How to keep your Android phone safe from prying eyes

Today, smartphones have become nearly indispensable. So it's important to keep not only your phone but also its contents, secure.

We’re going to introduce to you some top ways to keep your mobile keep your mobile security skills as sharp as possible. These are simple but highly effective ways to keep your smartphones safe, such as finding your phone if it’s lost, keeping your personal information secure, and making sure the apps and games you download are safe.

1.       Find your lost phone

One of the biggest threats to mobile security is pretty simple and is probably something that has happened to many of us: losing your own phone. We entrust our phones with some of our most personal data – texts from loved ones, family photos, work emails, bank account information, and more. In the wrong hands, that data could cause trouble. But when your phone is missing, it’s not easy to figure out where to find, who to call, or how to keep your information safe.

Find Your Phone is a new Android feature that will help you if your phone is ever lost or stolen. In a few simple steps, you can not only locate your phone, but also lock and call it, secure your account, leave a callback number on the screen, and more. The feature can be used to find lost Android and iOS devices, you’ll also be able to access it by searching Google for “I lost my phone.”

You can use Find Your Phone in My Account, or just by searching 'find my phone' on any Google browser.

2.       Lock down your Phone

Encrypting important data is crucial for those who want to keep prying eyes—be they the police, a vindictive ex or a nosy coworker—from gaining access to their mobile device. The method of encrypting varies from one mobile device to the next, but here are some guidelines:

l  Android phones come with native data protection for encrypting. You can pick a PIN, a password, or a pattern. Take advantage of this. An easy thing you can do if you don't want anyone who picks up your phone or tablet to have access to your stuff is to switch on your mobile device lock. For double security, you should also set your device to automatically lock when it goes to sleep. You can take this even one step further and customize your settings so that your patterns and passwords are not visible when you’re entering them.

l  Lock your SIM card so nobody can access the SIM without a known PIN.

3.       Download apps from trusted stores

Download apps from trusted stores and marketplaces to help ensure your phone. Some apps can affect your device’s security, so only download them from stores you trust. If you have Google Play installed, your phone is automatically protected from potentially harmful apps with the Verify Apps feature. It’s turned on by default and will warn you before you install an application which is potentially harmful. It’ll also check your device once a week for potentially harmful apps. If you see a warning from Verify Apps, It’s recommended not installing that app. In the last year, Potentially Harmful Apps (PHAs) were installed on less than 0.15% of devices that only get apps from Google Play.

4.       Store in a Cloud

Cloud storage enables you to store your data (videos, pictures, files, etc.) in a virtual storehouse which can be purchased or leased through a hosting company.

To store photos or videos, enable Camera Uploads on DropBox (Android, iOS). You can do the same with Google Drive. Each mobile device has a different way of shunting your valuable data to a cloud for cyber storage.

For Facebook enthusiasts, cloud storage can also be done via your mobile’s Facebook app.

5.       Use a VPN

When surfing the web on your mobile or tablet on a free, unprotected public network in a hotel, airport or coffee shop, your data is vulnerable to “sniffers.”

That’s where a Virtual Private Network (VPN) comes in to protect your data between your Android and an internet gateway. This kind of VPN creates an impenetrable tunnel to prevent snoopers, hackers, and ISPs from viewing your web browsing activities, instant messages, downloads, credit card information or anything else you send over the network.

The best Android security apps to keep your phone safe

In the year 2017, Android is continuing its dominance as a leading mobile OS. Most of the people prefer android phones as these are easy to use, avails many advantages and even they are very much compatible with other devices. One of the major advantages of using android phones is that you can have easy and free access to all the applications.

However, Android does have faced an array of security threats and problems because it is much simpler to create and distribute malware, especially compared to iOS. It’s not exactly easy to know whether our private information can still be considered “private”. So if you want to boost your security further on android devices, you should have a look at the best Android security apps below.

Norton Security and Antivirus

With Norton Security and Antivirus installed on your Android device, it’ll make sure to scan your device for spyware, malware, and any hidden threats, and it has some other neat features as well. At any time, you can remotely use Norton Security and antivirus to lock your device. If you’re missing your device, you are supposed to locate where it is by trying this amazing app. In addition, it can largely do you a favor of blocking any unwanted texts or phone calls, just to name a few.

Applock

Applock is a secure Android-specific app which is able to lock all your important apps and built-in features up, including Facebook, WhatsApp, Gmail, and Settings, to prevent unauthorized access to private data and guard privacy settings for free.

Find Your Phone

Should you ever lose your Android device, Find Your Phone is a new feature. By searching ‘find my phone’ on any Google browser, you can locate your phone, lock and call it, secure your account and leave a callback number on the screen for the person who finds it.

1Password

If there's one simple way to stay safe, it is to change your passwords from time to time, though it will be extremely difficult for you to remember all the different passwords to each account. 1Password does the hard work for you by remembering everything. All data is encrypted, so this app keeps the information safe and allows you to sign into your favorite sites with just one click.

Signal

Signal is a fantastic messaging solution for security conscious mobile users. It is a free all-in-one messaging and voice-call solution that uses end-to-end encryption. It's easy, secure, and private. This is the technology that Google and Facebook are now basing the security of their own chat apps—like WhatsApp and Allo—on. But Signal still beats them all because it's built, from the ground up, for security first. You can send voice calls, group messages, media and attachments to your phone contacts, all without having to mess with PIN codes or special login credentials. User-friendliness without compromising on security makes Signal a good option for users looking for an encrypted messaging and calling app.

Silent Phone

Silent Circle is a trusted provider of secure-communications software and hardware, such as the Blackphone, and it has also developed its own secure mobile-messaging platform. Silent Phone app provides encrypted video and voice calls, as well as encrypted, self-destructing messaging and file transfers. Encryption keys are held by subscribers themselves, not by Silent Circle, so while your encrypted messages may pass through Silent Circle's network, the company can't read your data.

Wickr Me

Wickr Me is a free end-to-end encrypted-messaging app that allows users to send private, self-destructing messages (text, photo, video and voice) to other Wickr contacts. It takes user privacy seriously, using strong encryption and deleting metadata such as geotags and message times, and users can configure how long it takes for messages to self-destruct. A Secure Shredder included in the app even allows you to erase attached files, messages and other data to prevent recovery.

SpiderOak

SpiderOak's main selling point is "zero-knowledge" private cloud storage. SpiderOak gives users end-to-end encryption; data both in transit and stored in SpiderOak's servers is fully encrypted and can be unlocked only with your password, which is not stored by SpiderOak. If anyone want to see your folders and data, he would see only numbered containers and encrypted data. The free plan offers 2GB of storage; $10 per month provides 100GB extra, with even more available at higher prices.

OrBot, OrFox & ChatSecure

Users looking to access the Tor anonymizing network on mobile devices have a variety of good options to consider. On Android devices, the combination of OrBot and OrFox is a popular choice, with OrBot serving as a proxy connector app to the Tor network, while OrFox is a privacy-enhanced version of Firefox based on earlier work on the Guardian Project's OrWeb anonymized browser. Chatsecure also provides private Off The Record (OTR) encrypted chatting that you can also route through OrBot for additional security.