How To Prevent Your Mobile Phone From Being Hacked

Many people do not realise how much sensitive information they enter in their phone and whilst most people would download an antivirus onto their desktop PC they are less likely to download the same protection onto their phone. But it doesn’t stop there, as there are multiple tactics you can use to improve the cyber security of your mobile phone.

Protect Your Mobile Phone With A Screenlock

One of the most basic preventatives of authorised users and hackers from being able to access the information on your phone is setting up a screen lock on your phone that requires a password or PIN code, pattern, fingerprint authorisation or facial ID. Whilst these security measures don’t make the information on your phone immune from prying eyes if someone could obtain your mobile phone it makes it harder. Most people do not have the technical knowledge to bypass these security features; however, it is possible with enough expertise hackers will be able to break past these security measures eventually.

But there are still steps you can take to make your phone security stronger, including ensuring that you have a strong, hard-to-guess password or PIN code. Firstly your password should be random if possible and not something that can be guessed based on information you have told other people or put online, many people simply put the year they were born as their password or even worse 1234 or 0000. These are the first attempts most hackers will make to crack into your account. You should instead create a random assortment of numbers and characters or combine two completely random words such as ‘JellySky”. You should also be adding several numbers and special characters such as “*,@,?/”. Additionally, mix uppercase characters with lowercase to make it extra challenging.

Avoid Using Public Wifi

Connecting to public WIFI such as the free WIFI cafes or train stations offer can be bad news for your mobile phone’s cybersecurity. Hackers can perform what is known as man-in-the-middle attacks (MITM) where they can hack into the public WIFI and eavesdrop on all of the information being sent and received by devices that are connected to it.

This can mean that hackers may be able to soak up any passwords that you have entered to log into websites, using this information they can try your logins for different websites; possibly meaning they can compromise multiple accounts of yours if you use the same email and password, which many people do. Hackers can use the information they glean from hacking your phone to target your financial accounts. If you are a victim of fraud you should contact your bank and a fraud recovery expert, who will be able to help maximise the chances of you getting your money back. 

Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are a way for you to mask your phone’s IP address, meaning that your device is invisible to other devices connected to the same network. Meaning that hackers are unable to see your device and are therefore unable to attempt to hack it. However, VPNs are not completely infallible to being found out and hacked, but connecting through a VPN significantly reduces your phone from being hacked. Using your 3g, 4g or 5g mobile network is the most secure way to connect to the internet when out and about.  

Stick To Offical App Stores When You Are Downloading Applications

Only downloading applications from the official app stores of your phone’s operating system can reduce the chance of downloading a fake application, which may or may not work as you expect it to but will also download harmful malware onto your mobile device. Downloading from the Play Store for Android and the App Store for iPhone is safer, but fake applications still make their way onto the official app stores. When you are considering downloading an app you should look out for the following:

• Reviews: Does the application have a significant amount of bad reviews and are people stating the app in question is a scam in the review? Most of the time it is best to stay away from applications that have bad reviews simply because the application doesn’t perform as expected. While most applications that have significant amounts of bad reviews won’t be fake applications there is an increased likelihood of them being fake versus applications that have good reviews.
• Does The Advertising For The App Look Professional? Fake applications are much more likely to have spelling mistakes or other grammatical errors within the description of the app. This is because legitimate apps often take months to make, meaning that a lot of time and effort has usually gone into themwhich means developers are more likely to spellcheck their work. Fake applications can be made in minutes or hours and usually, a lot less thought has gone into the presentation of the application on the app marketplaces.
• Check Previous Apps That The Developer Has Released: If it is the first application that the developer has released it may be worth proceeding with caution, but if it isn’t you can check out the previous apps they have released and have a look at the reviews and the advertising of the app see if they have released other, similarly looking dodgy applications in the past. 

Download An Antivirus Onto Your Mobile Phone

If your phone has an antivirus your phone you can scan your phone for nasty malware, which may be stealing your data and making you more likely to be scammed. Antivirus applications can scan your phone for these threats, find them and eradicate them. Some antivirus apps will provide a warning if you are about to click on an untrustworthy website, which can help prevent your phone from picking up malware and viruses in the first place.

Get Rid Of Old Applications And Update The Applications You Keep

Over time hackers can find security flaws in software or application updates that they can exploit and breach the security of digital devices. Developers are aware of this and they combat this by releasing security updates, but if these security updates are not being installed onto devices it means that people are still running older versions of software and applications that hackers are already able to compromise. This means that it is important that you ensure that your software and applications are updated on all of your digital devices, including your mobile phone. 

Conclusion

Preventing your mobile phone from being hacked can be as technical or non-technical as you want it to be. Just ensure that you are at least taking some precautions to prevent your phone from being breached by hackers.