Improve Your Android Lock Screen Security With These 5 Tips
You're perhaps reading this thinking "hah, no thanks MakeUseOf, my Android is secured with a lock screen pattern – my phone is impregnable!"
Touch ID Woes: Troubleshooting The iPhone 5S Fingerprint Scanner
There's no doubting that Apple's iPhone 5S introduces one of the best implementations of fingerprint scanning, but it's not been plain sailing for everyone.
Was Your Android Phone Lost or Stolen? This Is What You Can Do
There are many good options for remotely locating your stolen phone, even if you never set anything up before you lost your phone.
Does the iPhone 5S Fingerprint Scanner Increase The Chance of Theft?
The iPhone's new fingerprint sensor seems like a great way to use biometrics to keep the device secure and personal, but could the feature be used against the owner to circumvent existing protections?
Sick of the NSA Tracking You? Burn Them with a Burner Phone
Sick of the NSA tracking you using your phone's positioning coordinates? Prepaid phones known colloquially as "burners" can provide you with partial privacy.
Nero BackItUp 2014 Backs Up Android Devices In 3 Steps, Gives 5GB Online Storage
The Nero BackItUp tool, launched on Windows a few years ago, has now made its way to Android for an easy 3-step backup, sync and restore solution -- complete with 5GB of online storage.
Set Up A VPN On Your iPhone In Minutes With Tunnelbear
For those of you who want to have absolute privacy and no geo-restrictions while browsing the Internet, a Virtual Private Network is the way to go.
KeePassX & MiniKeePass: A Free, Secure iOS & Mac OS X Password Solution
Your options for a truly free and secure password solution that syncs with iOS and OS X are limited, but thankfully a combination of KeyPassX and MiniKeePass makes it possible.
Facebook Rolls Out Autofill With Facebook For Mobile Payments
Facebook is rolling out a new system designed to prevent users from having to type their payment details out on small mobile screens.
Has Your Android Phone Been Infected with Malware?
How does malware get on an Android device? After all, most users only install apps through the Play Store, and Google keeps a tight watch over that to make sure malware doesn't squeeze through, right? Not entirely. Suspicious apps have been known to make it onto the Play Store. And then there's the whole issue with using a third-party app distributor, which can also result in malware. Is your Android infected without you knowing? If so, how can you cleanse your device of these impurities? And how can you keep yourself protected in the future? Keep reading to find out.
Wickr Brings Secure Messaging And Snapchat-like Message Destruction To Android
With the recent NSA scandals, many people have lost confidence in the privacy of their communications; Wickr is the app to change that. While it has been on iOS for a while, the Android edition just hit the Play Store.
What Do Your iPhone Apps Know About You?
The iPhone is an incredibly powerful and convenient device, capable of storing all of your contact information, making calls, finding restaurants, and much more. Yet all of this comes with a potential risk; the loss of privacy. Many users want to know exactly what data their iPhone stores, and how it’s shared. The good news is that most information doesn’t leave your phone with your permission, but once you’ve let that data into the wild, you can’t take it back.
Apple Releases iPhone 5s With Touch ID, Faster Processor & New Camera Features
As expected, Apple introduced the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c this week. iPhone 5s now comes in two new colors, gold and silver, has a fingerprint identity sensor, and a faster iSight camera.
3 Ways To Make Your Smartphone Communications More Secure
Total privacy! Or so we think, as our words and information went flying through the air. Not so: First it's word of warrantless wiretapping, then it's word of newspapers, lawyers, insurers and more hacking your communications, who's next? How do we stop this? Unfortunately, laws are very after the fact, so you need to take some measures right now. This is where we look at how to secure your smartphone communications to make cherry-picking your information a lot harder.
Using NFC? 3 Security Risks To Be Aware Of
NFC, which stands for near-field communication, is the next evolution and is already a core feature in some of the newer smartphone models like the Nexus 4 and Samsung Galaxy S4. But as with all technologies, NFC comes with its own set of risks.
Safeguard Files and Login Information With oneSafe for Mac and iOS
For the last few years I have not used a traditional wallet to carry around my bank cards, business cards, and paper notes. My iPhone and a stylish credit card case are now my paperless wallet. And apps like oneSafe provide a way for me to better manage my documents across my Apple devices. For those of us striving to maintain a paperless approach to managing documents, accounts, and other data, secure software programs like oneSafe for Mac and iOS are indispensable.
How To Encrypt Data on Your Smartphone
With the Prism-Verizon scandal, what allegedly has been happening is that the United States of America's National Security Agency (NSA) has been data mining. That is, they have been going through the call records of Verizon's approximately 99 million users looking for, well, anything! If the thought of the occasionally overzealous government official isn't enough reason to encrypt your smartphone, then all the identity thieves and scammers out there ought to be. Today, I'm going to show you a few things you can do to make that information a bit more secure.
Top Lost Hardware Services to Trace Your Stolen iPhone or Android
Bad things happen. Devices got stolen. Maybe you leave your phone on the table in the pub after you've had a few. Maybe a sneaky trickster like the one on the right there manages to delicately extract it from your purse. Maybe a stray horse eats it. These things happen. But it's up to you to prepare for them. You can't trace your stolen phone after the fact, not easily.
Buyer Beware: How Not To Fall For Fake & Dangerous Apps [iOS & Android]
The popularity of Android and iOS has put a target on their virtual backs. These operating systems are a new frontier for those who use malware to achieve nefarious goals. Many users don’t take security seriously and will happily download apps they've never dream of downloading to their PC. App stores have hindered as much as they've helped. You have to watch out for yourself – so here are warning signs to look for when grabbing a new app.
The Seven Deadly Android Permissions: How to Avoid the Sin of Slothful Preparedness
Everyone with an Android device should know that your private information isn’t treated as private. For example, making an app purchase may expose personal contact information, including one’s name, physical address and email address, to developers. This article explains how seven potentially deadly app permissions might hurt you and how best to avoid such calamitous installations.