Cellphones are always close by, rarely turned off, and can hold huge amounts of personal and business data. Cellphones have become top targets for hackers looking to steal messages, contacts, and pictures, as well as physically tracking the owners. Hackers can even turn on a phone’s camera and microphone to see and listen in to important private information.
At a time of widespread digital insecurity, it turns out that the oldest and simplest computer fix may help stop hackers from stealing information.
STEP ONE: Turn off phone.
STEP TWO: Turn it back on.
That is it.
Restarting phones will not stop the army of digital criminals or spy-for-hire companies. But it can make even the most complex hackers work harder and more costly to keep entry and steal data from YOUR phone. Most hackers are looking for the easiest target...if you can make it just a little bit harder for them..then they may just move on.
Normally, once hackers gain entry to a device or network, they look for ways to stay in the system. They do this by placing harmful programing into a computer’s root file system. But that is becoming more difficult, as phone manufacturers like Apple and Google have stronger security systems to block such actions.
This has led hackers to use a sort of hacking called “in-memory payloads,” which are harder to find in the phone. BUT, Such hacks cannot survive a restart. Because many people restart their phones so rarely, the hackers can get all the information needed.
If you’re like me, I never think about turning my phone off until there is some perceived problem. Then “rebooting” your phone becomes the first step in troubleshooting the problem.
However, setting a reminder on a repeating calendar to turn your phone off and on weekly is an easy way to help thwart hackers that might try and get access information contained on your device.
As you will see from the charts, there are many things to keep in mind and you may not take all of the steps consistently...BUT, a small amount of prevention could prevent a major catastrophe for your company.
What steps have you taken to help protect business/client information that might be contained on your personal mobile devices? Please contact Heritage for your free, two-page guide that lists 16 simple steps anyone can take, that will help protect your mobile device from a hacker.