Smartphone Security: How to Protect Your Data and Privacy in Simple Steps

Using smartphones comes with potential threats to safety and privacy from hackers, scammers, and identity thieves, but there are simple ways to protect critical data and information.

As smartphones grow into ubiquitous staples of so many Americans’ lives, hackers have a growing toolbox of methods to steal and extract users’ personal data, including sending fraudulent messages with malicious links, creating fake apps with hidden malware, and gaining access to sensitive information over public Wi-Fi networks.

An overwhelming majority of Americans—73 percent—said they have been victims of an online scam or attack, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in April.

A recent study by Talker Research found that the United States receives twice as many fraudulent or scam messages as other nations, amounting to Americans navigating on average nine calls, nine emails, and seven text messages every week, or roughly 100 scam encounters monthly.

Whether your smartphone of choice is an Android, iPhone, or similar device, using encrypted messaging services, multi-factor authentication, virtual private networks (VPNs), and backing up data to cloud storage are some of the many ways you can bolster your device’s security.

Here are some of the ways your data and identity may be vulnerable on your smartphone, how to diagnose and address a security breach, and ways you can protect your device to prevent third-party intrusions. These tips also work for tablets and related devices.

How Hackers Exploit Smartphones

As smartphone technology advances, so do the ways hackers try to breach users’ privacy and security.

These efforts include “phishing and smishing,” or fraudulent messages sent via email or text applications that trick users into clicking a malicious link or downloading an infected file, according to cybersecurity software company McAfee.

Users may unknowingly input their login credentials or install malware while falsely thinking they are responding to legitimate requests from their banks, merchants, or internet service providers. Attackers can install malware or spyware through phishing and smishing, which secretly monitors user activity, records calls, steals passwords, and tracks the user’s location.

Users are also particularly vulnerable on unsecured public Wi-Fi connections in cafes, airports, or hotels, where hackers may try to breach a connected device if it’s not utilizing a VPN for added security.

An attacker may also try to exploit a user’s personal information gathered from data breaches to impersonate them and convince the mobile carrier to transfer the user’s phone number to a SIM card the attacker controls.

There’s also the risk of “zero-click exploits,” where a hacker infects a user’s phone without any action from the user, including clicking links or downloading apps. While this method is most often used against high-profile targets, zero-click exploits emphasize the importance of keeping a device’s software updated so vulnerabilities are addressed.

In this photo illustration, hacker types on a computer keyboard on May 13, 2025. Oleksii Pydsosonnii/The Epoch Times

Signs Your Smartphone Might Be Hacked: What to Do

McAfee describes multiple symptoms that might be a sign that your smartphone was hacked or exploited by scammers.

Sudden battery drains, consistent overheating, poor performance, and constant pop-up ads could all be signs that malware or spyware is running in the background on a smartphone.

Users should also pay attention to a device’s data usage, as any spikes in data consumption could point to a malicious app transmitting critical information from the phone without the user’s knowledge.

If you see apps on your device that you don’t recognize, your security software was unknowingly disabled, or your friends or family report receiving strange messages from you on social media or email, a hacker might have breached your device.

No matter what happens—don’t panic! McAfee recommends disconnecting the phone from both Wi-Fi and mobile data immediately to sever the hacker’s connection and to disrupt any flow of data.

Users are also recommended to run security scans, change their passwords, remove any suspicious apps, and consider a factory reset of the device. It’s also helpful to notify any contacts—including friends, family, and colleagues—that your device has been hacked so they can watch out for weird messages coming from your phone number or accounts. Users should also notify their financial institutions to alert them of a potential security breach.

6 Ways to Protect Your Smartphone From Hackers

Here are six ways you can protect your smartphone from hackers, according to McAfee and IDX, a consumer identity protection and privacy firm.

1. Fortify Your Phone

It’s essential to lock your phone with a passcode, particularly one that isn’t obvious, such as a birthday, so that if the phone is lost or stolen, thieves cannot access any data or information with it locked.

The University of Tennessee Knoxville’s Office of Innovative Technologies recommends using “strong, unique” passwords for your phone and all apps, avoiding easily guessable passwords like “123456” or those that include identifying information, such as your city or town.

Users should also avoid downloading apps from outside approved marketplaces such as the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store, and should limit security permissions on the apps they install. It’s also advised to remove old, unused apps.

Deploying multi-factor authentication, especially for financial institutions’ apps, can add a second layer of security, requiring a text message or email code to log in.

People with their phones in New York City on June 13, 2024.Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times

2. Use Biometrics

Biometrics are even better for multi-factor authentication, as that way a user can lock their phone or specific apps and require a scan of their face or fingerprint for log-in access.

If you’re using an iPhone, Apple offers step-by-step guides for setting up Touch ID and Face ID. Samsung and Google also offer instructions for installing fingerprint authentication on their Galaxy and Pixel devices, respectively.

3. Keep Software Updated

It’s also important to keep the phone’s operating system software up to date by enabling automatic updates on the device, or by accepting update requests from the manufacturer, software company, or application provider, according to the Federal Communications Commission.

Verizon notes that many of these periodic updates not only add new features to the device but also offer tightened security, which may implement patches to known security vulnerabilities.

4. Limit Info Stored on Device

McAfee recommends against storing passwords, social security numbers, and other sensitive information in your device’s notes app or text messages, as that might be the first place a hacker looks if they’re able to remotely transfer your number to a SIM card in their control.

The cybersecurity company also advises users to routinely implement a “digital detox” on their devices, which involves deleting old, unnecessary files like boarding passes, expired event tickets, sensitive documents, or old photos that hackers could steal.

Users should also consider manually inputting credit card information during each purchase or using a secure digital wallet, rather than saving their card credentials on websites where they could be exploited by hackers down the road.

5. Encryption: VPNs, Messaging Apps

One of the easiest and most common ways of protecting your data on a smartphone is by encrypting your Wi-Fi connection with a virtual private network, or VPN.

VPN’s are particularly useful when you’re connected to an unsecured public Wi-Fi network, like cafes, airports, and hotels, where hackers can breach your device. Some public Wi-Fi networks may even be faked by fraudsters to install malware on user devices.

While VPNs are commonly recommended on laptops and computers, they can also be used on smartphones. IDX offers its SafeWifi program, but there are also free smartphone VPNs such as ProtonVPN, Windscribe, and Hide.me.

You can also utilize end-to-end encryption messaging apps such as Signal, Telegram, and WhatsApp, which encrypt messages or calls on your device that can only be decrypted on the recipient’s device. Even the phone’s service provider is unable to access the messages without the user’s decryption key.

In this photo illustration, iPhone with VPN service enabled in hand, on Oct. 29, 2020. Privecstasy/Unsplash

6. Backup Data to the Cloud

Lastly, backing up your data to a virtual cloud service means that you can restore your information if your phone is lost, stolen, or compromised by hackers.

Some service providers offer their own cloud services, like the Verizon Cloud, while phone manufacturers including Apple, Samsung, and Google offer their own cloud services with both free and paid options, depending on desired storage capacity.

Using cloud backups can also make transitioning to a new phone seamless, as your data is automatically backed up virtually and can be ported to the new device quickly. And if your phone is stolen, you can remotely wipe data from the device while still keeping a copy on the cloud.

In the event of theft, it’s also advised to remotely lock your phone so the thief cannot access the data once your device is in their possession.