Mobile users are the main driving force behind the growth of internet access across the world. Especially in developing countries, where fewer people have access to personal computers, increasingly affordable data plans and cheap mobile devices allow more and more people gain access to online services. Moreover, rapid growth of mobile connection speeds around the world is a major factor contributing to mobile use. Over two thirds of the global population now have a mobile phone. Mobile devices account for 52% of global internet traffic. The downside of the growing popularity of mobile connectivity is that mobile devices are likely to become increasingly targeted by all sorts of malware. To enhance personal mobile security, 22% of users install VPN on their mobile devices (15% - on their phone, and 7% - on the tablet).

What makes mobile devices a particularly lucrative target?

Portability and size. Mobile devices are so easy to lose. The best that can happen with a lost or stolen mobile phone is it will be wiped clean of all your personal data and sold at a flea market next to a snatched camera and a pair of worn socks. The worst thing that can happen to a stolen phone - if it has no passcode or other locking mechanism - is your personal data will be directly misused or sold separately from the hardware.

Rich personal data. We love smartphones because of their convenience and ability to provide us with technical assets for everyday task management. We collect geotagged photos from our lives (and often task our phone with uploading them directly to the cloud), we install apps to control personal health metrics, to travel (access city bikes, book tickets for domestic and international travel), not to mention gazillions of messages exchanged with our personal and business contacts on a daily basis.

Tons of metadata. Mobile device is something we carry on us almost at all times. It collects, whether we like it or not, vast amounts of metadata about our communications and movements. When you use a Maps app on your phone you allow it to detect your current location in order to calculate an optimal route to your destination, or find suitable cafés and bars in the area.

Personal data you store on your phone, along with ample metadata is what contributes to your digital profile. The place where you start your Google Maps journey most often is probably your home address, and the place where you travel on Christmas day is probably where your family lives. Your connection metadata (what public networks you connect to most often) can reveal a lot about your favourite cafés and bars. Cross-referencing the routes you've taken on public transit with your call metadata (when and who you call) or with your friends' addresses in the contact list can provide an insight into your social activities, identify your closest friends, and patterns of your interaction over a period of time. Not to mention that the articles you read, and videos you watch may reveal a lot about your political and religious affiliations.

Mobile security is a pressing issue both for businesses and for individual users - not least because the two are often connected. Some companies have a strict policy of banning personal mobile devices in the workplace, or connecting personal mobile devices to the office network. It is important to understand that vital component of any cyberattack is social engineering. Two most common ways for your device to be compromised is if you physically lose it, or if you inadvertently open it to ‘hackers' by clicking on a dodgy link in the messenger, or by installing an app whose design leaves a lot of space for exploitation of vulnerabilities.

 

What is the most common activity for mobile internet users?

Well, social media of course. Facebook still dominates the global social media landscape (over 95% of Facebook users access it on the phone), with YouTube being a close second.

Messaging services are a close second. WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger share and equal amount of global users, followed by Chinese WeChat and QQ (Facebook and WhatsApp are blocked in China).

E-commerce (goods and services) has experienced radical growth in recent years, and it is increasingly adapting to mobile users by creating mobile browser versions of the platform or apps with improved mobile user experience. Mobile purchases are projected to occupy almost 73% of total e-commerce share by 2021 - worldwide, and the growth is particularly steep in the Chinese market. Protecting your financial data is, of course, a number one priority for those who shop online on their mobile phones. But when it comes to online shopping, it is not just your credit card information you need to be careful about. Your purchase habits, your social circles, your shopping schedules are all metadata sought after by advertisers and potential hackers.

7 in 10 apps collect your personal data and share it with third parties, specifically ad services that subsequently bombard you with targeted advertising. Ever wondered why you start getting ads for magical hair loss treatment after you searched an online store for a 'toupee' for your Halloween costume? Even more creepy is data harvesting designed into phone and tablet apps for children - logging location and network metadata of each user.

Despite the evolving privacy laws in some jurisdictions (like the General Data Protection Regulation in the EU), protecting the mobile device and personal data you store on it is each individual's responsibility. Encrypting your mobile data, being careful about the apps you install on the smartphone, avoiding public WiFi - and using VPN when you have to connect to it - these are just the minimum of measures one can take to ensure personal mobile security.

