Similar to unintentionally inviting burglars into your home by opening your windows in the summer time to get some fresh air, unsecured wireless networks, which are used to connect your smart phone, PC or tablet put your personal data at risk.Smart phones have become more commonplace than PCs, used to store personal information like emails, private messages, photographs, videos and personal contacts, filling the memory capacity of our phones more than our brains. While it is easy to access emails and messages remotely through secondary devices, it is difficult for hackers to access photographs and videos from remote devices.
The real dangerYour smart device is not the only thing at risk. Social media accounts can be used by hackers as soldiers or silent zombies in the social media war zone; especially in these times when tense political conflict and hot-button issues are on the rise.As most people already know, it is not recommended that you open messages or links sent to your social media accounts from unknown sources, as they may contain bugs or viruses.
Data theftIf your social media account is hacked by a terrorist group, it could take considerable time for you to secure your account - or worse - you could be blocked from your social media account altogether. The old adage, "You never know what you have until its gone," rings true in the case of stolen data and hacked accounts. Despite the threat, the chances that your social media account will be hacked by a terrorist group are relatively limited. In Turkey, social media users tend to be a bit gullible when it comes to clicking on suspicious links in social media, but beware that Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts can sometimes be completely discredited by the posting of pornographic images. In most cases, hackers who target a person's reputation in a sort of social media "smear campaign" use social media to lure their victims. Social media users with a high number of followers are the most at risk, as illegal organizations and even terrorist groups hack these accounts to promote their propaganda.
iCloud: Personal data insurance
Everyone purchases insurance for their cars, homes, health and even their lives. So how can we forget to insure our personal data? Mobile phones, tablets and computers can be lost, stolen or damaged at any given moment and this has probably already happened to you at some point. However, insurance for your smart device is a relatively new concept and has yet to become a priority for smart device users. Those who think their data is not at risk usually overlook this modern type of insurance.
What to keep in mind
You can store your data on your phone using strong passwords. It is also possible to lock and erase data remotely when your device gets lost or stolen. To activate this feature, you need to adjust your device's security settings. While you are setting up your device, enable the identity verification feature on both iOS and Android. These settings will alert you if your device is lost or stolen.
Fingerprint security
Even by taking all these security measures, your device may still be at risk. Passwords, which used to be very difficult to break, have now become small obstacles that hackers can easily overcome as the cost of technology decreases. Fingerprinting has also become one of the most crucial security features that can still be hacked.