Laptops and smartphones are not just electronic devices; they are also security apparatuses. Your life and happiness may depend on them – mostly where you use them for work, health and financial purposes. How would you feel if someone hacked into your computer remotely or directly and sold your data to your enemies (business competitors)? What would you do if a friend accessed your mobile phone and got hold of sensitive photos and videos? Or even got past your banking app and siphoned all your money from your bank account?
The above scenarios are reasons why your laptop and smartphones must be protected against unauthorized access at all times. If hackers could gain access into the Yahoo network and compromise the personal data of millions of users, then they could hack into your isolated laptop or connected smartphone. If hackers could compromise the data of millions of Facebook users then they could get you. And if hundreds of security-conscious organizations have been victimized by faceless hackers and held ransom, then you are not safe either.
Get cybersecurity education. The first layer of security is awareness. You must be aware that you are a potential target. Be educated about security hacks and get trained on how to put security protocols in place. Training and education and awareness are key. These will create some basic security habits that will not expose you. To this extent, your choices and behaviours with your mobile device is more important security-wise than the equipment.
This is where social engineering attacks could be prevented.
Here are some protocols to set up if you face potential security threats from your mobile devices:
Prevent unauthorized access to your mobile devices
- Activate a screen lock
The screen lock is the first layer of protection for your smartphones, and even laptops. It should be a screenlock type that auto-locks your device if it is idle for up to 60 seconds. This will give hackers a hard time trying to get into your device and you enough time to know that something is wrong somewhere. You can go a step ahead by install automatic wiping for your device after two or three failed attempts to log in.
- Use a combination of long letters, numbers and symbols as passwords
Do not use the normal four-digit PIN for your mobile devices. This is too common and online criminals are aware of this, making PIN codes easy to break. It is best you use a combination of LONG letters, numbers and symbols that will give your hackers a serious headache to deal with. And do not use guessable passwords of your names, date of births, anniversaries and other easily remembered events. Analysts say it is even better to use PATTERNS in many cases.
- Advanced biometrics
Advanced biometrics such as fingerprints, iris scanner, voice recognition, facial identification and other similar technology are even better.
Beware of apps downloaded to your smartphones
You may not know it, but hackers can gain access to your personal data via installed apps. While Android systems tend to be more vulnerable to bugs and hacking, Google does not scrutinize app developers on its Google Play as Apple does its own. So you must take the following steps to protect your smartphone from dubious apps:
- Always download apps from official app stores
This cannot be emphasized enough. Do not download apps from third-party sites since they could be infected with malware to take control of your device.
- Do not grant every permission
You will be aware that once you download and install an app on your smartphone, the next thing is that it begins to request access to your contacts, messages, photo gallery, and other aspects of your phone. It is best not to grant every permission if your suspect the app should have nothing to do with the access it is requesting. For instance, imagine a flashlight app requesting for access to your messages and gallery.
In fact, you must always cleanup your apps, update them every time, and be suspicious of those which consume too much memory, battery and data among other things.
Be care of sites you visit on your phone
Do not click on every ad that pops up on visiting any website. These pop-up ads are not only intrusive and offensive, many of them and disguised to infect your device with malware. You may therefore consider activating an ad blocker if this becomes necessary.
You must also be careful about clicking on every web link that catches your fancy, you may be directed to a phishing site. Your identity and personal data may be stolen for fraudulent purposes if you fall into the laps of a phisher.
Other ways to protect your device
Some other ways to protect your laptop and smartphones from security attacks include –
- Activate a remote device locator in case your device is ever stolen
- Have an automatic backup in cloud so that you can restore sensitive data if it gets compromised
- Activate two-factor authentication where two different passwords are used for every login
- Turn on your encryption
- Install an anti-virus to protect your device from viruses launched by hackers
- Be wary of using public wi-fi since hackers could get into your device through it
- Do a factory reset before selling or giving your mobile device away to another individual
Protect your laptops – USB port and PDF files
You must be aware that hackers could get into your laptop through the USB port. A hacker can control your keyboard, laptop microphone and camera as well as any program through this port. Meanwhile, you must understand that not every PDF file is good for your computer regardless of its content. Hackers could access your data through an infected PDF file if you are not careful.
You can check out these tips where 30 tech experts reveal how to secure your smartphone from hacking. The notorious Kevin Mitnick who earns a living from hacking the websites and devices of his clients also has lots of advice on protecting your mobile devices. And there is this smartphone security guide that you will find so help at protecting your personal data on your devices.