Stay cyber safe

Smartphones provide access to personal and financial information. It is important to protect these devices to prevent data being lost or misused. 

Secure your device

To stop unauthorised access to your mobile phone:

• Set appropriate protection: a PIN, passcode, or biometrics authentication (fingerprint or facial recognition)
• Secure access to your SIM card and voicemail
• Enable automatic screen lock.
• Back up your phone regularly - consider purchasing a backup service from your phone manufacturer (e.g. Google, Apple, Microsoft). 
• Use a password manager app to safely store all your passwords in an encrypted digital vault.
• Enable Find my phone remote device tracking so that if your device is ever lost or stolen, you can: remotely track the device, lock it, or erase your data if necessary.
• If your phone has been hacked, back up your data and reset your phone to factory settings.

Phone settings

To protect your phone from being hacked: 

• Ensure your device is not set to automatically connect to new WiFi networks or hotspots because they make your device significantly more vulnerable to being hacked or affected by malware.
• Use a VPN and antivirus. A VPN conceals your IP address, keeping your identity private and encrypts your data. Antivirus will detect and stop malicious software from damaging your phone.
• Leave Bluetooth turned off or in undiscoverable mode (hidden) when you are not using the function. 
• Turn off your autocomplete feature to ensure stored personal information is not accessible.
• Regularly delete your browsing history, cookies and cache to minimise the amount of data that can be potentially obtained from hackers.

Encrypt your data

Encryption refers to encoding the data on your phone's permanent storage to make the content unintelligible. This protects your data if you lose your device or it is stolen.

iPhones are encrypted by default. Not all androids are automatically encrypted, however you can and should turn on encryption.

Instructions to do this are phone specific, and can be found in your phone model’s support guide. 

Updates

Updates or ‘patches’ are regularly released for software to fix any bugs or cyber security weaknesses that could be exploited by hackers. These include updates for your phone’s operating system and installed apps.

Enable automatic updates to ensure you are running the most recent version of all applications on your mobile devices.

Installing apps

• Only install apps from the authorised app store for your phone (Google Play or the App Store)
• Ensure you verify app permissions and review the app’s privacy permissions
• When adding new apps consider carefully which permissions you grant, including accessing files, camera and microphone functionality
• Delete any apps you no longer use.

Phone scams

Scammers will often call or text impersonating a legitimate company to extract sensitive information. 

To stay safe:

• If you are unsure, end the call or ignore the SMS and call the company via an official phone number to confirm if the call or text was legitimate
• Don't reply or click on links in the text message
• Never share an OTP (one-time password) with anyone
• Don't allow anyone to remotely access or control your phone
• Remember that legitimate companies will not cold-call, text, or email to ask for payments over the phone. They also won't ask you to update or verify your password, PIN, account details or credit card information
• When buying a new mobile phone, ensure you buy one from a reputable manufacturer
• Don't jailbreak your device, as this makes it significantly more vulnerable to being hacked or affected by malware.