When running an obstacle course, the only way to prepare yourself is to know what kind of obstacles you’re likely to encounter. Sure, you may not be able to see them before the race, but knowing that you’ll have to leap, run, or climb across something allows you to prepare. In the same manner, having the right information on threats that your devices face might help you elevate the overall level of cybersecurity. Here are six such pieces of information that will keep your mobile device a tad more secure. 
1. VPN provides additional encryption
A VPN app adds an extra layer of encryption in transit, which means that all the communication you make this way gets an extra bit of security. Now, while more people are currently browsing the internet via Android than Windows OS, for some reason, more Windows-based antiviruses are installed on devices.
Finding a good VPN for Android devices is easier than it ever was, and you shouldn’t allow yourself to get sidetracked by the fact that most IM software already has encryption. A bit of extra encryption never killed anyone.
Aside from this, using a VPN keeps you safe from doxing and swatting. How? Concealing your IP address also hides your physical address, which means that malicious online parties have no information on your geographical whereabouts to misuse.
Even for a DDoS attack, they would need your IP, which means that a VPN passively protects you on that end, as well.
These tools also allow you to bypass geo-restrictions, which means that you have an additional incentive to keep them on your phone, not just because you need a tool to keep you a tad safer online.
Having a VPN on all your devices is generally a safer way to use the internet.
2. Enable two-factor authentication (2FA)
The use of 2FA adds a second layer of security to your device. Now, one more layer may not mean much to you, but the difference is huge. Think about it: a fence tall one meter and a fence tall two meters are unfair to compare. The same thing applies to this method of cyberprotection.
The way this works is simple: you enter the password to log in and are asked to enter a code that you receive via email or SMS. In other words, you’re asked to confirm that it’s you by using something you know and something you have in your possession. One of these things can be faked. Your phone could get stolen or your SIM card cloned.
Most people don’t have the best passwords, which is why 2FA is so important in preventing unauthorized access, even if the password is compromised.
This method works well with email and banking apps but there’s really little reason not to use it with every account you own.
3. Regularly update your OS and apps
Every update is designed to patch known security vulnerabilities. However, this is a double-edged blade. Namely, every time a system is updated, there’s a massive announcement about it through patch notes. In other words, even those malicious parties who were, so far, unaware of vulnerabilities are now aware of them and might attempt to exploit them.
You want to regularly update your OS and apps, as well as improve device stability and performance. The only way to do this is to keep the system up to date.
On top of this, a timely update is the only way to protect yourself from zero-day threats.
The problem is that some of these updates should be automatic and that the majority of people have no idea where they can check if the updates were made or how to start them manually if they weren’t.
4. Use strong, unique passwords
The use of strong passwords minimizes the chance that someone will just figure it out.
How, you may wonder. Well, what if someone you don’t know gets access to a Facebook account you have among your friends? They can just go to your posts, scroll a bit, and see that you’ve posted a picture of your anniversary dinner. They check the date when it’s posted and try it. They fail, but they then remember to try the day before (in case you’ve taken the photo the day before), and they just log in.
In another scenario, they can look at your last post with the picture of your dog and see its name in the caption (or in comments where one of your relatives posts how the dog has grown since they’ve last seen it).
You see, a lot of people use pet names, important dates, etc. Others take an even lazier approach and pick something like “Password” or “123456.”
A single password is also not enough, no matter how good it is. Consider using a password manager to make all of it easier.
5. Learn how to recognize spy apps
The biggest problem with spy apps is the fact that you could have them installed on your phone at any moment without being aware of it. Modern spy apps are incredibly resource-lite, which means that you won’t just figure out that your battery is getting drained faster than usual and start going through your processes to see what to uninstall.
The problem is that you don’t know the first thing about mobile tracking apps and that these apps are specially designed not to be too obvious.
A spy app can be installed on another person’s device only in two scenarios. The first one is that you’re that person’s legal guardian. The second one is that you have their explicit consent. However, this doesn’t mean that people aren’t installing spy apps on other people’s phones all the time.
Just think about it: none of the threats described on this list are legal, but you still have to learn how to protect yourself from them.
6. Install reputable security software
The next thing you want to do is install reputable security software like antivirus, antimalware, and antiransomware tools. These tools passively protect against malware and viruses. They offer real-time protection, and other than installation, they won’t really require much else.
Security software provides real-time protection and threat alerts. In other words, the app will ask you whether to remove something, but the question will be more formal. In some cases, it will just inform you that it has quarantined a dangerous file or a piece of code.
It takes you to really actively ignore the warnings of this software in order to land into trouble. Adding an exception is effort-intensive, as well as turning off your antivirus before you download a file because you don’t want to risk the tool deleting it.
The tool includes anti-phishing and anti-spam filters, which is what makes its browser experience quite safe.
Understanding how cybersecurity works is the key to improving it
You can’t protect your device if you don’t understand the threats. You see, in the past, while the majority of devices were offline, viruses were the biggest threat. Why? Because they corrupted or slowed down your device, making it unusable. Today, however, when most threats are online, the nature of cybersecurity has evolved, as well.