More information about VPNs and how can they improve your mobile security: https://vpnpro.com/

Whether you are trying to pay a bill, order something online or just trying your luck at an internet casino, safety of the payment system is of paramount importance. A single mistake can result in phishers and scammers stealing your financial details, which could prove to be very costly. So, how do you make sure that your financials are safe while spending money online? By sticking with reliable websites and trusted payment systems. How do you make sure they are safe options? That's exactly what we are going to discuss next with the help of the following points.

Safety Begins at Home

The computer you are using to surf the internet is the first thing that you need to secure. Make sure that the OS running on it is original first because that's the most important aspect of cyber safety. Next, you need to install a good antivirus software with real-time internet protection. This will give you continuous protection even if you are led towards a phishing page or a site that's deemed unsafe. The antivirus will detect and stop suspicious activities automatically and warn you of the danger immediately.

Use e-Wallets

The main advantage that electronic wallets have over using credit cards and debit cards directly is the fact that they keep your card information safe. For example, internet casinos are a hotspot for cyber criminals, so they are always looking to phish card info from unsuspecting users and that's precisely why online casino PayPal payment option is the safest choice to make. PayPal being one of the world's most popular and also one of the most reliable online payments system, your financial info remains safe with them and you don't ever have to risk giving away your valuable financial information on a scam site or phishing page. The best part is that almost everyone accepts PayPal these days!

Do Your Research

If you are going to play at an unknown internet casino or shop at an ecommerce site that you know little of, use Google. See what other people are saying about the site and go through user experiences to get an idea of what to expect. Some sites even have a trust score for users to check.

Check the Link/URL

The best and often the only way to avoid an active phishing attack is to check the URL in your browser or mail. For example, does it say https://amazon.com or does it say https://amazon.us/gb5hgy/login-id? Most authentic websites do not use a string of random alphabets at the end like that and Amazon USA is just called Amazon.com, so there's no amazon.us domain. Beware of little details like that at all times.

The rule of thumb is, if something looks out of place, then that's because it is! Don't take chances with your finances online and be safe by following the few simple precautions mentioned here.

With the majority of us owning a smartphone or tablet keeping our identity safe is vital if we are going to carry on sourcing and buying goods and services online.

Nothing is more frustrating than falling foul to a scam, and although the total amount of fraudulent conduct which was reported in 2017 dropped by 6 percent, the percentage of identity fraud is up, rising by 1 percent in 2017 to a total of 174, 523 cases.

Identity fraud remains a problem mainly by those using the internet, with 84 percent of that identity fraud taking place through online application channels.

It's no wonder then that people are becoming increasingly worried about using their smartphones to have a bet or wager online as many sites require your personal and banking details in order for you to become a member.

On a positive note, the majority of gambling sites are highly regulated and have strict rules to stick to making them a pretty safe bet to play at, but if those rules and regulations still do not convince you then maybe being able to play and pay for your games without having to divulge your banking details will appeal.

If you do enjoy using your smartphone for gaming when you have a few spare minutes in your day then perhaps using a mobile casino pay with phone credit is the way to go for you?  Using this method means that there is absolutely no need to give the site any banking derails, in fact there is no need to have a conventional bank account at all.

The way this payment option works is by either using your pay-as-you-go account taking off the cost of your games from that or adding the cost of your games to your monthly contract. Boku makes it possible to play your games without having to give any banking details to any site that accepts this payment option which will, for many, make their time online more enjoyable.

We all lead busy lives and over the last decade or so we have come to rely on our smartphones to complete tasks that would have eaten time out of our days, the thought that we could have our online identity stolen and even worse then used for some criminal activity worries many of us so taking steps to stay as safe as possible whilst surfing the net is paramount.

With all the developments in mobile devices these days, it is easy to let some things slip you by. For users making their way from beginner to intermediate user and beyond, there might be some components of mobile devices with which you are not familiar. Here we'll go over some basic information on VPNs to help you understand what they are and how they are used - and with this, you might get some indication on whether or not they're right for you.

The Basic

VPN stands for Virtual Private Network, and in simple terms can be thought of as a go-between between your computer and the internet at large. When connected to a VPN you receive your data from the VPN, and the VPN service itself is responsible for sending and receiving your internet data requests. The benefits of this come primarily down to security, geo spoofing and evading various limitations imposed by your connection point.

