How to secure your Android smartphone

The do and do-nots to ensure the online and offline security of your beloved android devices

Lenovo Z2 Plus (Black, 64GB) 19999

We now live in a world where not owning a smart phone is considered rural and ancient. Smart phones have taken the world by storm. And the harbinger of this revolution is the popular and almost undisputed Operating System, Android. It’s open source and that is one of its biggest strengths. But we live in the times of Mr. Robot and NSA. To cut things short, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that anything and everything is accessible if the right tools are used. So in such a world, one must know how to protect themselves from the likes of hackers and those with malicious intent. One should not underestimate the impact and magnitude of such attacks. For instance there was this case when a group of German Hackers hacked a country’s voting machines to tamper the election results. This is a where the world of hacking gets ugly and must be acknowledged as a real and constant threat.

But we got you covered. We shall tell you about simple ways in which you can protect yourself from such attacks and the measures to be taken are surprisingly simple. Let us begin

Types of attacks

Basically you could be subjected to intrusive danger in two ways, either physically ‘hacked’ in which a menacing agent might snoop into your privacy by breaking into your phone. E.g. knowing your password. Take for example a webpage opens up which is attached to some unknown application on your phone which downloads tonnes of malware that you never even asked for.

Protect you android phone from all kinds of attacks

Tips and tricks

Passwords

We all have passwords on our phones. A password can protect your privacy and keep all your important data private. Your phone stores passwords for various social accounts like Face book, Twitter, etc., and even more important stuff like passwords for your online wallets and internet banking portals. But the basic password system in almost all devices can bypassed, and all your personal information accessed. So here are some precautions you can take to make sure your phone and all your social accounts are ‘hack safe’.

1. Not Saving passwords

It is as simple as it sounds. The next time a web page prompts you to store passwords, decline. Because your passwords can be stolen via simple phishing pages or even by accessing the cookies that the web page stores. Also, if you save passwords and if someone was to hack your phone or gain access to it, what’s to stop them from using all your social security codes and payment passwords to make transactions? A lot of people have fallen prey to such malicious attacks and have been robbed online. It might seem a little paranoid to some, to those people I say, better safe than sorry.

2. Use Strong Passwords

Most of the websites that require you to save passwords will require you to have long alphanumeric passwords (at least 8-12 characters long). And it is a necessary practice. If you have simple passwords, they can be bypassed by social hackers or by using something as simple as permutations and combinations. A lot of people invest a lot of time in trying to figure out what people’s passwords will be. So it is much safer and better to have a password that is not predictable such as your birth date or wedding anniversary or your maiden name. We can’t stress upon how important it is to have a strong password.

3. Android built-in security

Android OS knows how important your security is for you, so it comes with a strong secure built in security system. You might have noticed that in the ‘password’ section of your settings, there are various types of passwords that you can use ranked according to how secure they are. The most commonly used password type is probably the linked dots password which can be very easily broken into. There is an option for keeping an alphanumeric password instead too. But we recommend you to use this security provision to the fullest. There are also options like facial recognition and even fingerprint scan in some devices. Use them, you cannot be secure enough. After all this is your phone we are talking about. You wouldn’t want your personal information accessed right? Hackers are very creative when it comes to such thievery.

Your phone is like a security locker for all your information that you wouldn’t want robbers getting into

Applications

Google play store blew the world away. Suddenly, games like angry birds and apps like Face book and Instagram were at your disposal. Google has always been a harbinger of the ‘free for all open source’ movement. It encourages developers to experiment and test their products out at a global level with much ease. However, this coin too has a flipside. Google Play store is the biggest online marketplace offering all kinds of services. However, it is not the only online marketplace for android. Although the usual android phone is factory set to NOT allow downloads from unknown sources, it is common practice as this setting can be easily changed. That being said, even Google Play store may not be safe enough as it might sometimes have malicious apps cleverly designed to blend in as normal apps to an unsuspecting user. These apps can harm your well being and online security in innumerable ways. So here are certain necessary precautionary measures you must take

1. Backup

Taking a secure backup is a smart practice because this way, even if your important files and folders are affected by some kind of malicious virus or worm or Trojan, you can always keep your data safe on the cloud. And there are several good services to do this. However don’t choose services that ask you to upload all your data without your constant permission or password protection. This way even if your phone were to get infected, you can reset it without the risk of having to lose your data. However, be careful as to what medium you use to take this backup. It should be a trusted source because you can’t trust anything and everything on the internet. Some good secure services are Idrive, Sugarsync, Crashplan etc.

2. Security options

Use the security options if the app provides any. Even if someone broke into your phone and now has access to all the applications, you can have security passwords for your applications. Most apps come with an in built provision for this. Even if they don’t, there are certain apps like APPLOCK which gives you the provision to secure access to your applications using a security password. It is recommended to have multi security layers so that even if your phone gets lost or broken into, you don’t have to worry about anyone accessing your private stuff. Especially with apps with your bank account details such as an e-commerce application.

