In the era of smart phones and tablets, a new form of threat has also emerged known as Mobile Hacking. There are some spiteful people who are trying to damage personal life of an individual by hacking their mobile phone or a tablet, which is connected to the Internet. Today, almost everybody is using smart phone to do assortment of things and just like your computer, your mobile phone can be hacked too.

Is your smart phone really that smart to fight against hackers? It is important to keep an eye on any new app you are installing and what type of data you are storing on your smart phone. Here are some useful tips that you can follow to keep your android phone safe and prevent it from being hacked:

1. Protect your android phone by setting a difficult yet easy to remember password: The most basic and important step towards protecting your android phone is to lock it with a password. There are people who might want to hack your mobile phone due to one reason or other. So make sure your phone is secured with a password protection. Android phones provide many password options that you can access through Security Settings. There is a screen unlock option that you can set with pattern lock or pin lock. Personally, I found password lock, the most secure option. You can choose the one that suits you.

2. Limit your phones connectivity: Keep your Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connection off when you are moving around as these setting can easily connect with public networks which may lead to hacking of data. There is risk in using public Wi-Fi because any malicious software can connect to your mobile phone so don’t connect to these networks unless you are sure about the safety of the network.

3. Be cautious of downloading free apps: There are numerous free apps that you can download on your Android phones. Make sure to download these apps only from trusted websites as they might harm your phone. Apps downloaded from un-trusted websites may contain viruses, spyware, malware that can infect your Android phone. It is wise to download apps directly from Google Play store.

4. Avoid rooting of your android mobile: Rooting means removing all the restrictions and limitations that a hardware manufacturer has put on the smart phone. Eventually, after rooting an Android phone you gain the complete access of the operating system and all the low level applications that control the phone. It is not a good thing to do from the security point of view as once rooted your phone also removes all applications that had been installed to protect it from various online threats. Don’t ever root your phone unless you are an Android expert because rooting reduces the existing security safeguards.

5. Install  good anti-virus app: A good anti-virus application is a must on your Android phone. Anti-virus application scans any new downloads and updates. Hence, protects your phone from viruses, malware and other malicious programs.

6. Remote wipe app to find your stolen or lost phone: Using Remote wiping app you can track the location of your Android phone and can completely wipe off all the data beyond recovery. This way you can easily safeguard your privacy.

Samaira Rogers is technical writer with more than 3 years of experience. She like to keep herself updated with latest technology. Most of her articles are related with Internet security issues like hacking, Cyberfraudsecure -Internet Security etc.