Atlantic Blog

It’s estimated that 28% of people do nothing to secure their phones.

The Smartphone is your hub for communication, entertainment, travel, research, banking, navigation, or capturing life for posterity. If you’re a person whose daily functioning and secrets are tied to your phone, make sure that only you can access it. 

Most phones allow you to set a passcode, PIN, or pattern. High end phones might let you choose fingerprints, voices, faces, or irises for phone access. 

At Atlantic we also believe it is important to have the right safety feature for your mobile banking app.  Beyond user name and password, Atlantic also provides the added security of a fingerprint scanner, for supported devices. The newest safeguard of the Atlantic Mobile App is eye verify authentication.  Your eyes and only your eyes, if you choose, will be able to open your Atlantic mobile banking app.

Once you are logged into the app, you can turn this feature on under the settings. Rather than having to type in your password, you can choose to have either the fingerprint (Touch ID) or eye verify authorization for you to easily login in the future. One thing to note – for most phones, you must have a passcode set up to access your phone in order to use this feature.

When your life is on your phone, it makes sense to take the proper steps to protect the access. The easiest way to secure your phone is to always keep it with you. 

Here are some additional steps that you can take to protect your phone:

• Encrypt your phone. An iPhone is encrypted once you set a PIN or passcode. Androids can be encrypted by selecting Encryption in the Security & Location settings.
• Install updates and security patches.
• Get apps only from the iOS App Store or Google Play to avoid malware and data leakage.
• Lock individual apps to prevent access by anyone you lend your phone to.
• Use a virtual private network (VPN) when you’re on public Wi-Fi.
• Get a password manager and use different passwords across the web. (For more info, take a look at our Ease the Pain of Passwords post.)
• Keep Bluetooth off unless you’re using it.
• Apps may ask to use contacts, camera, mic, location, etc. If the app asks for permissions outside the scope of its function, deny it access to those devices or files.
• Don’t fall for phishing. Avoid clicking links in emails and opening files from unknown sources.
• Get antivirus software for your Android device. iOS don’t need antivirus software as long as you keep it updated, but you can get apps that offer VPNs, fraud alerts, and backup.
• Get a second phone number to add another buffer between hackers and your accounts.
• Enable two-factor authentication on accounts and devices that allow it. 

If you lose it are you prepared to find it? The ability to remotely track, lock, or erase phones using the Find My Device or Find My iPhone apps makes your phone less attractive to thieves and generally less dangerous to lose.  Remote access technology helps only if you’ve turned on those features and added a security measure to get beyond your lock screen. 

How is your phone protection?  Take steps now to keep your phone, and all the information it contains, safe.

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