There are more than 6 billion smartphone users in the world, indicating that more than 80% of people have smartphones. That many humans have this magic device at their fingertips – it’s changing the way we do a lot of things, from taking instant photos to requesting a taxi. Smartphones have significantly reshaped the way we think and interact, allowing more convenience and accessibility.
However, it brings along a vast array of security and privacy concerns that need to be properly addressed to make your smartphone secure. To have a strong defensive system on your smartphone, you can use these eight security apps while avoiding the regular antivirus and VPN apps with utilities that can make a real difference in protecting you from any cyber-attacks or viruses.
Smartphones, much like computers, are susceptible to countless viruses and vulnerabilities. However, almost every other smartphone user tends to be careless and sometimes even naïve when it comes to their device’s security.
7 Must-Have Apps for Keeping Your Smartphone Safe
Jumbo
Every social network has different privacy settings which are constantly changing, making it very difficult for a user to understand them. All of us have an online identity on our social accounts that should be treated with care. Not only new settings are added often, but sometimes social networks update existing ones. That’s where the Jumbo Privacy app can come in really handy.
Jumbo can do the hard work for you by ensuring you’re not sharing anything more about yourself than you intend or like. The Jumbo app can also help you keep all your social accounts locked down. Using a simple concept – it scans all your online accounts and then makes security and privacy recommendations. These recommendations focus on making your accounts more safe and secure.
The Jumbo app directly connects to your social accounts. It offers various valuable services, including automatically deleting old tweets, preventing Google from collecting information regarding you, limiting ad personalisation on Facebook, and many similar things. Although, you need to remember that any data you delete or back up with Jumbo is locked to the app, and there’s no way to export it to any other app.
Access Dots
iOS 14 came with an exciting feature for iPhones that shows an on-screen alert if an app is trying to use the device’s camera or mic. It’s much like the “active” light that you can see next to your laptop’s webcam. But if you’re missing such a security feature on your Android device, don’t worry. You can now enjoy the same functionality on your Android device quickly and easily.
The app doesn’t have much functionality and shows an indicator in the status bar if an app has secretly enabled the camera in the background or is using the mic. Allowing you to feel more secure and free from the fear of being spied upon by hackers.
GlassWire
GlassWire keeps an eye on all the app data usage, allowing you to see which app is using the most data (both uploads and downloads) and internet activity. The GlassWire Firewall app gives you a live graph and instantly know when a new app accesses the network or uses the data and more.
The app can give you a warning whenever an app uses the data and effectively deny or allow new app connections. Thus, allowing you to block app mobile or Wi-Fi connections with the GlassWire firewall. The app can be beneficial whether you’re concerned about your data plan or want to know if there’s any suspicious app sending data to its base. GlassWire can effectively block any app with an integrated firewall inside the app.
Norton App Lock
It’s always better to add extra layers of security beyond the main lock screen on your smartphone. As it can come in handy if you’re frequently sharing your device with colleagues or partners, or generally, passcodes and patterns can be susceptible to prying eyes and thereby relatively less secure.
The added layer will effectively seal off anyone from entering the apps that you need to be secure, i.e., banking, chat, or gallery apps. You can lock a game from your child, a messenger from your boss, or the back app from virtually everyone.
You can use a pattern, PIN code or fingerprint scanner to lock all the sensitive apps. The app even allows you to safeguard the photos and prevent the uninstallation of apps. At the same time, the Norton App Lock can also capture pictures of intruders trying to break into your mobile.
Fing
A network discovery tool that allows you to find all the devices connected to the network. It includes several networking utilities like Ping, traceroute, and DNS Lookup. That can be used to troubleshoot, track down any unsuspicious device connected to your network, or analyse connection issues.
Are the devices connected to your home network yours, or do the neighbours make use of the broadband too? Fing is a free “Find” and “Ping” app that can exactly tell you who’s on your network at any given moment. That will help you keep your home Wi-Fi secure.
Bouncer
The Bouncer app can solve all your security fears while allowing you to control app permissions. You can control what apps are allowed to do on your device—essentially allowing you to grant permissions to apps on a one-off or temporary basis whenever it’s necessary. Once temporary permission is granted, Bouncer will automatically remove the permission when you close the app or after a certain amount of time.
It provides a perfect solution for anyone concerned about their privacy and stops power-hungry apps that abuse permissions and run tasks in the background. For example, if you want to give Facebook permission to tag a photo but don’t want the app to access your location the rest of the time, Bouncer can assist you here.
Permissions can be rescinded after a certain amount of time or when you close the app. Along with that, the app also keeps a log of the app permission activity, so you can check whenever you want to know which app is using what resources.
Twilio Authy
One of the most critical aspects of increasing your online security that cyber security experts recommend is enabling two-factor authentication (2FA). It adds an extra layer of protection which is much better than SMS. Authy makes a considerable difference to the security of your online accounts while managing your 2FA codes.
It’s a free, cross-platform and easy to use authenticator, where adding new accounts is easy. You can generate login codes for any of your associated accounts and switch between multiple devices. Authy allows you to go stress-free as you should be. Authy works perfectly with any of your accounts, including Facebook, Microsoft, Evernote, Google, Dropbox, etc.
Conclusion
Data privacy and security has become a sweeping concern for all gadget users in this modern-day and age. Ever since the arrival of smartphones and the internet, there has been rampant surveillance, malware, and spyware that always try to penetrate the personal life of a user.
But it’s not all bad and insecure if proper precautions and preventive measures are taken. The abovementioned apps give you a certain level of security against any such threat.