Did you know
that your portable devices also need fraud protection? Provided your gadget
holds some sort of sensitive personal information, or is one that you have used
to access a secure account (like an online bank), it needs to be safeguarded.
Some level of
fraud protection is generally built into devices of this type nowadays. For
example, most smartphones now have data encryption, and features like the
Android OS’s Linux Kernel further deter data thieves. Most computer operating
systems have been refining such features for a while now, in fact.This explains
current examples like Windows Defender, an anti-malware program actually baked
right into the Windows OS and capable of serving as a substitute for an
antivirus program in a pinch.
Of course, you still do need to take some steps in order to get your devices’ fraud protection to the next level. That is what we shall talk about here.
- How to Improve Fraud Protection on Your Devices
The first thing
you can do for device fraud protection is to ensure that your auto-update
function is on for apps and programs. A lot of apps and operating systems
actually get updated on a monthly (sometimes even weekly) basis so that they
function better and safer. Security patches are very often included in such
updates.They identify prior vulnerabilities in a program and seal them. If you
ensure that your software is always up to date, hackers and other sorts of
identity thieves will have fewer cracks to slip through in their assaults.
Next, you should
set passwords on your devices. You can even have multiple layers of identification
for a single device, e.g. one password for getting out of the lock screen, one password
for turning on the device, and so on. This should make it harder for someone to
access your personal data, if you do have the misfortune of misplacing your
device somewhere. Of course, you should use different passwords for each stage,
as using the same password would be a redundant.
If you use your
device to connect to the Web, make sure that you are using a private
connection, particularly if the device has sensitive information on it.
Sticking with only private networks is crucial in fraud protection. We casually
connect to the public WiFi networks at cafes all of the time with little
understanding of how that opens up our devices to hackers or data thieves in
the vicinity. Remember that Internet connections go both ways. Your device can
not only receive data, but can also send it out.
Moreover,
exercise the utmost caution when choosing what programs to install, or what
files to download to your device. Having an anti-malware or antivirus scanner
on your gadget, be it a laptop or a mobile phone, can help you with this by
giving you an option to check the file, or program first. In general, you want
to err on the side of caution, so check that the apps you are installing on
your gadget won’t undermine all of your
fraud protection tactics.
