#27. iPhone Data Security : What you Need to know
iPhones enable us stay connected. However, with personal data being exchanged over the internet, your identity is most certainly at risk. To prevent falling victim to identity theft, you have to take certain precautions, such as protecting your private folders with folder locking software.
iPhones can basically do everything your computers can, the difference is that you can carry your iPhone wherever you go. You can check your email, take pictures, and watch movies, surf the internet, and video chat with loved ones using your iphone.
However, the more we become dependent on smart phone technology, the more we are at risk of having our identities stolen. When we surf the internet using our iPhone, we often don’t realize that the wifi connection may not be encrypted; as a result we carelessly conduct transactions over the internet and unknowingly expose information related to our identity.
According to statistics, 12 million Americans had fallen victim to identity theft in 2011, 13% more than 2010. The reason behind the rise in this statistic was that Americans are becoming more careless about using their smart phones. According to legal experts, if your phone is lost with personal information stored on it and you became a victim of identity theft as a result, then your options are limited. In fact, in some extreme cases, the victims had to file for bankruptcy due large transactions made by identity thieves.
Nevertheless, if you believe you may have fallen victim to identity theft, you can take the following measures to prevent ID thieves from ruining your credit.
First: Place a fraud alert on your credit report, Second: notify your bank and credit card companies, Third: File a report with the local police, lastly, file a report with the FTC (Federal Trade Commission). Taking these measures will put authorities on alert and on the look-out for suspicious and fraudulent activities originating from your personal details. Moreover, to minimize your risks you should limit or stop using your iPhone on public wifi networks, run a virus scanner periodically on your iPhone and finally, keep a pass code on your iPhone.
However, the latter security measures is not fool-proof and expert hackers can easily bypass your pass code on your iPhone and retrieve personal files and folders that contain documents related to your identity. To combat this issue, your only option is to install an iPhone file security software such as Folder Lock for iPhone. With this software, you can select your most personal files and folders and add password protection on them. As a result, anyone trying to access your personal files will be prompted to enter a password.
The beauty of iPhone file security software is that its hack proof. It uses the latest in file security standards which blocks any hacking attempts. So if you have taken all the above mentioned files security measures and protected your personal files and folder with Folder Lock with iPhone, you’re not likely to fall victim to identity theft.