2. Clean Up Your Apps
Maybe you’re addicted to Snapchat, Pokemon GO or Instagram—we all have our favorite apps. Yet many phone apps are fertile ground for infection. “If hackers find a security hole in an app, they can exploit it to access your personal data,” says Michael Kaiser, executive director of the National Cyber Security Alliance. “There’s no way to know what kind of information is being collected about you and where it’s being distributed.”
On a regular basis, do a KonMari to your phone and delete apps you no longer use. The danger is that outdated versions could be running in the background of your phone, exposing you without you realizing it.
Next, make sure your phone automatically updates your remaining apps, since most updates include security fixes. It’s simple: On an iPhone, go into Settings, scroll to “iTunes & App Store,” and check that “Updates” is selected for Automatic Downloads. For Android, open “Settings” in the menu section of the Play Store app to verify that you have the “Auto-update apps” feature turned on.
Remember to log out of apps that contain sensitive info when you’re done using them. Finally, download apps only from iTunes or Google Play, which should help ensure that they’re legitimate.
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