Establishing security for your smartphone is now as important as protecting your personal computer, Hardy Telecommunications Youth Advisory Board learned April 25.
Hardy Marketing/Human Resource Director Derek Barr and Retail Sales Manager Becky Kimble gave the students tips on how to keep their information safe from damaging software like malware and spyware. With smartphones now outselling personal computers, and consumers using smartphones for online banking and other applications involving valuable data, criminals more and more are targeting the devices. A smartphone is a mobile phone with the ability to perform tasks beyond simply making phone calls or texting, like surfing the Internet.
Hardy Telecommunications is an authorized retailer of Sprint wireless, and Becky demonstrated the capabilities of smartphones to the board. Derek, citing a recent New York Times article detailing the increased frequency of malicious attacks on smartphones, said consumers can’t assume a smartphone is secure.
“The most practical rule for protecting yourself is to start thinking of the smartphone as a PC,” the article stated.
Derek said phones can be stolen or misplaced more easily than a typical personal computer.
“How many times have you seen on Facebook where people write that they’ve lost their phones and need their friends’ numbers again?” he asked the students. “Who knows who has found that phone and has that information now? You need to protect that data.”
Derek and Becky suggested some free security tools for smartphones, such as Lookout. These tools can scan your smartphone and any applications you download for viruses and other malware. If you can’t find your phone or believe it may have been stolen, Lookout and another security tools will let you track the location of your phone using satellite technology. You also can use the Internet to make your smartphone sound an alarm, helping you locate it. Additionally, these tools allow you to back up your phone’s data to a secure external site.
Most of these security tools have paid versions with extended features, such as the ability to back up more data or to lock down your smartphone and even wipe its data if you’re certain the phone has been stolen or compromised.
Hardy formed its Youth Advisory Board in 2007 to educate the students about Hardy Telecommunications and the telecommunications industry, and for the students to share their ideas and thoughts about technology important to them. The group is comprised of students from East Hardy and Moorefield high schools.
This year’s Youth Advisory Board members are Ashley Dove, East Hardy senior; Mary Mumford, Moorefield senior; Tressa Parker, East Hardy junior; Tori Burdette, Moorefield junior; Tyler Bradfield, East Hardy sophomore; Garrett Keller, Moorefield sophomore; Stephen Hott, East Hardy freshman; and JoBeth Delawder, Moorefield freshman.