In the age of smartphones and mobile devices, a lot of personal data, including sensitive information, is being exchanged through mobile apps.
According to research, 90% of apps examined demonstrated a vulnerability to at least two out of 10 risks on the OWASP Top 10 list, while 50% of companies do not invest dedicated funds to mobile apps security. Yet mobile apps are also crucial for enhancing the security of your online presence – and here are some ways to do that.
1. Password managers
Passwords are your first line of defense against anyone who tries to get unauthorized access to your data. Advice about how we need to build elaborate and unique passwords to make them secure is easy to get, but it is very unrealistic to remember such complicated and different passcodes for each of your online accounts.
Enter password managers, one of the most essential types of security mobile app on the market. Password managers like LastPass or Dashlane generate unique and strong passwords for each of your online accounts, store them, and auto-fill your credentials for extra convenience.
They also can synchronise your log-in data across devices and manage several users. The user only needs to remember their master password to log into the password manager.
2. Two-factor authentication
It becomes more and more common to use mobile devices to carry out sensitive financial transactions – and we are not only talking about online shopping. For example, you can use an online mobile trading app to trade derivative and leveraged products like contracts for difference in the UK and more than 15,000 markets worldwide.
Apps like Authy and Google’s Authenticator give you an extra layer of verification by generating a unique passcode
If you find yourself dealing with sensitive data like personal information or money on your mobile, you need more than a good password: you need extra levels of security like a 2FA mobile app. Apps like Authy and Google’s Authenticator give you an extra layer of verification by generating a unique passcode to use as a second factor of confirming your identity, thus making life harder for hackers.
One thing to bear in mind is that these apps are used to generate log-ins for services that support them, so make sure the services you use do.
3. Virtual private networks
A VPN is essential if you are concerned about the privacy of the data transmitted from your phone. They are particularly important as a vital protection layer when you tend to use a public Wi-Fi often, as public networks are infamous for their low level of security.
A VPN app will encrypt your data, making it harder for outsiders to eavesdrop on your life – and making sure that you don’t inadvertently share more information with the world than you mean to.
4. Digital vaults
If you use your phone to store personal data of a sensitive nature, like family photos, banking details or any other type of file you can’t afford to have stolen, you may want to consider a tool specifically designed to hide them from people you wouldn’t want to access them – ranging from thieves to a colleague at work who borrows your phone.
A digital vault, like Avira or Keeper, will let you store your photos, videos, private documents and other files into a safe place within your phone, accessible only by you. That way, even if someone gets access to your phone, they won’t gain access to your vault.
In an increasingly digital world, there are more and more aspects of human activity that are now being conducted mostly online. As the latest revelations about privacy on Facebook accounts have shown, the issue of data protection and security has not been taken seriously enough so far.
It does not take much to change that – and a handful of great mobile apps is a good place to start.
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