We live in an age when people are increasingly becoming dependent on their smartphones for just almost everything. Losing one’s phone is akin to losing one’s identity as we become very involved and dependent on our phones. However, while conducting transactions through the phone, we must always be alert to not fall prey to cybersecurity breaches. Learn how you can make your phones more secure to prevent personal information and passwords from being stolen.

Lock your home screen

Locking your phone is an obvious way of keeping off prying eyes when your phone is left unattended. It helps to secure your private information as no one will have access to your phone. It is also suggested to go to settings and increase your password length to the maximum so that your phone will be hard to hack.

Do not charge the phone in public ports

This advice is a bit disappointing as it is very convenient for us to charge phones at public ports like the one found in airports, planes, conferences, shopping centers etc. However, along with convenience, we may encounter risks too as it has been proved that phones are susceptible to security breaches at public ports. If an outlet is compromised, it can lead to transmission of your data allowing hackers to access your emails, photos, texts and contacts.

Switch off Bluetooth

Often, by default Bluetooth is ‘on’ in iPhones and Android phones. While it saves a tap of a finger, it may also be a channel of invasion for hackers to invade your privacy. Therefore, always turn your Bluetooth off to avoid your smartphone from being hacked.

Update software regularly

You may often postpone or avoid update notifications on your phone, but by doing so you are making your phone prone to hackers. According to experts, the longer you go without updating your phone and software, the longer your data is at risk for any malware malfunction.

Use a VPN

If you have to secure connection through a private network over the internet use a Virtual Private Network or VPNs. They allow users to send or receive data over public or shared networks without allowing unauthorized users to see it.

Follow the above measures to keep your smartphone safe from hackers.