How to stay safe from phone hackers

 

I went to prison for my hacking. Now people hire me to do the same things I went to prison for, but in a legal and beneficial way.

Kevin D.Mitnick

As the above mentioned quote goes, hacking is no longer an illegal activity. Hacking or accessing one’s phone data is the biggest form of privacy breach. One can gain  access to all the private data of the owner and can render them to lose their whole lives due to loss of most personal data and leads to one’s collapse and suicides even, many times. It is important to save and protect personal data to save our lives from being hacked.

Mobile phone hacking has become an easily targetted game for most hackers. Hackers are being hired publicly by big organisations, Governments etc. to monitor and track the data of most citizens in the country, in order to get relevant data from the specific groups of people they want to collect information from.

Let us look at some quick ways to see how we can safeguard ourselves from the major hackers of the era namely, phone hackers.

• Never ever open up any suspicious mails or files from unknown sources
• It’s best to not charge devices at a public charging station to prevent unwanted access to phone’s data
• It is a good option to change the password for mobile phones from time to time so as to prevent any hacking of phone data
• Another thing to watch out for, is to not connect to any unauthorised public Wi-fi network
• Turn off bluetooth or Wi-fi whenever it is not required
• Best way to not lose out on important data by hacking, is to not leave the phone unattended or out of eyesight while staying in public places
• Download anti-virus software for your mobiles so as to prevent suspicious malware from hacking the phone
• Do not give access for software from unauthorised sources that wants to be able to operate your phone’s settings
• Make sure the password of your device is pretty strong
• Always enable tracking on your phone and make sure that the phone is on par with your location
• Try to avoid the keep-me-logged in feature at all times
• If possible, lock away all the individual apps
• Turn on suspicious alert notifications
• Try to update the software features now and then
• Do not open any unknown links on watsapp or other applications
• It is also best to not pass on personal phone numbers to unknown strangers unless otherwise really required
• Do not share personal phone number or phone data on social media. Limit it to whatever extent possible
• Keep data to a minimum on the phone so and declutter whenever possible by transferring old photos to your PCs or laptops
• Use a stronger authentication for more security validation for the phone. Despite the extra effort, it might serve as an additional layer of protection for the phone data
• Always be beware of spam mails and delete them ASAP. Dont ever click on any mail from unauthorised sources including fake advertisements
• Provide permissions for apps only as and when required. Do not set the default provide all access to all the apps on your phone
• Always carry a portable powerbank or your phone chargers and avoid public chargers available in airports or other public places as a precautionary measure against mobile phone hacking
• Be careful about the apps or software downloaded from the internet or other open sources. Check their reliability.
• Delete any unwanted games or data on the phone
• Make sure that you erase your digital electronic footprints wherever possible
• Clear out cache and opt for advertisement free sources or software whenever possible
• Make yourself anonymous online. The best way to prevent hacking is to avoid leaving unwanted traces of identification online
• It is also an important feature to lock secure data on your phone like photo gallery, bank password or account number, credit card details in notes etc.
• Check if and when an encryption is available and make the fullest use of it as it means there is a more secure connection or sharing of information that occurs as opposed to normal means

As mentioned beforehand, these are the pointers to have in mind to prevent cell phone hacking. However, these are not the only methods in which we can prevent hackers from accessing our phone data. It is up to every individual to safeguard their personal data in every way possible and to not leave behind any digital footprints to prevent unwanted access to personal and privacy data which can end up ruining one’s personal and business lives or lead to downfalls. So stay cautious and alert in whatever way possible to leave space for the hackers to access your personal data at any cost.