Summer is here, and for many people, that means a vacation is just around the corner. Whether you’re heading to your favorite spot by the coast, a quiet lodge in the woods, or jetting off for some guaranteed fun in the sun, your smartphone will, no doubt, be going with you.
But among all the excitement and logistical planning that vacations bring about, we often forget to acknowledge and act upon the increased risk they pose to the security of our phones and personal data.
We’ve all read the stories. Daniel loses his phone abroad and his banking apps get compromised. Sarah’s phone is stolen and she can’t locate it. Mark misplaces his phone and finds out he’s the victim of identity theft. These experiences lead to a whole world of pain and loss – exactly the opposite of what a vacation should be.
Thankfully, with a few quick and easy steps, you can plan for the worst and know that, in the event of your phone being snatched while abroad, any thief can be quickly stopped in their tracks.
It’s no longer enough to simply have a passcode and Face ID-style features, so below, I’ve detailed my five top tips to better secure your phone this summer.
1. Enable remote tracking and locking
Apple devices have ‘Find My’ and Android devices have ‘Find Hub’. These features enable you to find, lock, and even erase the data on your phone. By activating this functionality ahead of time, you can rest assured that you’ll be ready to act quickly in the event of an emergency.
The process is as simple as adding your device, and you can even add friends or family to your trusted circle so that they can also track your phone. This is essential if you’re on holiday and the only device you have access to is your partner’s, friend’s, or family member’s.
When you discover that you’ve lost your phone, you can remotely launch the lost mode, which will lock down a range of features, lock your Apple or Google account, and suspend payment cards. Doing this immediately will increase your chances of limiting a harmful breach. All of these things can be re-enabled if and when you find your phone.
2. Disable access to the Control Center
Even before a thief gets behind your passcode or Face ID, it’s possible for them to use the range of quick-access settings to control your phone. The most likely thing they’ll do is activate airplane mode, rendering the phone untraceable.
Thankfully it’s possible to disable access to these settings from the lock screen. On an iPhone, you need to go to Settings > Face ID & Passcode > Allow Access When Locked and toggle off the switch next to “Control Center.” If you’ve not done this and a thief puts your phone in airplane mode, you can’t use any of the Find My functionality to lock your phone down.
It’s a slightly different case on most Android devices. Even though you can remove airplane mode from your quick access settings, it’s still possible to put the phone in this mode by holding down the power button. This is super convenient but useless from a security perspective. Hopefully, this is something that will change in the future. For now, though, it’s still worth removing the setting from quick access.
3. Add Face ID to specific apps
If someone is able to get into your phone by entering your passcode, there’s another level of protection that you can apply to stop them from gaining further access. It’s as simple as specifying Face ID authentication on specific apps.
This is something that I had already applied to my banking apps as part of the login authentication process, but the other day I realized that Apple had a feature that lets me apply the same stringent check to any other app I have installed.
Applying it is as simple as performing a long press on an app and selecting ‘Require Face ID’ from the drop-down list. On an Android device, you can do the same thing in an app’s settings. I’ve applied this to any and every app that stores sensitive or personal data that hackers might want to get access to.
4. Apply Two-factor authentication (2FA)
Two-factor authentication (2FA) requires a user to enter a verification code in addition to their password when trying to gain access to their account. This makes it significantly more difficult for any unauthorized individuals to gain access to your account, even if your password has been compromised.
This setting may already be enabled by default, but if not, it’s as simple as going to your Apple ID settings and tapping “Sign-In & Security”. Finally, “Turn On Two-Factor Authentication” and follow the instructions.
To set up 2FA on an Android phone, you’ll need an authenticator app (like Google Authenticator) that you can link to your account on a website or app. You can also use authenticator apps on Apple devices, and these generally provide greater security than text-based solutions.
5. Disable automatic joining of Wi-Fi networks
Joining Wi-Fi networks that you don’t trust can make you vulnerable to losing sensitive data such as login information and online banking details. Third parties are able to intercept data that is transmitted over unsecured Wi-Fi, making it a common way for hackers to target unsuspecting users.
Disabling automatic Wi-Fi connection on your iPhone is as simple as navigating to Settings > Wi-Fi, selecting the network you want to adjust, and then toggling off the “Auto-Join” option. You can also enable “Ask to Join Networks” in the Wi-Fi settings to prevent your iPhone from connecting to unknown networks without your permission. The process is almost identical on an Android device.
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paulo.n.hatton@gmail.com (Paul Hatton)
