up to date.

Making stronger passwords improves your online security. Additional Apple® and AndroidTM applications can assist you in managing passwords while securely storing them.

2. You should not ‘Jailbreak’ or ‘Root’ your phone.
You may disable your protection by jailbreaking or rooting your phone. Malware protection is embedded into phones and tablets in a variety of ways. The process of gaining administrative control over your phone is referred to as jailbreaking or rooting. Jailbreaking relates to Apple devices, while rooting applies to Android devices, although the two are fundamentally the same. Either allows you to alter settings or update system programs by circumventing constraints imposed on devices by mobile service providers and hardware makers.

However, if you jailbreak or root your smartphone, you will lose many or all of the security features. Consider if personalizing your device is worth putting your personal information at risk.

3. Only purchase from authorized app stores.
software marketplaces such as the Apple App Store, Amazon App Store, and Google Play for Android require that each software accessible for download be approved by the firm before it is made public.

The danger arises when you download programs from other sources. Android smartphones normally have no limitations that prevent you from downloading apps from virtually any location. Unless jailbroken, iOS devices can only download apps from the App Store by default. The issue is that programs that are not available in legitimate app stores may be tainted with viruses. Even programs that appear to be real may be a repackaged version of a successful software, marketed at a discount or given away for free to entice users.

4. Check Your Monthly Statements Frequently
Hackers employ mobile malware to gain money in the same way that PC malware is meant to infect computers and steal financial information. Malware that infects a phone can steal from you by exploiting the credit card number stored on your device to purchase apps offered by the hacker. The spyware may also send SMS messages to firms that charge you for every program you buy. A recently discovered kind of Android malware may even be downloaded to the smartphone user’s PC, where it spies on the user and steals data.

5. Avoid the Drive-By Message or Link.
A drive-by download occurs when you visit an infected website or email, or when you open a text message with the subject “critical system update.” When you click the link, you are actually installing malware that circumvents built-in security mechanisms.

There are several varieties of this sort of assault, however mobile security software can help prevent drive-by downloads. If you are unsure whether an app on your smartphone is legitimate, contact your carrier or the device maker before installing it.