Your mobile device holds your entire life: emails, messages, photos, social media accounts, etc. Because your phone is always in your hands, on your desk, or in your pocket, it's hard to believe that it can be hacked. This is a real possibility, however, and one that should not be taken lightly.

Here are 3 signs that will tell you whether or not your phone has been hacked, and tips that will help prevent your device from being exposed.

BATTERY

Your battery life does not keep up with you. You go from 100% to 50% in a couple of hours. While this could be a sign of a simple "bad" battery, it could also be due to a potential hacker. Your battery could be dwindling because of an app that is running in the background that you do not have control of. It's important to investigate why your battery isn't performing well just in case it is due to an unknown application.

"GHOST" CONTROLS

If your phone is turning on/off on its own, it may not be a simple glitch in your phone's system. If your device is restarting by itself, if you are finding calls that you didn't make in your call history, or if your device is pulling up applications without your control, there may be a hacker accessing your device.

EASE OF USE

Your phone should have the ability to keep up with constant usage throughout the day. If your device starts to slow down, and if settings begin to become unresponsive such as volume or screen resolution, your device may be at risk. It will be easy to tell whether or not your phone is working the way it should be, and a lack of performance may mean someone is trying to access your information. 

There are a few steps you can take to prevent exposing your device to hackers. First, don't join every public wireless internet your phone suggests. They are not always secure, and can expose personal information on your phone. If you don't trust it, avoid it. Don't click on random URL's that you don't know, as they can contain phishing scams that will allow hackers to access your device. Finally, keep your passwords safe and don't allow your device to auto-fill your passwords for you, especially when buying something.

Your phone contains your most personal information. Keep it protected and give yourself peace of mind that you are taking the right steps to avoid becoming victim to a hacker.

Want to spread this information to your team? Download our free printable infographic to keep your team informed and aware when using mobile devices!

Mobility, efficiency and time sensitivity are all too common business drivers in today's world. With the presence of mobile devices in every pocket in America, the need for businesses to keep themselves and their clients secure has become a major topic in technology. What used to all be data stored and secured on mainframes, servers or CRM databases locked within the walls of an office building is now very easily in the pocket or purse of all the employees, exposed to the world every moment of every day.

Enter Mobile Device Management or MDM, the plan behind the security of those walking computers and your companies valued information.

There are currently three scenarios within a company in regards to mobile devices:

1. Company Furnished Device

2. Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)

3. Mobile Devices Not Available for Employees to Link to the Company 

In any instance it is nearly impossible to avoid employees and mobile devices; here are the top 10 benefits to having an MDM Plan: 

1. Compartmentalize the device for corporate data & personal data

2. Selective removal of data:

1. When an employee leaves the company

2. Major application change becomes available - Mass manage legacy data or software

3. Destructive removal of data:

1. Completely & quickly wipe an entire device of personal & business information as a result of a device becoming lost, stolen or un-coverable

4. Location detection services; for lost or stolen devices; mobile workforce location reference

5. Enforcement & acknowledgement of company use policies for activity and data on the devices

6. Add / remove / control the installation of apps or software on devices

7. Force controls - Mandatory screen lock times & passcode access criteria

8. Centralized control for device configuration profiles / updates / patches / modifications

9. Content management & controls

10. Security & layered approaches to control (i.e. Executives have different policies applied to their devices)