Although in recent times there has been a sort of huge collective awakening, security in the information technology (and especially in the mobile sector) must always be a priority.
Just think about how much personal information your iPhone contains – if you had to lose it and if it ended up in the wrong hands? Hardly anyone is so pessimistic to think of something like that but, as they say, prevention is better than cure!
How to make your iPhone more secure
Of course, to make a safe iPhone there is a very wide range of tricks – in this article, we have simply collected 5 tricks seemingly trivial, but they are the basis that everyone should respect to avoid unpleasant incidents.
1 – Use a passcode
One of the initiatives taken by Apple to make its devices unassailable is the passcode.
This is a code that protects data on the Apple device (either iPhone, iPad or any other). This must be entered each time the device is switched on or reactivated. Although from the iPhone 5s has been replaced by Touch ID technology and therefore fingerprints, the passcode remains a security that must be maintained.
Protect your iPhone with a passcode, preferably a series of characters consisting of six digits, a numeric or alphanumeric code. It is also possible to combine the passcode with Touch ID or Face ID in order to create a really resistant protective combination.
Select Settings – Touch ID and passcode or Settings – Face ID and passcode and register fingerprints or face. Make sure iPhone Unlock is active after setting up your passcode.
2 – Disable the lock screen options
Even if you have a solid passcode like a rock, a skilled individual can still enter your phone via the lock screen. Siri sometimes tends to give too much advice and, in this way, can inadvertently share too much information from the lock screen, showing a little too much personal information to those who find the lost phone.
From this point of view, disabling Siri from the lock screen may be a good idea.
Another way hackers can enter your iPhone (or at least take time to try to do it) is to enable Airplane mode through the Control Center from the lock screen. In fact, with your iPhone in airplane mode, it will be impossible to use Find My iPhone.
To disable access to Siri and the Control Center from the lock screen, go to Settings– Touch ID and passcode (or Face ID and passcode) and disable Control Center and Siri in the Allow access if blocked list.
3 – Anticipate the iPhone lock
If you forget your iPhone in a restaurant, bus, or other public place, someone could act quickly and get into your phone before it locks up and you need your passcode.
You can do this by setting the passcode so that it is necessary after a certain period of time since the last time the phone was unlocked – this could be a bit annoying for the user, but at the same time it could an additional obstacle for the bad guys.
You can set it with a maximum time range of four hours, which is a good compromise between security and usability.
This setting is available on the Touch ID and passcode page under Settings. The safest option is to set up Prompt for an Immediate Password, which will require you or anyone picking up your phone to enter your passcode regardless of how long ago you’ve unlocked your phone.
By default, this setting is set to Immediately.
4 – Enable data protection
If you are particularly unlucky and the rather tenacious attacker, this could guess your access code. In addition to using a passcode of six characters and not four, there is another way to kick off bad luck!
To prevent a thief with a lot of free time to carry out such a business, your iPhone has a security feature that will erase all the memory of your phone with 10 consecutive incorrect attempts to enter the passcode.
Do not worry, there are protections for the most forgetful – after the first four attempts, iOS adds a delay to the next attempt to try again. There is a one-minute delay after the fifth attempt, five minutes after the sixth, 15 minutes after sixth and eighth, and a whole hour after the ninth attempt.
Go to Settings – Touch ID and passcode, scroll down and turn on Clear data to enable this feature.
5 – Turn on Find My iPhone
Even if you’ve snubbed the advice proposed so far, consider the activation of Find My iPhone. It is a function that has no contraindications, it is easy to manage and does not affect the daily functioning of your iPhone.
With this feature enabled, you can track the lost device from another iOS device or directly from your computer, looking at where your iPhone is on a map. You can also play audio on your lost iPhone to make it easier to find. And if, despite this, you can not locate your iPhone, Find My iPhone still allows you to lock your iPhone and even remotely delete the data it contains.
To activate Find My iPhone go to Settings – the name of your account – iCloud – Find My iPhone and activate it. As for its use, take a look at this specific guide.
