How to Protect Your Phone From Hackers: 10 Tips

Your phone contains your banking information, private conversations, photos and passwords. It’s a perfect prey for hackers. Knowing how to protect your phone from hackers doesn’t require too much expertise.All you have to do is understand where the risks lie and how to fill in the cracks.

This ebook will introduce you to all of the biggest threats that your phone is currently exposed to, and provide you with easy steps to solve them all.

Know the Warning Signs of a Hacked Phone

To protect your phone you must be able to identify when something is amiss. These are warning signs to look out for:

• Your battery drains much faster than usual
• Unexpected applications suddenly appear.
• Your phone slows down or overheats for no apparent reason.
• There are pop-ups that seem to pop up at random.
• Unexpectedly large amounts of data are being used

If you see two or more of the above signs, it is a big red flag. Immediately perform a security scan and change passwords on another device.

Think Twice Before Using Public Wi-Fi

The WIFi connection in airports, cafes and universities sounds convenient, but is one of the most obvious ways hackers can steal your data. On public WiFi hotspots, attackers might be able to create fake networks or to be able to access the network without you even realizing.

Protect yourself by:

• Steer clear of online banking or online shopping on public wi-fi networks.
• Always connect to open networks with a trusted VPN service
• In the phone’s Wi-Fi settings, disable “auto-connect.”

Understand How Hackers Actually Access Your Phone

People are afraid that by only having a phone’s number, a hacker can break into the phone. This is not typically the case and generally requires sophisticated tools. The majority of attacks are simpler, though:

• The links sent by SMS or email are phishing links.
• Applications with excessive permissions that appear to be legitimate.
• Malicious QR codes
• Use weak or reused passwords.

Knowing this will help you concentrate on risks and not unlikely ones. Be wary of any unexpected links or app requests and you’re taking the majority of the risk out of the equation.

Check App Permissions Before You Download

Not all the apps on Play Store or App Store are safe. Popular brands are frequently imitated to deceive users into downloading malware by cloned and fake apps.

When installing any app:

• Look for a developer name and the number of downloads.
• Don’t only read the best reviews, read recent ones.
• Designed for a flashlight app — permissions requested don’t need to be reviewed

If an application is asking for more access than it requires to operate then it is likely a red flag. Delete it.

Prepare for a Lost or Stolen Phone

Losing your phone is stressful enough without having to worry about who would have access to you data. Plan ahead to protect against it and then react quickly if it does occur:

• Turn on Find My Device (Android) / Find My iPhone (iOS)
• Use a strong lock screen password, PIN or biometric lock
• Enable remote wipe so you can wipe the phone out at a second’s notice if it’s stolen

It’s a five-minute process to set these up, but can prevent a big data breach later on.

Learn to Spot SMS and Call Scams

Phishing and spoofed phone calls are also very common – particularly if the message or call appears to be from a bank or a delivery service. This is called smishing, which involves enticing users to click on bad links or to share OTP codes.

Stay safe by following these rules:

• Don’t provide an OTP to anyone, even if they state they’re from your bank.
• Never click on links in unsolicited emails or text messages, even if they are sent by trusted contacts
• Check suspicious calls by calling into the company’s official number

OTP and password will never be requested from the banks or any authentic services over a call/messaging.

Secure Your Social Media Accounts

Personal details and the ability to scam contacts makes WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook targets of choice for hackers. It can be easier to hijack an account and have it spread before you even realize it’s missing.

To secure things:

• Enable two factor authentication (2FA) for all accounts
• If you don’t recognize a session, log out in your account settings.
• Don’t store passwords in insecure note-taking applications

2FA is a powerful measure on its own, even if your password is stolen.

Check If Your Camera or Microphone Is Being Misused

The fear of spying with the device’s camera and microphone is not unfounded as some apps are asking for access for no good reason.

Try this to see if it’s true: 

• When the camera is active, and the mic is active, you’ll see a green or an orange dot (on most modern phones)
• Check your camera and microphone settings monthly in your phone’s settings
• If an app doesn’t obviously require access, then revoke it.

Permission audits happen routinely, and are an under one-minute procedure, and can seal the actual gap most users don’t know, or don’t look for, in privacy settings.

Choose the Right Security App

A decent anti-virus or security application offers an additional layer of security, but not all applications available on the market will provide real value.

Feature	Free Apps	Paid Apps
Basic malware scan	Yes	Yes
Real-time protection	Limited	Full
VPN included	Rarely	Often
Anti-theft tools	Basic	Advanced
Ads	Frequent	None

A trustworthy free application is sufficient for casual users. For citizens who have to work with sensitive data, or who routinely use public Wi-Fi, it’s worth paying for.

Build Simple Daily Habits

It’s not one big vulnerability that causes most phone hacks, rather it’s a series of little mistakes. Develop these practices into a habit:

• Keep software on the phone up-to-date whenever possible.
• Do not download Apps from unoffical sites!
• Have different passwords for each account (preferably a password manager)
• Make regular backups for data to prevent complete loss if breached.

Little, continuous steps help to safeguard you more than quick fixes.

Conclusion 

You don’t need to have a lot of technical expertise and require costly tools to protect your phone from hackers. It takes knowledge, some savvy adjustments, and routine. For the next week, work through the rest of this list; get two-factor authentication and permission checks started today.

Your phone safeguards your whole digital life. Provide it with the protection that it deserves. 

Frequently Asked Questions