7 Tips to Keep Your Phone Browsing Private and Secure

The internet is a very dangerous place. Cybercriminals are always looking for ways to steal people’s personal and financial information. If you don’t take steps to protect yourself, you could end up falling victim to cybercrime. One of the hardest devices to protect is your phone. This post offers seven tips you can use to keep your phone browsing private and secure. 

Use a VPN

VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) can prevent criminals from monitoring your movements and collecting your personal and financial information. They are widely available and very affordable. You can download a VPN for iPhone, as well as for Android. Make sure you shop around and find the best VPN you can, which you can do by reading reviews. 

Set Strong Passwords

You need to get into the habit of setting strong passwords on all of your devices. Strong passwords will help to prevent theft from occurring. If cybercriminals gain access to your accounts, they could siphon money out or steal your personal information and use it for identity theft. There are apps you can use that can help you to improve the strength of your passwords. 

Open Emails Selectively

Did you know that criminals sometimes send viruses to people’s devices masked as emails? Because of this, you need to be selective about which emails you open. If you do not recognise the sender of an email, don’t open it. Sometimes just opening an email can lead to viruses infecting your devices. If there are emails you are unsure about but want to open, you can scan emails to check them for viruses. 

Install Security Apps

In addition to a VPN, you should also download an antivirus program. Antivirus programs are typically used on computers, not people’s phones, but due to rising cybercrime, they can now be downloaded on phones and pads. Make sure you shop around and find the best, most effective security apps you can. Always read the reviews of apps to determine their suitability. 

Use Official Apps

If you download and use apps on your phone,  you need to make sure that you only use official ones. Unofficial apps often contain viruses that can infect your devices and lead to data theft or device failure. If you are able to, scan apps before you use them, so you can quickly determine whether they harbour viruses or not. 

Avoid Public Wi-Fi Networks

Public Wi-Fi networks are regularly and routinely intercepted and taken over by cybercriminals. When a Wi-Fi network is compromised, all of the data transmitted through it can be collected by criminals and used for the purposes of fraud. Because of this, you should go out of your way to avoid the use of public Wi-Fi networks, and when you do use them, use a VPN. 

Use the Internet Cautiously

Finally, make sure you practice good internet hygiene. Use the web cautiously and do everything you can to avoid running into criminals or using dangerous websites. There are plenty of guides and tutorials available online which you can read to learn more about proper internet hygiene and safety. 

Unfortunately, cybercriminals are everywhere online. If you don’t take steps to protect yourself, you could end up with viruses on your devices or falling victim to fraud. Use the guidance given here to keep yourself and your devices safe.