When you have a VPN, any attacks have to come through the VPN service, rather than directly to your computer. As VPNs (especially professional ones) have improved security over most basic computer setups, they manage to take a lot of slack for the end user. There is also the added complexity in attacking through a VPN, which again benefits the end user.

"Internet Security Padlock for VPN & Onli" (CC BY 2.0) by mikemacmarketing

Geo-spoofing is a term applied to tricking a website or server into thinking you are from a different location. Sometimes websites or videos are locked behind geographical requirements, so this can be an easy an effective method of circumvention. The same can be said for limitations placed by the connection point themselves. Commonly, this can be seen in free Wi-Fi places like public transport. While the blocking of certain websites is a good idea, they can be overzealous, blocking places which are safe and offer no significant bandwidth drain.

The Modern VPN

Modern VPNs are far from the sluggish old behemoths we had to deal with a decade ago. These days, VPNs can not only access largely the exact same web pages and services as natural connections, they also can do so at a speed which renders them similar in performance.

These days there are an enormous amount of VPNs to choose from, thanks to improving technology and a great market demand. If security is a big concern for you, as it should be, then check out our other articles. These can help to help to decide whether the rest of the features are a good fit for you.

Once you have decided on a VPN service ExpressVPN, we recommend checking out some of the many online reviews, which can help you narrow down the pros and cons, and get the most out of what is right for your devices. Remember to be thorough and read closely, some of them might come with features you didn't even know you would like.

The Take Home

VPNs are becoming more common for a reason. With issues like Net Neutrality raising to the forefront of social conscience our privacy, safety, and freedom of choice and speed have never faced so many threats. The right VPN can help protect you not only now but can help ensure that in the future you are inoculated against many of the issues that governments or businesses see fit to throw at you. Just be sure to use your powers for good.

"AVAAZ Net Neutrality" (CC BY 2.0) by Avaazorg

Mobile phone tops the list of the most used gadgets by us every day. Right from the mail which can close a million-dollar deal to making the long distant video call, we rely on mobile phones very much. It can turn out very bad if these devices are left unprotected. There are various security apps other than antivirus apps which can help us to keep our mobile phones and the data stored in it to be safe and secure.

Some of the top security apps for Android phones are listed below:

 

Applock

This app is life-saver for many people. It works like the vault in banks. You can keep your photos and videos locked under it. Also, users can lock other apps such as Gmail, mobile and online casino gaming apps, internet banking apps and so on using Applock. You can use a secret PIN to access the files and apps. By this way, your mobile phone will have two layers of security. This app is available in the Google Play Store for free.

DuckDuckGo Search and Stories

In the world of internet where major conglomerates make use of the personal data of people, DuckDuckGo is a gem. This is a search engine like Google and Bing, but it does not track what you search online. If you are concerned about private companies accessing the information you surf on the internet, then DuckDuckGo is the perfect solution.

 

Find My Device by Google

Find My Device was earlier named as Android Device Manager. This app will help you to find your mobile phone. It can show you the location of the phone and you can also make the phone ring using this app. You can also remotely lock and erase the information stored on the phone. It does not have any ads and in-app purchases which makes it clutter free.

Firefox Focus

Firefox Focus is one of the most secure browsers out there. The app can be used to remove the advertisements and trackers to some extent ensuring more private browsing. The best part is that this app is also free.

Glass Wire

Glass Wire is one of the new best apps to track the data consumption effectively. It has the options for the players to see the data usage in terms of days, weeks, months and by individual apps. This can help the users to find any irregular activity of the apps in the background.

Resilio Sync

Resilio Sync will help you to create a safe cloud storage of your own. You can turn your PC or desktop into a cloud storage. In simple terms, it is like Google Drive. It can help the users in keeping the data under their control rather than trusting private companies.

LastPass

LastPass helps the users to save multiple sensitive passwords and restore it to the respective sites. All the passwords will be locked with a master password. This really helps if you visit a lot of sites or handle multiple accounts.

Jackpot Fruity has come up with the list of the above-mentioned non-antivirus apps which provide top security for all Android phones. Since the rate of cybercrime is increasing, security in mobile phones should be taken seriously as they contain sensitive data.