3. Google Play store

Don’t just download from any source. We can’t stress enough on this. Most of the online app vendors don’t have a thorough safety checks and are loaded with advertisements and misdirection. Don’t download applications from unknown sources and don’t download applications which don’t have a lot of downloads. Even some apps on Google Play store are loaded with unwanted advertisement which might redirect you to unwanted pages or phishing site. Don’t give any important information in such applications. They might seem normal and suddenly alert you to an attack on your device. That is your cue. It is always wise to see the number of developers and comments of any app that you want to download. Certain apps you download might make your phone download more other apps without your consent. You don’t want that.

There are a lot of people looking forward to break into your phone by using otherwise harmless looking applications

Network

The internet is filled with opportunistic people who want to scam their way into your phone and get your personal information. It is simply not possible to not be on the internet too. It’s a coin with a flipside. However, if you take some easy subtle safety measures, you can secure the network you are on and thus, your android device.

1. Be on a secure network at all times

If you have a Wi-Fi service, make sure it is password protected. People can access your device if you are on an unprotected network. Also, avoid using unknown public Wi-Fi’s. Free Wi-Fi, as tempting as it might seem, comes with a lot of danger. The hacker can use simple applications and snippets of code to break into everyone on the same network as you if it’s not a protected network. There is a way to make sure this doesn’t happen. Use applications like HideNinja VPN to make sure your outgoing network is always encrypted with a digital signature, hence killing the chances of a compromise in security.

2. Don’t use just one account

If you share a device with someone, e.g. a tablet or a phone, you have the option to create multiple accounts to make sure that your stuff stays exclusive to you. This can easily be done by going to SETTINGS and the USER section in your android device. This way you can easily share the device with other people and have separate password and preferences for the separate accounts. You can find apps on the play store to help you manage different accounts on your android device too. For example, SWITCHME or PARALLEL SPACE. There are even apps to create multiple social accounts on the same device for apps like WhatsApp and Facebook. If you are sharing your device with someone, you can make sure that your data stays truly private.

3. Security apps

There might be many malicious apps out there but genuine apps that can save you from such applications exist too. The best example is probably AVG. It is a free bundle; there is a paid version too with some better features. It comes with basic security options like not letting you download stuff from unknown sources, tracking your phone in case it goes missing, etc. Also it keeps on doing thorough checks to see if any malware exists in the phone. There are several applications like this you can use. But be sure to use a trusted application for this purpose only. You don’t want to get infected by an application that meant to protect you in the first place. So here are some trusted applications that you can use

AVG
AVIRA anti virus
Norton anti Virus
AVAST mobile security
CM Security

Just be sure to download security apps from secure sources

When you lose your Android device

Everything is good until you lose your phone or it gets stolen. Our lives depend on our phones, our contacts, passwords, applications. And if your phone is to get stolen, the whole world comes crashing down. What’s worse is the situation of your stolen device landing in unwanted hands. This is a big issue for all android and phone users in general. However, there are certain applications now that can help you retrieve your stolen phone using GPS SAT-NAV or even wipe off all your data remotely. Here are some measures you can take in case you lose your android device

1. Wipe your data

In case your phone gets stolen and you are certain you are not getting it back, you must erase your data immediately using a remote data wipe mechanism.

You can follow the following procedure as it is mentioned on the Google official forum:
“Select Remote Wipe when a device is lost or stolen to erase all data on the device and to do a factory reset. You can remote wipe an Android device with the Google Apps Device Policy app installed and any supported mobile device with Google Sync configured. All data is erased from the device (and SD card, if applicable), including email, calendar, contacts, photos, music, and a user’s personal files.

Note that Remote Wipe erases the device’s internal storage. Your user’s device must already have Device Policy (or Google Sync) configured. You cannot install Device Policy and run Remote Wipe retroactively. For Android 2.3+ devices, Remote Wipe also erases the device’s primary SD card”

Plus you don’t have to feel bad about having to erase all this priceless data, because you followed our advice and had taken online backup Data. A little bit of planning goes a long way.

2. Remote Track your Lost phone

If you lose your phone and want to track it using some other android device, you can either use applications like AVG security system or you can download additional apps like ‘FIND MY PHONE’ for android to GPS track its location using satellite navigation.

You can even do this without any extra application as well.

You just need to have a Google account. Your android device must just be connected to internet. Your android device is equipped with a location tool called ADM (android device manager)

If all the above conditions are met, then all you need is to Google “Where is my phone” and your phone’s location shall be displayed on Google maps. It works most of the time, just be sure that ADM is activated in your device.

Be sure to diagnose any problem your phone and take measures in case it is acting up

Conclusion

Last but not the least, make sure your phone is always safe with you and stay away from pickpockets. Phones are inevitable parts of our livelihood and now you are equipped with the knowledge to fend off hackers and malicious attacks. Just remember to be cautious and follow all our steps and you shall be fine. Android does a good job at offering security options even though it is so widely use and subjected to constant attacks.