Your smart phone is a source of entertainment, a way to keep in touch with friends and family, and an increasingly valuable business tool. But with so much personal information on those handy devices, crooks are trying every way they can to hack into them. Are you doing enough to keep your smart phone safe from this fast-growing type of crime? Here are some great ways to make your phone more secure:
Be careful with apps. Install apps on your phone only if they come from a trusted and official source. Smart phone malware attacks are increasing in numbers and sophistication. Most are being traced back to downloaded apps that contained malware. Also, do not allow an app access to your personal information if it requests it.
Turn off your GPS and location functions. If you post pictures online that you've taken on a smart phone, the photo data file will contain an IP address that can be used to find you, unless you turn off this function. Never take smart phone pictures and post them to social media sites without having changed your privacy settings, to protect yourself and your loved ones.
Turn off your phone's Wi-Fi and Bluetooth settings. Keeping these features on even when you aren't using them can make it easy for anyone to access your phone — especially when you're in a public place. Hackers can spoof local networks and trick your phone into connecting to their own (fake) Wi-Fi hotspots. Also, don't do any shopping or banking while you're using public Wi-Fi.
Password protect all your mobile devices. Set a password and change it often. Do you stay logged into email, Facebook, or other private accounts on your smart phone? If your phone is lost or stolen, you've granted easy access to ALL of your information.
Don't "Allow" websites to use your location. The apps that capture your data can be used to track your movements.
Delete text messages from people you don't know. While you're at it, don't click on any links in e-mails from people you don't know!