Here are a few basic facts about smartphone Security and how it is used

Around two and a half billion people worldwide use Android smartphones or tablets. Due to the prevalence of Android, it is also under the watch of hackers. Android's ecosystem as a whole has evolved in such a way that due to flaws in the operating system or various apps, we may have security issues for the phone.

The biggest risk lies with our own. If we don't understand the various security systems of Android and don't take advantage of it, then in total we are at a disadvantage.

If you are using an Android smartphone or tablet, here are some things to understand. Aside from some of these things, most aspects also apply to the iPhone.

Screen Lock

The first step in keeping a smartphone safe is screen lock. We are constantly logged in to all the apps we have installed in the smartphone. So if our phone falls into the hands of a stranger or unreliable person even for a short time, he can misuse our phone in many ways. Even if we don't keep the phone locked and forget the phone or it is stolen somewhere, a big crisis can arise. Various online payment apps require an additional password to transact, but if the smartphone is not locked and the app is not locked, another person can open the app and view the details.

Apart from that, since our social media account and mail service are also open, our importance can also change if another person assumes. Once this happens, it becomes very difficult for us to get re-entry in our various online accounts. So even if it sounds boring, the phone should be locked with a PIN password or pattern. These three things should also be kept as complex as possible so that the other person cannot easily imagine it. Now almost all phones offer special recognition, fingerprint scanning, or iris scanning, which can also be taken advantage of. In addition to the screen lock, such an arrangement offers extra security.

Options for locking the phone can be found in Settings in Security.

Smart lock

It is very difficult to maintain a balance of safety and convenience in the use of smartphones. Android devices have a 'Smart Lock' feature to keep our smartphone unlocked if certain conditions are met so that we don't have to unlock it frequently. This feature is convenient, but safety is compromised. If you don't know about SmartLock, then Ignorance is Bliss for you! With the help of Smart Lock, the location settings of the phone can be turned on and the phone can be set to be unlocked when you are in a trusted place i.e. office or home. It can also be set to be unlocked when the phone is in the pocket or unlocked when the phone is near a Bluetooth handset or Bluetooth enabled laptop or car's Bluetooth enabled system. Smartlock also has the facility to unlock the phone by recognizing the voice or face. All these conveniences do not provide complete security to the phone. If you know about Smart Lock and use one of these methods to avoid the hassle of unlocking the phone frequently, it is advisable to prioritize safety over convenience. Not like using Smartlock.

Two-step verification

Almost all major web services now offer two-step verification. In this method, after giving the password of our account, OTP will come to our registered mobile number, the setting that can be logged only after giving it gives great security to our account. This feature can be turned on by going to the Security section of various web services.

This facility is very useful, but it's subtle aspects need to be understood. We can get OTP on the phone in different ways. OTP can be obtained via SMS, voice call, instant prompt (in which we just have to say yes in the flashing message on the screen of the phone), and authentication app. Of all these methods, the one with the authentication app is the safest and works even without an internet connection. You can choose more than one such method to get OTP. In any case, when your phone is not in hand, it is advisable to give the number of another trusted person so that such a code can be obtained on his phone. Also, every service provides the facility to print 10 additional OTPs that seem to work when we cannot get OTP for any reason. Taking such a print, it is necessary to save it somewhere safe.

It's like taking advantage of two-step verification for Google, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. and every account that matters to you.

Password Manager

Nowadays, no one can remember the password of all the services if not everyone can remember how many online accounts they have! In this case, the password manager can be useful to us.

Google, Firefox, and many other services offer password managers. Such a service suggests strong and extremely complex passwords when we open an account in various web services or apps. It is impossible to remember such a password, but there is no need to remember it as it is done by the password manager himself. If you want to use Google's password manager service, go to passwords.google.com or go to password settings in Chrome browser settings. Here, whenever you visit a login page, a new password is suggested for it or a setting can be made to save the password we provide.

 After this, the Password Manager service fills in our username and password when we go to the log-in page of another web service on any device that we are logged into Google Account. Some sites or apps also have auto-fill features. This eliminates the hassle of remembering passwords for different services.

Again, a balance of convenience and safety becomes essential here. Thanks to the Password Manager service, all our passwords are stored in Google's account and are available on different devices. This makes it inevitable to lock smartphones and Google accounts. Because if that one lock is broken then all our passwords can fall into the hands of someone else!

It is therefore necessary to take two steps. The first step is to protect our smartphones and Google Accounts with all available security measures (especially PIN and two-step verification). The second step is to take advantage of the password manager service for a service that is not very important!

If you do not know the intricacies of this service, never save the password of an important service like a bank in it.

Download only from the Play Store

This is a very simple step to keep the phone safe. The app can also be downloaded and installed on Android smartphones by clicking on a link found in a way other than the Play Store. Following the banning of the Chinese app in India, its download link has started circulating on social media, which can be dangerous in many ways. Therefore, if you want to download any app, you should download it from Google's official Play Store.

The Progressive Web App (PWA) is an exception. This new type of app doesn't have to be downloaded or installed just by using the settings of the website or the Chrome browser that the icon of that website is added to our smartphone as a shortcut and then the website is very much like a native app. When you visit a website that offers PWA facilities, you can take advantage of the 'Add to Homescreen' suggestion at the bottom.

Download from an unknown source

As mentioned above, the app can be downloaded and installed from unknown sources in Android. This is a dangerous thing for the average user. Before doing so, of course, our attention is drawn to the operating system and the dangers involved. This feature is changing as the version of Android changes. To make sure this feature is turned off on your phone, try searching 'Unknown Sources' in Settings.

Permission 

The various apps in the smartphone can use a lot of details on our phone and resources like a camera, mic, etc but for that, it has to get our permission first. In a hurry to install the app, we are giving such approvals in the blink of an eye. Allowing unfamiliar apps to read SMS can sometimes be very expensive. So keep checking how many permissions you have given to various apps by accessing the app permissions setting in your phone's settings from time to time.

Unnecessary app

In pursuit of the above, it is important to keep the use of additional apps in our phones as limited as possible. There is also a risk of installing an app with malicious code on the phone while trying to install an unknown app from the Play Store. So avoid experimenting with apps. Modified versions of well-known apps like WhatsApp are also available on the Play Store and promise to offer many more features than the original app. It is like avoiding the use of such apps. Take a look at the app installed on your phone from time to time and uninstall the apps you don't use now - there will be space on the phone too!

Find My Device

When a phone is lost, its location can be determined by a feature called 'Find My Device', which can play a ring on the full volume even if the volume is off. If necessary, all the data on the phone can be erased and factory reset. These features can be availed by searching 'Find My Device' by logging-in to another device from the same Google account you are logged into. Apart from Google, various phone manufacturing companies also offer such facilities. You can check whether you have this service turned on by searching for 'Device Admin Apps' in the phone's settings. Also, you have not given the rights as the admin of the phone to any unknown service in this way and it can also be checked.

Source: Gujarat Samachar