There mobile security It has become a topic of particular interest since various techniques have proliferated to steal personal information (and money) from the user, such as phishing or the term coined for WhatsApp scams: Whatsapping. Malware is also an evil that affects our Android phones, although security on our smartphone involves being careful about possible thefts, knowing how to proceed and avoid them.
A few years ago I was the victim of theft, losing my terminal in the blink of an eye. This had never happened to me before, so I never imagined it would happen on the least expected day. And the hardest part wasn’t losing my cell phone, that too, but all of which was taken with it and could have been avoided with a few simple adjustments.
Let’s start with the basics, a secure unlocking method
Innocent of me, for a while I have excluded protecting my cell phone with a PIN code, password, even fingerprint was not worth it. I prioritized speed, and unlocking my phone with a simple gesture instead of entering my credentials gave me exactly what I wanted.
However, I learned from my mistakes and I invite you not to do the same: set a secure lock method, and if possible using biometric sensors. Facial recognition is not very secure on current Androids, since it uses the front camera; It would be more judicious to opt for the fingerprint. This is the basic thing that every user should look into to avoid scares in the future, but there is much more that I explain below.
A well-protected Google account
Our Google account is the basis of the Android smartphone, because access to the Google Play Store, its applications and a whole series of associated services that, among other things, help us maintain our security depends on it. Here the password for our personal account comes into play, the one that governs our device.
Being a victim of a brute force attack could cause us to lose control of the Google account, so it is advisable to start with a sufficiently secure password. The same thing happens when it is stolen from us. You have to forget dates of birth and other simple passwords and opt for a meaningless string of characters and, above all, add symbols. Emojis are also a more than feasible alternative and, by the way, they are extremely safe. Keeping all this in mind, we can unlink our account from the stolen mobile from this Google page, and thus they will lose the possibility of making further changes.
“Search” my Android is a lifesaver
If you envied the iPhone for its magnificent utility for find a lost cell phone, on Android we now have the perfect alternative. The “Find my” network (“Search” or “Find my device” in Spanish) compensates for this absence with a comprehensive tool that now also works offline (and without battery).
To use it, which I didn’t do before losing my phone, we can access it from the official website or through its native Android application. It is essential to activate it so that our smartphone is registered with Google and we can consult it at any time where is he.
Find my device
Find, lock, erase data or play sound on any lost Android device. Locate your lost Android device and lock it until you get it back.
In addition to the possibility of lock mobile remotely, which would put the thief out of the game, allows us to format it or, in other words, reset it to factory settings. This way we will prevent them from accessing our information and files, which is crucial to maintaining security. I wish I had enabled it sooner.
WhatsApp two-step verification
To be honest we have to admit that on WhatsApp we share all kinds of information, both personal and family and friendly. We should not do this for obvious reasons, but it is a reality that it is done. In the event of theft, the thief will have complete freedom to enter our WhatsApp account and even scam our contacts. It would be the same as if our WhatsApp account was stolen.
There WhatsApp two-step verification increases security, and establishing it is as easy as going to “Settings” > “Account” > “Two-Step Verification”. From time to time, WhatsApp will ask us to verify our identity (like during number validation), thus helping strangers to read our conversations even if they have the cell phone. Of course, it is better to act quickly by activating WhatsApp with our number on another phone, in order to restrict access to the lost mobile.
Lock apps
The versatility of Android and its layers of customization offer us many functions to protect our mobile. One of the most useful in case of theft is lock apps with password (or any other method such as fingerprinting). When enabled, access to the application in question will not be possible without entering the password. OnePlus has its own tool, and even if your phone doesn’t have one, there are apps for this purpose.
An automatic backup to recover everything
I talked about the importance of the personal data that we carry on our Android mobile. Well, being robbed means lose all files that were in its memory, as well as other items that are not saved in the application cloud. This is why I always recommend making a full backup, because on the least expected day we can resort to recovering everything.
In addition, it is useful not only in the event of theft, but also when changing smartphones or experiencing a breakdown. SO, with a touch we’ll leave everything as before. If you pay for one of the Google One subscriptions, it’s even more convenient and automatic. For photos – in my opinion – nothing compares to Google Photos. Although in this area there are many alternatives that can work just as well.
Cover image | SLAB 3 with Photoshop AI
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