Why your phone security is more critical than ever

It happened in a flash. One minute your phone is in your pocket or bag, the next it is gone. Maybe it was snatched in traffic, misplaced in a matatu, or vanished after a night out.

In Kenya today, losing your phone is not just about the cost of replacing it, it could be the start of you losing your money, identity, security, and privacy.

Our mobile phones have evolved into our identity carriers, personal assistants and digital wallets. Every other smartphone has access to mobile money, bank accounts, mobile loan applications, personal chats, social media, email, and identification documents.

When someone steals your phone, they might not even be interested in reselling it. They might just be after your personal data and specifically, your mobile money, bank account, and mobile loan applications access.

Depending on the security features on your phone, the thieves may drain your mobile wallet, carry out unauthorised bank transactions, engage in impersonation scams or even carry out fraudulent SIM swaps.

The situation is made worse if you carry your national ID and ATM cards in your phone case for convenience purposes or your phone is stolen together with these critical documents. Also, if you have a weak PIN or password for your phone that can easily be guessed, access to the device and applications in the device by criminals is made easier.

The loss of your device may even be the entry point to your business or place of work digital systems that the criminals needed. Simply, the information extracted from the lost mobile device could lead to financial loss, reputational risks, and personal security threats, while impersonation could lead to similar losses to individuals who have their contacts details saved on your device.

One of the principles of safety is that when confronted by violent criminals, it is usually advisable to comply with their demands. It is not worth it to lose your life or face serious injuries fighting them.

However, there are certain steps that you and I can undertake if we lose our mobile devices.

Read:  Managing privacy, data protection risks in a tough economy

I know that we are often faced with so many instances that we must use a PIN or password to access our device. So, what do we do? We use the same PIN and password for all our accounts from our email, social media, bank, and mobile money. This poses a major security loophole because if someone gets access to one of your accounts, they can access all your other accounts.

To protect yourself, it is important that you have different PINs or passwords for different applications on your mobile phone. Secondly, your phone lock screen should have a very strong password or code to unlock it. Thirdly, your SIM card should have a separate PIN.

Your mobile money account should have another. Even your bank app should have its own secure login. Where the mobile applications allow for two factor authentication, activate it. It might seem like a hassle, but this layered security can save you from losing your money or worse. For your SIM card, you may even set it up in such away that a swap can only happen physically at an authorised dealer shop.

If your phone is stolen or lost, act fast, contact your mobile provider and request that your SIM card and mobile money access be blocked immediately.

This prevents someone from accessing mobile money, calling your contacts, or initiating SIM swaps. Also, call your bank to limit access to your bank accounts. Use a tracking feature, if available on your phone. Smartphones with "Find My iPhone" (iOS) or "Find My Device" (Android) can sometimes locate the phone if it is still online. Always report the loss to the police and obtain an Occurrence Book record.

Next, ensure that you change all your PINs and passwords as soon as possible. Where the device was issued by your employer, file a report with the relent department in your organisation.

To reiterate, practical steps that we can continually use to protect our mobile devices include setting strong, unique, and separate passwords for the digital accounts on our mobile phones, enabling two-factor authentication for sensitive applications, regularly backing up the data on our phones, and installing a reputable phone security application for tracking or remotely locking the phone.

Also critical is not to share our mobile phone and mobile applications log in credentials with just anybody.

Always remember that your mobile phone is a treasure chest of information; in the wrong hands, your life could be turned upside down in minutes. Take the security of your phone seriously.

In today’s digitised world data is a priceless trading commodity, so protect yours as it is more valuable than the physical mobile phone that you posses.

The writer is an advocate of the High Court and a Data Protection Compliance Professional - [email protected]