5 Tips to Make Your iPhone More Secure

iPhones today are the ‘go-to’ device when it comes to smartphones for just about everyone from fortune 500 CEOs all the way down to young kids in middle and grade school. The amount of information that we walk around with on our iPhones and other iOS devices is just as powerful (if not more) than the info we have stored on our computers. Keeping that information safe and secure is becoming more and more difficult as time goes on, especially when it comes to teens and young kids.

Here are 5 tips you can use to make your iPhone more secure. For parents trying to ensure their kids are following the proper steps to keeping their iPhone safe, or for any individual trying to ensure their phone’s safety, the tips listed below are the best way to do so.

1. Encrypt Your Device

Even if your phone is protected by a password, there is a chance that others could still plug your device into a computer and gain access to all of your personal information. Encrypting your device can help to prevent such data theft/loss. Learn how to encrypt your iPhone.

2. Ensure that Your iPhone Locks Automatically

Most smartphones have a setting to automatically lock a device after a certain period of inactivity. Even if an iPhone is password protected, if it is left unlocked and unattended for a few minutes, others can pick it up and have uncontrolled access to the device.

3. Install Security Software

Your iPhone is a computing device and should be treated and protected as such. Spyware apps can intercept phone calls, remotely activate the microphone and camera, record keystrokes, as well as track a target’s GPS location. There are several security apps available for download that includes malware prevention, remote data wipe, and even provide an automatic security advisor that alerts you of any potential security risks on your device.

4. iOS Operating System Updates

It is imperative to keep your iPhone as up-to-date as possible. New operating system updates provide users not only with new features, but many times these updates provide system vulnerability patches to take care of security issues in previous versions. Users still may want to set options only to update after they have been informed of the update rather than automatically.

Learn how to update your iPhone to the latest version of iOS.

5. Turn Off Automatic Wi-Fi Connectivity

iPhones just as other smartphones provide users with the ability to connect to wireless networks so as to not use too much of their monthly data limit. Using a wireless connection is great, but users should be advised to turn off the automatic Wi-Fi search option so the device is not continuously probing for a wireless connection. Users should delete/forget networks they’re no longer using, and set the device to only turn on/off in certain locations.