Phone Hacking: How to Protect Yourself-gctid43916

[Ajamu]

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Phone Hacking: How to Protect Yourself

                                           By William Fenton

We already knew that hackers targeted us on our desktops, but, in the aftermath of the News of the World phone-hacking scandal, we've entered a new frontier in hackery.

However, there is good news: Because today's smartphones so closely resemble computers, a lot of the best practices for the desktop apply to your Android or iPhone. Here are five easy ways to keep your mobile data safe and secure.

1. Set a password.
Take out your phone. Swipe to unlock it. If that's all it takes to get  in, you're at risk. Sure, it's quicker to skip the passcode, but setting  a lock on your phone is an easy way to protect your device—and your  data—from prying eyes. It's also an easy compromise: Entering a passcode  takes precisely two seconds, and those extra seconds will protect you  in case of a barstool incident.  The next step, of course, is to ratchet up password security throughout  your phone. If an application that accesses sensitive data requires a  password, entering it manually gives you one more firewall between your  mobile identity and everyone else.

2. Make it strong.
We've covered a number of ways you can get the most out of your desktop passwords;  the same basic rules apply on your phone. Avoid words you can find in  the dictionary and try not to use numbers or letters in the order they  appear on your keyboard (e.g. "12345" or "qwerty"). If it's  personal, it's not powerful: Don't use friend, relative, or pet names,  dates of import (birthday or anniversary), or cities or sports teams. If  you have a riff on any of the following terms, change it now: "god,"  "money," "love," "monkey," "letmein," or "password." Lingering doubts? Check the strength of your password.


  3. Change it regularly.
As with fashion, there's a password for every season. A good rule of  thumb is to change your passwords every time you buy a new pair of  socks. Be sure to diversify your passwords, also: You have different  accounts, so why not different passwords? This way if one account gets  hacked, the rest stay secure.

4. Require a voicemail PIN.
If there's one thing that's clear from the News of the World  hack, it's that potential intruders still care about voicemail. While  mobile operators may not authenticate caller ID, changing your phone  settings to require a PIN when checking your voicemail will put a  barrier between you and a Caller ID Spoofer.

5. Stay current.
In the case of both the iPhone tracking and DroidDream  nightmares, mobile OS vulnerabilities were discovered and exploited. In  the aftermath, however, both Apple and Google released patches through  OS updates that plugged the holes. Protecting yourself is as easy as  staying current. Sometimes this is easier said than done: Because  manufacturers skin Android devices, not all updates roll out  concurrently; however, once you do receive an upgrade  notification, install it immediately—in addition to new features,  you'll ensure security. And now that iOS will support over-the-air  updates, iPhone customers have no excuse to shirk OS updates.

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