Smart-Phone Manners

The smart-phone has evolved into an integral part of life. Think about it, how many times do you use your phone for some task in single day? Numerous times I suppose. Yet, for a device that is so important, It is shocking... the mistakes people make.....that I find myself making  on smart-phones without even thinking about it and the unnecessary exposure to security risks. Smart phones are great! Don't get me wrong..they allow us to do price shopping without actually going to multiple stores as well as viewing reviews on a potential purchase by other people, but there are a number of things that we just shouldn't do with our smart-phones.

The following is a run-down of some of the most common smart-phone mistakes.

Storing Sensitive Data On Your Phone

I don't think I'll ever understand why some people insecurely store credit card PINs, bank passwords, social security numbers and other such sensitive data on their phones. In the event your phone is stolen, it wouldn’t take a genius to figure out that a four digit number stored as a phone contact is a PIN to one of your accounts. With a bit more digging, a clever crook can mess up your life in ways that you may never be unable to do the damage

Simply Tapping On Links

According to security experts, smart-phone users are more susceptible to phishing attacks than desktop users. They tend to be less vigilant about security. It is harder to spot a fake login page on a smart-phone than on a computer. Further, shortened URLs make it harder to detect illegitimate addresses. The best defense is to avoid clicking on links sent via SMS or instant messaging apps. Also, always open email links using your computer. The same goes for links supplied by your friends on social media like Linked-in and Facebook. As we move away from the mainstream use of laptops and desktops, hackers and villains alike are writing more and more malicious code to run on smart-phones and tablets. If you don't know where the link is going...DON'T CLICK ON IT!

Forgoing Updates

Smartphone manufacturers and app developers regularly issue software updates to improve functionality and to patch security gaps. In general, you should accept updates to your phone as soon as you are notified. The same goes with apps running on your phone. Make it a habit to regularly update the software running on your smart-phone. Some times in our busy day, we forget to do so, but then some of us may purposefully forgo the updates all-together because we may feel that a few moment of not being able to use our phones is just too much to handle.