In a little over 2 decades both the technology and features available in mobile phones has come a long, long way from the earliest models. It was only a few short years ago that your average mobile phone weighed as much as a brick and if you were lucky you'd be able to send text messages or make calls with it whereas modern smartphones are as powerful as some laptop or desktop computers.
The more complex smartphones have become has meant that they now cost several hundred dollars which makes them a prime target for a thief. In fact most thieves now prefer to steal a smartphone from a gym locker or car over a wallet or watch because expensive mobile phones are very easy to sell online and offline and the people getting that expensive smartphone at a bargain-basement price will never ask any questions about where it came from.
The reality of owning a smartphone is that you will have to take precautions to ensure that it's safeguarded against thieves of all kinds. The more difficult you make it to actually steal your cell phone the more any potential thief is going to avoid it and look elsewhere. Taking out an insurance policy on your smartphone is no excuse for avoiding putting some simple security measures in place too.
Your smartphone probably has a GPS feature built into it and if so then it's a good idea to enable it because it can help you quickly find your phone if and when it gets stolen. Most cell phone providers also have the ability to actually track down your mobile phone using the same triangulation techniques (using masts and cell towers) you see in the movies but they won't do this unless you get the police involved.
If your smartphone has a Bluetooth function then it's a good idea to disable this until you actually need it - Bluetooth usually provides a potential thief with a backdoor into your phone to steal information, pictures or other data and they can even use it to locate where your phone is hidden.
You can never be sure when your phone might be stolen so there's never a better time than right now to install some encryption software on your phone. A good example of this is the "Vault" application for Android phones and unless the thief has a fairly high level of technical expertise it means that your sensitive information will be safe.
You do always have the choice of installing some advanced tracking software on your phone too that will allow you to remotely monitor all the calls made on the phone, any text messages sent from it and any pictures sent or received from the phone - imagine being able to see the face of the thief! On top of that if your GPS feature is enabled you'll be able to use Google maps to track the phone down to the exact street the thief is living on, or the person who bought the stolen phone from them.
Cell phones are becoming more and more popular for junkies and thieves of all kinds to steal so it's important that you start taking precautions now. There's simply no point in waiting until your phone is taken from you because then it's too late.
The more complex smartphones have become has meant that they now cost several hundred dollars which makes them a prime target for a thief. In fact most thieves now prefer to steal a smartphone from a gym locker or car over a wallet or watch because expensive mobile phones are very easy to sell online and offline and the people getting that expensive smartphone at a bargain-basement price will never ask any questions about where it came from.
The reality of owning a smartphone is that you will have to take precautions to ensure that it's safeguarded against thieves of all kinds. The more difficult you make it to actually steal your cell phone the more any potential thief is going to avoid it and look elsewhere. Taking out an insurance policy on your smartphone is no excuse for avoiding putting some simple security measures in place too.
Your smartphone probably has a GPS feature built into it and if so then it's a good idea to enable it because it can help you quickly find your phone if and when it gets stolen. Most cell phone providers also have the ability to actually track down your mobile phone using the same triangulation techniques (using masts and cell towers) you see in the movies but they won't do this unless you get the police involved.
If your smartphone has a Bluetooth function then it's a good idea to disable this until you actually need it - Bluetooth usually provides a potential thief with a backdoor into your phone to steal information, pictures or other data and they can even use it to locate where your phone is hidden.
You can never be sure when your phone might be stolen so there's never a better time than right now to install some encryption software on your phone. A good example of this is the "Vault" application for Android phones and unless the thief has a fairly high level of technical expertise it means that your sensitive information will be safe.
You do always have the choice of installing some advanced tracking software on your phone too that will allow you to remotely monitor all the calls made on the phone, any text messages sent from it and any pictures sent or received from the phone - imagine being able to see the face of the thief! On top of that if your GPS feature is enabled you'll be able to use Google maps to track the phone down to the exact street the thief is living on, or the person who bought the stolen phone from them.
Cell phones are becoming more and more popular for junkies and thieves of all kinds to steal so it's important that you start taking precautions now. There's simply no point in waiting until your phone is taken from you because then it's too late.
About the Author:
There are a growing number of smartphone security risks you should be thinking about and how to protect your phone from theft. You can learn a bit more about that subject here: http://cpusecurity.com/blog/
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