How Secure Is Your Device?

Jul 16, 2011 by James

With the recent media explosion surrounding Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World and its hacking’s into, most prominently, the deceased’s phones just how secure is your device? Many people think that adding a simple password to their phone and voicemail will ensure that even the craftiest of thieves will be fooled. As the Pentagon will tell you however that isn’t even close to being the case. Most people cram 99% of their lives into a smartphone and that’s the reason why thieves and even journalists want to hack into them. Whether the reason is to steal credit card information or listen in on important voicemails it is becoming much easier for anyone to grab information from your phone.

I’m sure many of you reading this have a password protecting entry into your phone but did you know that the makers of the phone in your hand had to provide software or a loophole to ensure that law enforcement can access your data? You can be sure that if a loophole exists or a way to exploit the code that runs your device exists, they do, that your phone can be hacked. Shockingly the process is rather easy for even a novice.

Sometimes it’s not as evil as it sounds but it can still be annoying. Visiting a bad site or opening the wrong link in an email can download a virus or malware just like on your computer but unlike your computer, your phone typically lacks a anti virus scanner.

What should concern people more is that phone companies and handset makers are not providing the best security they can because of both cost and compatibility. It’s left up to the consumer to encrypt, backup and delete data from their phones and even that doesn’t protect you from intrusions, transmissions or even your cell phone provider. Your cell provider can be seen as probably the biggest hacker of all because they store pretty much everything you ever read, send, call or text on their own servers and as recent hacking’s have shown us; nothing is secure. You cell provider also provides all of your information to any law enforcement agency who asks them for it.

Those fun to play and useful apps that you download constantly on your phone are also a major source of trouble. Those apps are granted permissions when you download them to many areas of your phones including location, ip address, internet data, search data and phone calls. These are typically used to force local ads down your throat but can have more nefarious purposes.

It is safe to say that almost every phone on the market that is sold to a civilian is not even remotely secure. As technology continues to improve and advance our productivity so will the hackers desire to steal that information. I was going to provide you with the best ways to secure your phone but if the Pentagon can’t even protect our nations most secure data it proves that if someone wants your data they will get it. You can however make it harder on them.

• Make your password over 10 characters and include numbers and upper/lowercase letters
• Use secure WiFi networks when possible
• Change your passwords regularly for all accounts tied to your phone
• Don’t store your bank account information or log in from your phone. Use your computer!
• Don’t store bookmarks to sites where your password is remembered
• Don’t store bookmarks to any sites that relate to your financial information
• Keep your location data off until it is needed