Nowadays, life without a smartphone is nearly impossible; it has become more of a necessity in our everyday life. Surely, it serves as a more convenient means of communication, not to mention a place where a heap of private data related to our money, personal correspondence, and much more is stored. However, no matter how beneficial a smartphone can be, it is prone to the risk of a cyber attack too. There are plenty of threats, over 560,000 daily, detected for behaving maliciously on mobile phones, so it is a must to protect your phone against them.
Still, as the numbers make clear, most smartphone users (50 per cent) fall for simple tricks such as skipping updates, clicking on dodgy links or using weak passwords – all of which can be used by cybercriminals to get their foot in the door, not to mention the exploit market where they can mine your phone data for identity theft, fraud and much more – dark-web marketplace activity for which you can find yourself unfairly blamed. You could pay with more than just your money. Your reputation could also be shattered.
When you don’t safeguard your smartphone, it’s like leaving your front door unlocked in a busy neighbourhood. Cybercriminals take advantage. Using extremely sophisticated techniques, they can hack into your phone, from injecting it with malicious software, to remotely viewing everything in your life. With no privacy, you might face personal and professional disasters.
Malware infections cause smartphones to switch from the role of trusted buddies to Trojan horses, putting the functionality of the device – as well as the user’s commercial and private sanctuaries – at risk. Companies suffer too, from operational downgrade to unplanned system lockdowns, as sensitive data leaks undermine customers’ confidence in the brand and damages the company’s reputation.
Losing private information on a mobile phone can end up having ripple effects. Theft of a contact list, messages or photos can empower the hacker to commit fraud or identity theft. Mobile phone payments are an increasingly common method of money exchange, but a hijacked device can amplify the risk. Compromised mobile phones can also be used to launch bigger scale attacks – businesses and governments are not necessarily safe from the impact of a data breach.
Doxing — arguably one of the most violating things one can experience online — has risen with the advent of smartphones, plunging victims into invasions of privacy, identity theft and harassment, not to mention real-world danger. But contemporary smartphone users unwittingly open themselves up to doxing by not taking responsibility for their own security.
Through a proactive approach of Smartphone security, one can take control against the challenges caused by cyber threats by downloading apps to install regular software updates, one can help in keeping the Smartphone away from unauthorized access. Making sure there are strong and unique passwords, the online security can be maintained. Mobile security apps and enabling encryption strengthens the Smartphone against cyber threats.
Making your phone more secure than it would be if you left it at the airport – not just by installing antivirus software but by updating its operating system regularly, using strong authentication methods, and judiciously granting app permissions – is also in your hands. Equally important is knowing how you might be put at risk online so that you can stay safe.
Short of you wearing tinfoil on your head, adding multi-factor authentication (MFA) on top of your passwords is perhaps the best way to ensure your phone is secure. With a combination of knowledge (something you know), possession (something you have) and inherence (something you are), this perimeter defence means that attackers would have to crack the three factors to gain access, increasing the difficulty significantly.
As technologies change, so do the techniques of criminals. Staying ahead of the curve will thus involve not only the adoption of the latest smartphone security best practices today, but a willingness to learn and adapt. Smartphone security is a moving target, and staying ahead of it means staying alert, and learning how to defend oneself like a true professional.
Like any indispensable part of your life, your smartphone needs to be well-protected from more and more cyber threats. You need to apply more security, keep learning about threats and practise safe internet behaviour.
Digital safety, smartphone security, when we say we’re talking about phone security – we’re actually talking about a large set of activities to secure your data from cyber threats, everything from doing the regular security updates – and making sure your passwords are long and complicated, having mobile apps, and being wary about people who try to hack your phone in a phenomenon called phishing. That’s basically the firewall that’s keeping your own digital world and the digital world around you, safe from the constantly evolving cyber world of bad guys, crimes, risks and threats. Some steps will protect just you.
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