If you are a smartphone user, you must’ve faced malware and virus attacks. Sure it’s scary when your phone starts dialing on its own or the performance lags, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. If you thought malware and viruses are the only threats to your smartphone then you are wrong. Enter the world of smartphone threats where hacking, identity theft, and the like are everyday activities. How well do you think you can fare against these threats without appropriate security measures in place?
Thankfully, there are a couple of security measures you can adopt right away to ensure your data and identity is never leaked or your smartphone is never hacked in the first place.
Security Measure # 1: Hardware Encryption
Hardware encryption is a form of security measure that allows you to store and access your files with encryption. This means that the files are written to flash memories in encrypted form and later decrypted when accessed. The two most popular operating systems of smartphones today, namely iOS and Android, have these security features built-in. So, with just a few taps, you can have your hardware security check in place. Unfortunately, Windows still does not have such an encryption protocol in place.
Security Measure # 2: Software and Application Encryption
Once your files on your phone are safe, the next step is to ensure the software on your phone and the numerous applications are inaccessible to any attacks as well. Again, Android and iOS have these features built-in, allowing you to encrypt and decrypt application data securely. When the software is installed, the information on the flash file is scrambled. When accessed, the information is unscrambled. It works similar to how hardware encryption works. However, the difference is that with hardware encryption you use the same keys to unlock all datasets while with software encryption you can use multiple keys on multiple applications.
Security Measure # 3: Data Transmission Security
While you can use software and hardware encryption to keep your data safe, it can still be very easily accessed by hackers once they are in your phone. Therefore, the most important security measure for any smartphone user is to ensure that data transmission (voice calls, location, text messages, emails, etc.) is secured. In other words, you need to practically shut down the gates for hackers to get into your phone. The importance of data transmission encryption cannot be stressed upon enough. Unfortunately, such security measure is not offered by any operation system or smartphone brand. You will need to invest in a reliable, third-party service. For instance, VIPLINE from the UK, offers the following security features for data transmission security:
- Data Encryption: All conversation from the phone and back to the phone are encrypted with A5/1 algorithm, which is the prime security algorithm for encoding and decoding transmissions. This way, anyone else trying to hack into your conversation will only get scrambled signals.
- Voice Substitution: Voice substation is a technology that allows your voice to be unrecognizable. Any third person accessing your calls will listen a completely different voice every time. This way, they won’t be able to recognize if it’s the same person. Anyone trying to trace you or record your calls will have a tough time with voice substitution.
- Location Hiding: Another major concern for smartphone users is that a lot of applications reveal your location to potential threats. But, with encrypted mobile phone SIMs, this can be avoided. Your location is never revealed so you don’t have to be worried about being tracked or exposed to threats.
In a nutshell, while hardware and software encryption are important, the most essential ingredient to your security and privacy is data transmission security. You can completely avoid any potential threat accessing your phone with an encrypted mobile SIM.