Today’s smartphones come with many advanced features that may be difficult to understand at times even for the millennials. For seniors, they are even more complex to comprehend. Furthermore, due to the easy accessibility of the internet due to mobile plans such as Spectrum mobile plans, everyone can remain connected to the web. While this opens up many opportunities, the chances of cyberattacks also increase. It is, therefore, important for seniors to be cautious when using an iPhone. As a senior, you must know that cyberattacks and other threats can lead to severe monetary damages. Hackers can gain access to your credit card details, social security number, and other personal data for manipulation.
Make sure to take the following measures while using your iPhone.
It is important to install an antivirus on your iPhone. Cyberattacks are real and can attack your device at any time. You may feel secure browsing your favorite website on your phone’s browser but malicious software may be getting ready to attack your device in the background only because it’s an unreliable website that you’re visiting. Take care that you only visit websites with an SSL certificate. On the other hand, even if a harmful file happens to make its way to your device, a quality antivirus can help to take care of it. Visit the iOS app store to download a reliable app for this purpose and keep scanning your device regularly.
Public Wi-Fi hotspots are known to be the favorite target among cyber attackers. These networks are not monitored and hackers can use just a single device to get information of all the connected devices. Once they have the information of your phone’s MAC address and IP address, they can easily access your personal data. Make sure to avoid using such networks. Instead, you can subscribe to a mobile internet plan for better safety. If you have to use a public Wi-Fi hotspot at all costs, make sure to use a VPN to hide your device’s identity.
You must always refrain from giving your information out to anyone online. If a Mr. ABC is contacting you on social media to discuss life insurance policies, ask them to share a valid phone number. If they ask for personal details, just hang up the call. Your bank or life insurance company will never ask you for details on a call. Therefore, if you happen to see any pop-up on a website you’re visiting offering you any discounts for a lavish subscription and asking personal details in return, know that it’s a possible scam attempt. You can use pop-up blockers to block such pop-ups. Make sure to use a high-quality ad-blocker as well.
Remember that people no longer have phones that come with buttons. This is the era of ease of accessibility and people increasingly prefer biometric unlocking features on a phone. While this is a good approach, it is not entirely safe. You may forget to lock your phone after a browsing session and this may be an invite for a thief in your vicinity to get your personal details. Make sure to set a screen-timeout after a certain period of inactivity. This will help to keep the data inside the phone safe.
It is entirely possible that you forget your passwords every now then. This is just a perk of old age. Seniors and youngsters alike must use password managers to keep their passwords safe. You must not type a password on a notepad. If it’s lost and you forget about it, you won’t be able to find the password for an app. Password managers will allow you to create complex passwords that come in a combination of special characters, alphabets, and numerals, etc. They will also help to keep your passwords safe. You won’t have to type them on a piece of paper. And a password manager is quite useful, especially when you need to transfer passwords from iPhone to Android.
Seniors must take extreme care on the internet as there are many people trying to get access to the personal information of users online. Today, it is very easily possible despite the presence of antiviruses and firewalls. The reason is that techniques to hack are also evolving. However, you can protect your iPhone by following the tips above to a greater extent.
One other area to consider for changing carriers is the need to unlock your iPhone. For example, to unlock your iPhone 6S takes a special set of instructions. This can be useful when there is a need to change carriers or add a different SIM for international use.
