Steps to secure your Android smartphone

Basic things from updating your phone and apps regularly to using passcodes must not be taken lightly in order to make your Android device secure.
Nearly four out of five smartphone users in India have an Android device. How you can utilize the built-in security features of such phones to protect them better.

1.Put a strong passcode:

This is the first step to keeping your phone secure. Every phone lets you set a passcode lock for security and most of them now come with a fingerprint scan for added security. For passcode, make sure you choose a pattern or combination which is not easy to guess or find out such as your birth year, car number, home number etc. A lot of phones also offer face unlock, but it is not as secure as a fingerprint scan— someone with your photo can unlock your device on these phones. However, premium devices that use 3D facial scanning such as the Huawei P20 Pro offer better security and cannot be unlocked with a photo.

2.Lock your apps:

A few smartphone brands now offer this feature. You can individually lock installed apps with a passcode or with fingerprint scan. This adds an extra layer of security for your data and content, especially if you have handed over your phone to someone to show something. In case your phone does not have it, you can get this feature by installing third party apps like Applock or Norton AppLock.

3.Use two-factor authentication:

Most users ignore this security feature as it is a hassle to use every time. Two-factor authentication requires you to authenticate with a passcode plus a unique authentication code generated via an app or sent via OTP every time. The feature is offered by most services including Google, Facebook, Instagram, Apple, Twitter, Microsoft, Amazon, Yahoo, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Pinterest, Dropbox, PayPal, Evernote and so on.

You can check and enable this feature in the security settings of a service. Once enabled, even if someone gets access to your password, they will not be able to access your data without the authentication key.

4.Install security apps:

Your smartphone is as susceptible to data theft as your computer. Therefore, just like you have security apps installed on your computer, you must also get one for your smartphone. There are security apps available from all known companies such as Avast, Bitdefender, McAfee, Norton, Kaspersky, Trend Micro etc. Depending on the free or paid version you go for, you will get features like automatic scan, malware detection, anti-theft, call blocking, remote lock, privacy scanner and so on.

5.Only use trusted apps:

Google has a department dedicated to inspection of apps being added to the play store for users. This department removes majority of harmful apps before they reach the users. However, there are various other sources from where you can download apps for Android and there are no checks if the apps are safe or malicious. So, to be on the safer side, it is advised to disable installation of apps from unknown sources.

Go to Settings > security on your android smartphone and you will see an option of ‘Install apps from Unknown Sources’, make sure that is switched off.

6.Update phone and apps regularly:

While this may be amongst the most basic things to be followed, there are many users who don’t bother with this. Google pushes out security updates and patches regularly to smartphone brands, who in turn pass it down to the users via over the air updates. It is always recommended to keep a check for system updates for your smartphone and install them as and when they are available to improve your phone’s security as well as performance.

Similarly, app developers regularly add features and security updates to their apps on the play store. They even give details on what the new update adds to the app for users before installing the update. We recommend that you regularly check the play store for updates and make sure that you have the latest version of the app installed on your device.