Hackers shocked the celebrity world in 2014 by hacking private photos and videos of dozens of big names, including Jennifer Lawrence, Ariana Grande, and Kate Upton. Hundreds of pictures of the celebrities were stolen by some notorious people after hacking their phones. That knocked the need of protecting their phones into the heads of the people.
Many may ask how hackers get details of somebody else's phone and access the content, but it happens mostly because of negligence from the part of the device users. This means it is possible to stay away from hackers.
[READ: Delete these 4 apps on your smartphone immediately or risk getting hacked]
Here are 5 simple ways to prevent your phone from being hacked:
1) Phishing: Your personal information like account number, mobile number, email address, and others could be compromised if you fall victim to hoax. Most messages with links to download could be scam that steals personal information of the victims through software automatically installed on their phones without their knowledge. It is best not to click any suspicious links.
2) Personal information: It's not about mistrust but best is not to share personal information like login details of email accounts, social media, internet banking, smartphone screenlock etc to anybody, including your spouse because you never know what the future holds. Even if you have shared details to someone you trust, you need to change the password soon after the task is accomplished.
3) Strong password: Use passwords that are difficult and that others will least expect. You are putting yourself at risk if you use easy-to-remember passwords like your name, surname, date of birth etc. Use different passwords for different accounts like bank, social media, email, phone lockscreen etc. It is advisable not to keep private data in your phone and program passwords.
4) Password update: Changing your phone password daily may not be possible or not even necessary but it is advisable to update it as often as you can, as it is a good measure to keep hackers at bay.
5) Disable 'Discoverable' mode: Most smartphones have "Discoverable" mode in Bluetooth enabled by default. However, this needs to be disabled when you use Bluetooth to prevent other mobile phones in the vicinity to detect your phone. Install mobile security software to ensure malware that steal information from your phone are kept at bay.
