It’s remarkable how quickly we’ve become dependent on our mobile devices to handle most if not all of our computing needs. Most of us now realize how critical it is to secure your device (physically) and the important data and apps as well. Set a screen lock password; put your other telephone number on the back; and install mobile security software that includes an anti-theft feature.
Remember our Honey Stick project where we “left” 50 specially monitored smartphones all over the US? My key takeaway was that although many people will do the right thing with a lost phone (50% tried to return it); humans are curious creatures who (if they think they can) will go through your private information (96% snooped on the found phone’s private apps and info). That means the most important thing you can do is prepare for the possibility your phone will be lost or stolen by taking action now! (35% of adults in the Norton Cybercrime Report have had their phone lost or stolen.) Two-thirds of us don’t have a security solution on our phones; something that really needs to change.
Many of us are getting concerned about how much access the apps on our mobile devices have to our private information. According to a Pew study on privacy and mobile, 57% of us have uninstalled or declined to install an app for privacy reasons. Norton Mobile Security new privacy scanning feature makes sure the apps on your Android phone aren’t “leaking” or sharing without your permission any of your private data or information. Norton’s team has done the hard work, reviewing 10’s of thousands of apps, and making sure your mobile device is protected. With this new, crucial information you can make better decisions about which apps to keep and which to avoid. Of course, the other great anti-theft features are there as well.
Norton Mobile Security for iOS includes those great anti-theft features, ensuring an iPhone owner who thinks their phone is lost or stolen can track it, lock it, take a photo with the phone’s camera to see who is using it, and even make the phone “scream”, alerting others to the phone’s location.
And if you are someone who loves to tinker with tech, get ready for our new beta season! Anyone can test our latest versions of our most popular security software, like Norton 360, Norton Internet Security and Norton AntiVirus. Just visit the Norton beta website to get a free download of the pre-release software, designed to be compatible with the upcoming release of Windows 8.1. Remember to follow all the suggested instructions to make your computer ready for the beta software.