7 Tips to Protect Your Smartphone from Hackers

In today’s world, the threat of someone hacking your phone or any other electronic device is ever-present and is something that you should watch out for on a daily basis. It would be horrible for someone to hack into your smartphone and gain access to your personal data for their nefarious purposes. That’s why you should take the time to protect your smartphone from hackers, especially if you have an Android phone. These phones are more likely to be exposed to various viruses and hackers than an iPhone.

But how do you go about that? There’s a lot more than just keeping your phone physical safe and away from people who would steal it. Below, we have listed some of the top ways you can keep your smartphone digitally safe.

1. Make Sure to Encrypt

For Android smartphones, you have the option to encrypt all of your data with a password that’s only known to you. This will protect your personal data if your phone should ever get lost or end up in the wrong hands. Sure, this may be annoying when you have to enter a password whenever you want to access your phone, but this is an important step to take in order to keep your data safe. Another important step to take is to limit the amount of personal data you keep stored on your phone. A better idea would be to keep your most personal data written down on a physical piece of paper that you keep safe.

2. Be sure not to use unknown Wi-Fi networks

It might be tempting to log onto an unknown Wi-Fi network when you’re out and about and you don’t want to use your data. However, this exposes your phone to anybody who want to access it and see what you’re searching. When you log onto that network, absolutely anyone can gain access. A better way of going about getting Wi-Fi is to carry around a Wi-Fi provider from your mobile carrier.

3. Don’t Download Apps from Unknown Sources

You should never, ever download apps from a source that’s unknown. The apps available at Apple App Store are safe to download because they’ve been screened by Apple and are downloaded over a secure server. If you were to download an app from a random site on the Internet, you could be putting your phone at risk of getting a nasty virus or having someone take over your personal information.

4. Install an Anti-Virus Software

A great way to keep your smartphone safe from hackers is by installing an anti-virus software on it. There are plenty to choose from in either the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store! This is going to give you some extra defenses when you want to make sure there’s no viruses playing around with your data.

5. Keep Your Software Up-To-Date

One of the absolute best ways of keeping your smartphone and personal data safe from hackers is by keeping your phone up-to-date. If you didn’t just buy your phone, the chances are that there’s an update to either your phone’s software or some of your apps that are overdue. Make sure to update your phone on a regular basis to make sure there aren’t any gaping holes in its security.

6. Go for Encrypted Messaging Services

You wouldn’t ever want someone to be listening into your calls or seeing the messages you’re sending around, right? A good way to make sure that never happens is to use an encrypted messaging service that you can download from your app store. This may seem a bit extreme, but there’s no such thing as being too safe!

7. Don’t Keep Your Passwords On Your Phone.

Many people keep their passwords right on their phone. This is pretty dangerous because if a hacker gained access to your smartphone, they would automatically have access to all of your personal accounts. This could spell the end of the world if they found their way onto your bank account through this method. Make sure to only keep your passwords written down or on an encrypted app you can download from the store.

All of these methods are going to ensure that your phone is safe from any nefarious activity. Be sure to implement these tips if you want to keep your personal data safe and sound.