Hacking: Keeping your phone safe

I am due to upgrade my phone soon which I am excited about but I am unsure which handset to get. I will probably look at insurance for it too. This however is not the sort of keeping your phone safe I am talking about today. I am talking about phone hacking.

How can your phone be hacked?

Public WiFi can easily be used by hackers to steal your passwords and details. If you use public WiFi then be sure to never enter passwords and if in doubt of the security of the public WiFi then use your mobile data.

It may cost a little more than the free WiFi but you won’t have problems to deal with being hacked! Identity theft is a nightmare and I imagine this is similar!

Don’t click links you do not recognise or expect. There are so many hackers who send links to tell you that you have won something and click this link to confirm your identity etc. These links could easily be a way into your phone from hackers. Even if they are not they are likely to inundate you with spam at the very least!

There are so many other ways you can be hacked and not even realise. Remember it isn’t always someone remotely in another country that hacks you, it could be someone on the next table in a café! I used to be too trusting but now I have a large data allowance and very rarely use public WiFi.

Ensuring your phone does not automatically log into public WiFi can make a huge difference. For example, when you are driving think of all the cafes you pass. If your phone logs into one automatically as you are parked at traffic lights you might be, without realising, putting your phone at risk.

What to do if you are a victim of phone hacking

If you think your phone has been hacked then the way to get control of your phone back completely is relatively simple.

You need to go through your phone and make sure there is nothing on there you do not recognise. Any apps you do not recognise, delete.

Check through every bit of your settings menu and ensure all the permissions are ones you are comfortable with.

Change passwords to secure apps for example Paypal, your banking app, shopping apps etc.

Check your lock screen and ensure that even when your phone is locked there is nothing a hacker could read to get information from you.