When at those musical festivals this summer, we all know how easy it can be to lose your phone. But even worse, it can be even easier to accidentally give the wrong person inside access to your smartphone, enabling them to steal all your data and personal information. Festivals are filled with other music fans excited to see their favourite artists, but equally, you never 100% know who you are around, and you never know if these people have the same intentions as you.

That’s why, in this blog, we provide some helpful data leak protection tips to keep your phone protected whilst you are out partying this summer. Remember, you don’t have to physically lose your phone to lose all your data and information…

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Related blog: Essential Smartphone Tips For Festival Goers

Top 10 hacking techniques:

• Denial of service
• Phishing
• Bait and switch
• SQL injection
• Virus
• Keylogger
• Cookie theft
• Clickjacking
• XSS attacks
• Malware

 

Is it bad to use public Wi-Fi?

When you are standing in fields all day, it can get boring waiting for your favourite artist to come on stage, and if your data isn’t the strongest connecting to public WIFI sounds like a great idea and is perfect for updating your socials with pics and vids of the performers you have already seen. But did you know how dangerous public WIFI is?

Public WIFI is one of the easiest and most common ways to get hacked. Public WIFI is essentially an unsecured network, meaning anyone within the area can access it. This makes it very easy for cyber-criminals to get onto the networks where they can easily access your data, they can pose as different apps or website tabs and steal your data and info. Many different attacks can be done by these criminals including data interception, man-in-the-middle attacks and evil twin networks. The solution? Stick with your data or only use WIFI that requires a password. Or… when at a festival, why not put the phone down and enjoy the moment whilst it’s happening live?

What does a phone privacy screen do?

When amongst the crowd, you never know who’s standing right next to you. And if you’re on your phone, there may be some sneaky eyes checking out what you are doing.

A privacy screen phone protector is very cheap and very beneficial. They are simply screen protectors that blur and dim your screen when looking from the side. This way, if you’re putting important information into your phone or genuinely don’t want people to see what you’re doing, this is a great way to stop those sneaky side eyes from checking out your details.

 

Can Face ID be hacked?

Although we hate to think about it, what if you drop your phone whilst on the go or it accidentally gets picked up by another festival lover without you realising it? How do you ensure all your phone details stay safe?

Passwords unfortunately are very easy to guess. We all know someone with the password 0000, 12345 or their birthday (the most common passcodes). Setting up your FaceID means no one can get onto your phone unless it has been unlocked by your face. Setting your FaceID will make it a lot more difficult for hackers to log in if they do end up with your smartphone, and it is also much quicker for logging in yourself. You only have to look at your phone to get into it, and no more remembering passwords, great for if you want to quickly get onto your phone to capture that picture-perfect moment!

Pros:	Cons:
Better protection Speeds up time Very accurate	Can take a couple of tries to work

 

Is it safe to use remember me?

As we mentioned, using public WIFI is very dangerous as anyone can access the data, and this is the same with public computers. If you need to log into an account using a public computer or laptop (perhaps to book last-minute tickets or a last-second train trip), occasionally the ‘remember me’ option will appear meaning your data will be remembered for logging in next time making it much easier. Whilst this makes logging in next time simpler when you are on a private network, on a public network the next time someone attempts to log in, it will automatically log them in using your details into your account. The solution? Never log into public computers, stick with a ‘guest account’ only.

 

Why does my phone need to be updated?

Updating your phone enhances the security of your phone. It removes any previously found vulnerabilities and ensures security on your phone is at 100%. If you go out and your phone isn’t completely up to date, although it is rare there is a small chance hackers online can break through this defence and get into your mobile. It may feel like an effort to constantly update your phone, but your pocket pal will thank you the next time you’re out and about.

 

What does turning off share across other devices do?

Especially in a busy festival, it can be very common for people to airdrop or quickly share with you photos, and festival videos for other information. And whilst this sounds fun, is it the safest idea?

Turning on the sharing option changes your firewall which could allow for some security risks, it gives hackers the chance to communicate with you even if you don’t want them to. This can be from simple mistakes like forgetting to turn off sharing for hotspots and Bluetooth because it is a way for hackers to get inside your phone and take your data. At the same time, airdrop allows users to send whatever they want to your phone, remember you can airdrop any images or website links with one click of a button which is very dangerous if this feature gets into the wrong hands.

Is auto login safe from hackers?

Very similar to the ‘remember me’ tip, in general just don’t select the auto-login option and log into your account every single time. This may feel like more effort, but it will certainly keep you on the safe side. It stops the risk of password corruption or data protection breaches.

Related blog: Summer Safety Tips

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Conclusion:

Are any of these tips helpful? Remember, whilst we want you to have a blast in the sun on a busy field surrounded by all your best friends, it’s important to keep safe and protect your phone against hackers and other cyber-criminals. We have plenty of other summer-themed blogs on our website. Check them out now!