5 tips to secure data on your iPhone or iPad

Published on 14/11/2016 in Be inspired

We’re storing more and more data on our smartphones and tablets, so it’s becoming ever more important to make sure we protect our devices from viruses, hackers and data loss. With these five tips, you can go a long way in securing your iPhone or iPad.

5 tips to secure data on your iPhone or iPad

Tips for Android users can be found here

  1. Lock your phone

    A very efficient first hurdle for intruders is to secure your iPhone or iPad with an access code. This can have between four and six numbers and should be entered every time you activate your phone. Haven’t set your access code yet? Go to ‘Settings’, ‘Touch ID’ and ‘Access code’ and switch this to ‘on’. And make sure not to use obvious codes such as 0000 or 123456.
    Have a recent device? Then you can also use fingerprints to secure access. That makes it even easier to use. Another handy feature: set an access code limit so your device will be automatically wiped after ten attempts.
    And also make sure to wipe your screen regularly to avoid leaving telltale patterns.

  2. Keep your software up to date

    Another simple way to keep your device secure is by always downloading the latest Apple updates. Your iPhone or iPad will automatically tell you whenever an update becomes available. Hackers and cybercriminals are forever on the lookout for weak spots in operating systems. By using the latest updates, you can be quite sure that those backdoors are kept shut. Read more about it here.

  3. Make back-ups

    There are two ways to back-up your iPhone or iPad: via iCloud and iTunes, or via another cloud service. iCould is the easiest option: go to ‘Settings’ and scroll to ‘iCloud’. At the bottom, you can find ‘Back-up Copy’. If you select iCloud here, automatic back-ups will be made on Apple’s iCloud service.
    iTunes is quite similar. Connect your device to your Mac and open iTunes and you get the same options by clicking on your phone or table icon. Tap the lefthand column for ‘Overview’. In the ‘Back-up copies’ area you can make and secure back-ups. And you can opt to restore an earlier back-up to your device.
    For images, you can use a separate cloud service like Dropbox, OneDrive or Google Drive. And of course you can adjust settings so every image is automatically backed up in the cloud service of your choice.

  4. Be careful with Wifi Hotspots

    Free wifi in hotels and coffee bars can come in quite handy, but they’re also a potential security risk. You have absolutely no view on what will happen to/with the data you enter when you’re using such a connection.
    One way around this is to subscribe to a VPN connection, a Virtual Private Network. A VPN creates a secured ‘tunnel’ between your phone and the internet that makes it much harder for cybercriminals to steal your info. There are free VPN-services available as well, but they are often quite slow. Paying services, and there are dozens of those, are a lot faster. The iPhone has a built-in VPN client you can access via ‘Settings’, ‘General’, ‘VPN’. Just enter the details you got from your VPN provider and you’re done.
    Or you can surf free and safe on the secured Proximus FON hotspots.

  5. Activate iPhone Search

    Lost your iPhone or iPad? Or had it stolen? Perhaps you can still get it back by using the ‘Find my iPhone’ service. This is a free app from Apple that lets you track iOS-devices on a map. You can even lock or wipe your device remotely. Think your device is nearby? Then have the app play a sound on your iPhone or iPad.
    All these functionalities are available via www.icloud.com/find. To make sure your device can be found you have to activate the option in ‘Settings’, ‘iCloud’, ‘Find my iPhone’. Also turn on ‘Send last location’. This will prompt your device to send a final location update when the battery is nearly dead. 

Ann and Matthias

We’re Ann and Matthias, Bizz Experts at Proximus.

We’re here to help you with any questions or requests you might have about your telecom. Drop in on us or one of our 400 colleagues in a Proximus Center in your area. Or make an appointment.

See you soon.

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