Smartphones today have become an indispensable tool, but they bring risk of cyber attacks and intrusions

Smartphones today have become an indispensable tool and an integral part of families. But apart from benefits, they bring risk. Cybercrime is lurking and can use mobile phone to access the victims’ most sensitive and personal informations. McAfee on its blog suggests 8 easy ways to protect your mobile phones from cyber attacks.

Think like the cybercrime

The first is think like the cybercrime. “Work a potential hack backward. Look at every possible entryway into your phone and ask yourself, ‘How could I get into this phone if I were determined?’. Then, methodically lock up each digital door. Challenge yourself to find every cybersecurity gap. Examine your password strength, social profiles, web browsing security, general and app settings”.

Pump up the password on your mobile phone

The second way to counter cyber attacks on mobile phones is pum up your password. On this, McAfee suggests some tricks to create one that cybercrime can’t hack: Avoid the common error of using easy passwords such as “12345” or “password.” Get complex and create a combination that isn’t logical. Use multi-factor authentication (MFA). Having multiple factors to authenticate your phone use such as your fingerprint, face, or a trusted device, increases security. Most smartphones offer MFA so, even if it seems tedious, use it. The more factors — or digital layers — you can combine, the more protected your smartphone will be. Too many passwords crowding your brain? Consider a password manager.

Trust no App. Some of them cointain malware

Third way is “Trust No App”. Cybercrime can infect apps with malware or viruses that demolish your mobile phone’s security and allow hackers access to your data. It has alrealy happened. So, examine all apps, read reviews, and steer clear ther ones that ask for too much access. Even legitimate apps can be used for malicious purposes, such as listening in via a smartphone’s microphones, and even spying using a phone’s camera. To pull back an app’s access, just go to your settings. On Android: Go to Apps and Notifications, choose App Permissions and make changes. On iOS: Go to your settings, select Privacy, and make changes to app permissions accordingly.

Track your smartphone

Fourth suggestion: Passcode, Track Your smartphone. Could be useful in case your mobile phone gets stolen or lost. Make sure your device is passcode and fingerprint protected. Take a few minutes to enable phone tracking. For Android, you’ll download the app Find My Device and for Apple use Find My iPhone. Make sure those apps are always enabled on your phone. If your phone is lost or stolen it can be tracked online.

Don’t forget to log out from online aervices and avoid auto-login features. Also attention at public Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

Fifth trick from McAfee: Don’t forget to log out from online services. Especially if you use the smarphone for bank, shop, or access sensitive accounts. Do it carefully and never activate auto-login features. Instead, use a password manager app the forces you to re-enter a master password each time you want to access an account. It’s worth the extra step. An essential part of this equation is disabling keychain and auto-fill in your browser. You can do this by finding your web browser in Settings of mobile phone and toggling each option to OFF. Also, avoid using public Wi-Fi for accessing sensitive accounts or conducting any transactions. This is valid for the sixth suggestion too: Turn Off Bluetooth when you’re not using it, as it carries inherent vulnerabilities and is another open door for cybercrime hackers.

Take all the updates and don’t click links, unless you are 100&% sure of their legitimacy

The McAfee seventh rule is to take updates seriously. They are the only way to close the flaws on the smarthpones. On Apps and operating system. Along with it, consider the added safeguard against cyber attacks as antivirus, identity, and privacy protection that covers all family devices. The eight an last one, maybe it’s the most important. Don’t click links unless you are 100% sure of their legitimacy. Random links sent by hackers to access your data on mobile phones are getting more and more sophisticated as well as destructive.