As you may know, October is cyber safety month. The occasion to call for caution when using your smartphone. Here are our tips!
In our country, 38% of all Internet traffic is carried out via a smartphone. With a smartphone you can not only make phone calls, but also check your emails, manage your finances or relax. However, many of us use the smartphone not only for private purposes, but also for professional ones. Thus, caution is called for again and more than ever. "It is necessary to be alert, because a lot of applications have access to the content of all applications active on the phone. A first tip is to check in the settings what permissions you have given the applications. This way you can avoid personal or professional information being accessible and shared externally", says Commissioner Olivier Bogaert.
Deactivation and protection
It is also best to deactivate geolocation if it is not necessary for the operation of an application. That way, your habits and places of preference will not be registered. Remember also to delete the browsing history and to switch off the applications after use. After all, if they keep running in the background, they can share all kinds of information about you.
As for work, you can keep certain files in a safe place. "There are applications that allow you to protect them by creating an encrypted folder in which they are safe, for example. But never forget to get information first about the applications you wish to install," warns our cyber security expert.
Final tips: regularly check whether there is a system update available for your smartphone and never hesitate to install protection software to ward off viruses and spyware.
Source: Federal Police
Video: Only available in French.
