Mobile Phones Are At Risk, Too
As we prepare for the summer vacation season, we will be making greater use of our mobile devices to stay in touch with the office. However, even when we are in a relaxed environment, we must be as vigilant with IT security as we would be if we were at our desktop computers at our regular place of work. Mobile devices – smart phones, tablets and laptops – contain valuable data that can be compromised if we are not careful. The following are five suggestions to secure the data contained on your mobile telephone or tablet:
- Enable remote data wipe. This feature allows you to erase all of the data on your device should it be lost or stolen. The remote data wipe restores the device to its original state by performing a “factory reset” and removing all of the information you have stored on it. The Apple iCloud service offers this protection to iPhone and iPad users. There is a comparable Android solution within Google apps.
- Update the software on your device. We are conditioned to install the security software updates on our desktop computers, but often we postpone doing so for our mobile devices. Take a few minutes to verify that the software on your mobile device is up-to-date. Hackers will often exploit known threats to gain access to mobile devices. The software updates correct the vulnerabilities caused by known threats, so it is important to stay up-to-date.
- Exercise caution when using “Free Public Wi-Fi or Hotspots”. These services are very convenient when you are checking messages at the local coffee shop, but they are not secure. A hacker could hang out all day in a free public wi-fi area in the hope of capturing confidential information from customers checking their bank accounts online, for example. The safer alternative is to use a 4G cellular hotspot. Hotspots are built into the current models of mobile telephones.
- Turn off your Wi-Fi and Bluetooth when you are not using these services. This will not only help to thwart the hackers, it will extend your battery life.
- Protect your mobile device with a password. A password for logging into your mobile device will make it more difficult for someone to gain unauthorized access to your confidential information. I change my password each month as an added precaution.
Once you have updated the passcode protection and software on your own devices, be sure to share these suggestions with your employees to help keep your business safe.