Tips for protecting your data from cyber threats

Threats to cyber security will never stop. They will continue to be there as long as the technology remains in the scene itself. Transactions over the mobile have seen a great surge and a Taiwan-based research firm has suggested that mobile phone payments would reach $780 billion by the end of 2020.

Indian markets will also see an increased use of mobile phone payments, according to Research and Markets. It is expected that these transactions will reach $4.4 billion by 2022. With e-Transactions becoming the norm, especially with the tech-savvy youth, the fraudsters have been on the prowl to exploit the loopholes of technology. Below are a few tips to protect your important data from being stolen in 2017:

1. Use mobile phones that use the latest cutting edge technology. Mobile phones with fingerprint readers, face recognition abilities, voice recognition, etc., advanced features that prevent your devices from many threats. Old versions of android and iOS are susceptible to being trespassed easily, so a point should be made to use phones with the latest software and hardware installed.

2. Apps should always be locked with passwords so that in the case of a theft the predator may not get to your private data easily. Screens and sensitive files should again be locked with PINs, passwords, and other security barriers. In the cases where securing apps is not possible by using cutting edge technologies, the developers should at least form some kind of barriers to prevent illegal intrusions like the need of a One Time Password which could be received over SMS or email.

3. A lot of people are developing clone applications and many times they fill them with viruses. Although Google and Apple try to keep all malicious applications away from their application storehouses, yet intruders somehow find ways of nicking and intrusion. Jailbroken devices are the most vulnerable to data theft as such should never be used. A very important security rule to remember is that of never downloading an application from an unknown vendor or an unrecognised platform.

4. Having a malware protection app installed is a must in today’s day and age. It is very difficult to detect the intrusion of malware and other viruses on your mobile phones if there is nothing to guard your phone. And an important point to note is that malware will attack your payment applications before anything else, so it is upon you to preserve them.

5. Always use secure apps to buy and sell online. Using browsers like opera and safari to make purchases is not a good option. They do not have the level of security that a good application has, so make it a point to buy using authentic and known apps. It is always better to be safe than to feel sorry.

(This article is authored by Sanjay Sharma, MD, Cloudatix)