29/01/25: How to prevent phone hacking and protect your cell phone

Traditionally a headache reserved for celebrities, smartphone-hacking concerns have crossed the VIP vs. everyone else blood-brain barrier and are now a legitimate concern for anyone who owns a cell phone.

But is this really a serious problem for us regular folks? Are our voicemail messages so interesting that someone would invade our privacy to listen in? Before we go barking up the narcissism tree, it’s best to examine what phone hacking is and whether you really need to worry about it.

The Security Risks of Phone Hacking

There are many types of phone hacking methods, ranging from hacking into a live conversation or into someone’s voicemail, and to hacking into data stored on one’s smartphone. While the fear of the unknown can keep anyone on edge, the person most likely to hack into your live conversation or voicemail will be someone that you already know, and in today’s mobile world, phone hacking continually grows as a security issue. As people increasingly store sensitive data on their mobile devices, the opportunity to exploit privacy weaknesses becomes more tempting to unscrupulous frenemies, exes or the occasional stranger.

There is a cottage industry of phone hacking software, ostensibly developed for legal uses, but that can be easily abused by anyone (password crackers aptly named John the Ripper and Cain and Abel are two examples). Opportunistic hackers can wreak havoc with data deletion or install malicious software that gathers bank account logins and confidential business emails. So, how can you make things tougher for hackers?

How to Secure Your Phone From Hackers

If you want to be proactive, there are several measures you can take to protect yourself against phone hacking, most of which involve common sense. In addition, there are advanced methods to ensure that your phone is as secure as possible (without losing its full functionality). For example:

Basic Phone Security Tips

For casual phone users, adhering to the basics is a great place to start when it comes to blocking simple hacking efforts:

 

  • Never leave your phone unattended. Keeping your phone with you at all times while in a public place is the first, best rule to follow.
  • Change your phone’s default passcode. Your phone likely comes with a simple, predictable default password, and those who know can use this to their advantage. Change your code to something more complex, and resist the usual “1234,” “0000” and “2580” codes that are commonly used.
  • Protect your PIN and Credit Card data. Use a protected app to store PIN numbers and credit cards, or better yet, don’t store them in your phone at all.

 

Advanced Ways to Prevent Phone Hacking

 

  • If you’re still worried about hacking, there are further steps you can take to protect yourself. However, taking things too far will defeat the purpose of having a smartphone at all.
  • Avoid unsecured public WiFi. Hackers often target important locations such as bank accounts via public WiFi that can often be unsecured due to relaxed safety standards or even none at all.
  • Turn off your autocomplete feature. By doing this, you can prevent stored critical personal data from being accessed.
  • Regularly delete your browsing history, cookies, and cache. Removing your virtual footprint is important in minimizing the amount of data that can be harvested by prying eyes.
  • Have an iPhone? Enable Find My iPhone. By turning the feature on in your settings, you’ll be able to locate your phone if you misplace it before the hackers can lay their paws on it.

 

Remember—if the thought of hacking has you tossing and turning at night, you can just turn the phone off, remove the battery and hide it under your pillow for some sweet lithium-ion induced dreams. Or, you can double down on securing your mobile devices with mobile security solutions offering secure web browsing and real-time defense against phishing attacks.

Please answer the questions.

  1. Have you ever been hacked? What happened?
  2. Which are some of the ways hackers can be dangerous to society?
  3. Which are some of the ways that they can be useful to society?

Taken from 

https://www.webroot.com/us/en/resources/tips-articles/how-to-prevent-phone-hacking-and-sleep-like-a-baby-again



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Comentarios

  1. Erick Nuñez escribió:

    1. Have you ever been hacked? What happened?
    No, not yet. I consider myself from the era of simple cell phones, and I’m not attached to them, which reduces my exposure to cyber threats and online risks.
    2. Which are some of the ways hackers can be dangerous to society?
    When they lend their skills and knowledge to the service of crime, affecting individuals, families, and society by stealing personal data, committing fraud, and breaching critical security systems.
    3. Which are some of the ways that they can be useful to society?
    In the search for the truth in the face of a crime, helping to expose cybercriminals, strengthen cybersecurity, and thus avoid injustice on innocent people and organizations.

  2. Celeste Gómez escribió:

    1. Have you ever been hacked? What happened?
    Not really. I think that until now I have been very cautious because I knew the basic tips to protect myself from a cyber attack.

    2. Which are some of the ways hackers can be dangerous to society?
    It is important to remember that many times the people who hack you are people close to you. So, the reasons can be very dangerous for our physical and mental well-being. However, another interesting point is that people who create viruses or programs to hack devices such as cell phones may want to manipulate the information of people who work in banks and/or any business where they can take money or information to threaten.

    3. Which are some of the ways that they can be useful to society?
    By creating an industry that creates programs to combat these hacks, you are helping to create more jobs in different cyber companies. Also, according to the article, there are softwares that are legal to use but can be used for specific cases such as forgetting a password among others.

  3. Pilar Olmedo Blas escribió:

    1.Have you ever been hacked? What happened?
    No, so far, I have not been hacked. But my father did, they stole his cell phone number, they cloned his WhatsApp. We change the number and explain the hacking and fishing strategies.
    2.Which are some of the ways hackers can be dangerous to society?
    The hackers extort to persons, companies not to publish data or sell it to the highest bidder. Beside the hackers introducing virus for stole keys of banks and transferring money to their bank account this many economic problems.
    3.Which are some of the ways that they can be useful to society?
    the hackers can useful to society when they help discover cyber criminals who have networks, as in the case of child trafficking, cyber theft from companies. They help because they understand the world of hackers

  4. MUÑIZ APAZA, MARIEL GABRIELA escribió:

    1.-Have you ever been hacked? What happened?

    I haven’t personally been hacked, but I know cases where people have had their social media accounts compromised or financial information stolen after connecting to unsecured public Wi-Fi networks or downloading suspicious apps. These situations often result in financial losses or identity theft.

    2.-Which are some of the ways hackers can be dangerous to society?
    Data theft: Hackers can steal sensitive information, such as financial data and personal details, which can be used for fraud or identity theft.
    Malware and ransomware: They can install malicious software that locks users out of their systems until a ransom is paid.
    National security threats: Hackers can target government infrastructure, leading to espionage or large-scale cyber-attacks.

    3.-Which are some of the ways that they can be useful to society?
    Ethical hacking: White-hat hackers help organizations identify and fix security vulnerabilities.
    Cybersecurity innovation: Hackers often drive advancements in cybersecurity technology by challenging current systems.
    Digital forensics: Hackers can assist law enforcement in tracking and preventing criminal activities online.

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