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Your smartphone likely contains a lot of personal and business information on it. But if you’re not careful, you can easily open up your smartphone to attacks from hackers. An article at RISMedia recently featured security smartphone tips from the Polytechnic Institute of New York University. Among the tips:

1. Lock your phone. Most people keep their phone unlocked for ease of use, but if your phone was ever misplaced or stolen, you’d give thieves an open ticket to access everything on your phone. Use a password-protected screen lock to keep your phone secure. Also, “if your phone has a SIM card, set a PIN code for the card—if the phone is ever lost, nobody can use the card,” the article notes.

2. Be cautious of apps that ask for too much extra information. Use common sense: If an app that you are downloading is for a calculator, for example, and it requests Internet and contacts permissions, you’ll want to avoid it. “Cyber-thieves often exploit smart phones by creating a good app with some extra code and overreaching permissions,” the article notes.

3. Be sure to log out of all Web services once you’re finished. By staying logged in on Web sites, you could open up your sensitive information to cyber-attacks from sites you visit, such as your banking or e-mail. While desktops tend to have a timeout period after you remain inactive for some time on a Web site, many devices granting mobile access do not. So make sure you log out after you’re finished on a Web site.

4. Check reviews of apps. Before you download a new app, be sure to read reviews. Be skeptical over any apps that don’t have many reviews yet and new ones recently added, which may have privacy and security problems.

Source: “The 8 Best Ways to Protect Smartphones,” RISMedia (July 29, 2011)

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