Practical ways older adults can secure their smartphones against cyber threats

In this age of modernization, older people have become an easy target of hackers and other cybercriminals. Unfortunately, they are not tech savvy and they also do not know how to secure their privacy while using their favorite smartphones.

Continue reading this post in detail to discover how older adults can protect their smartphones against various cyber threats in 2021 and beyond.

Use public Wi-Fi networks carefully

Before connecting to any public Wi-Fi network, think twice. If you do not want to expose your actual whereabouts while connected to public Wi-Fi networks, you should use your personal mobile data connection as and when needed.

Furthermore, you can use a VPN service that provides a free trial. As a result, you can spoof your actual online locations and encrypt your internet traffic without any cost.

By doing so, you can securely browse the internet and perform other crucial online tasks from anywhere without exposing your digital footprints. This way, you can protect your smartphones from different cyber risks like hacking, phishing attacks, ransomware, etc.

Protect your personal data

When it comes to safeguarding your smartphones from cyber goons like hackers, scammers, identity thieves, etc. you must secure your personal data first. Otherwise, you will become a victim of ransomware or other cyber attacks sooner or later.

For instance, you should protect your privacy by using different cybersecurity tools such as password manager, encryption software, malware protector, Avast Mobile Security, Harmony Mobile, Salesforce, etc.

Apart from this, you should always use strong passwords while managing your social media and online banking accounts. Similarly, they can install antivirus software on their smartphones that will secure them against malware, ransomware, and other cyber risks in a proactive manner.

Update your smartphones on a regular basis

There is no harm in updating your smartphones on a regular basis. In case you do not update your smartphones, there are chances you will become a target of data breach eventually.

Therefore, you should not ignore any app or operating system update as it will keep your mobile phones secure from various cyber risks comprehensively.

Download apps from Google Play or App Store always

If you want to safeguard your smartphones security-wise, you should always download apps from legitimate sources. These legitimate sources are Google Play Store and App Store respectively.

It means you should not download any app from unknown sources as this act can jeopardize your online privacy a great deal. Besides, you should manage your app permissions smartly.

Protect yourself from phishing attacks

Unfortunately, email phishing attacks are on the rise due to the COVID-19 crisis across the globe. Thus, you should refrain yourself from clicking any suspicious link or attachment provided in emails sent by unknown people.

In case you download any suspicious attachment on your smartphones, hackers and other cyber terrorists can access your crucial personal data quite easily.

Backup your phone data

You should always backup your phone data on a regular basis. For that reason, you can use numerous apps such as Backup Assistant, Verizon Cloud, etc. that allow you to secure your documents including personal images, contacts, and videos to the cloud without any trouble.

Avoid jailbreaking your iPhone or rooting your Android smartphones

When you jailbreak your iPhones, you intentionally or unintentionally hamper the security of your device. Therefore, you should not change your smartphones including iPhone or Android’s factory settings at any cost.

Lock your devices when not in use

This is one of the easiest ways by which you can protect your desired smartphones from hackers and other cybercriminals. When you are not using your smartphones for any purpose like casual web surfing, video streaming, online shopping, etc. you must keep your phones locked.

Furthermore, you can enable 4 or 6-digits security code on your smartphones that prevents unknown people from using your smartphones in case they get stolen or lost.

In addition to this, you should make sure to password-protect all your apps containing your personal information or other data. Likewise, you should keep changing passwords of your accounts like social media, online banking, shopping, etc. regularly.

By doing so, you will be in a better position to deceive notorious elements like identity thieves, scammers, etc. online all the time.

Wrapping Things Up

Summing up, securing your smartphones from different kinds of cyber threats is in your hands. However, you must know how to protect your favorite mobile devices from the prying eyes of hackers, identity thieves and other cyber terrorists.

Through all these tips and suggestions mentioned above, senior citizens can easily secure their preferred smartphones including iPhones and Android phones from numerous security risks.

That said, older adults need to follow all these tips and suggestions in a proactive manner. Otherwise, they will keep becoming easy targets of hackers and other cyber goons in the future.