Pros of Find My Friends
This app makes it easy and fun to locate where your friends and family are. All you have to do is request for them to add you as a contact on the app, and once you accept, you will be given access to where they are.

Read More: Best Apps for Planning Your Summer Party

There are also many privacy controls on the app that are very helpful. If there’s a moment where you don’t want certain friends to see where you’re located (maybe a surprise party or you’re on a date and don’t want to be bothered), you can mute those friends and they won’t be able to see you. The app is also great because it can help you keep your friends safe. If you’re concerned about a friend’s well being and haven’t heard from them in a while, you can simply use the app to see where they are.

Cons of Find My Friends
One downside to the app is that it does cost money to use. Find My Friends has a small, one-time fee of 99 cents. This fee may deter many people from downloading the app, so the app does have a smaller user base than other popular apps like Twitter and Facebook. Another negative aspect of Find my Friends is that you may get requests from people you don’t know and people you don’t want to have access to your location. This isn’t a big deal often, but it is a bit of a hassle to constantly reject strangers from accessing your location.

Finally, this app has a major downside because hackers can access the app, hack your personal information, and be able to locate you. Once the hackers have your location, they may have access to your address. Think about the pros and cons before downloading this app.

Read More: 5 Phishing Scams You Need to Pay Attention to

Don’t Just Use 1234
This may seem like an obvious step, but for some, it’s the last thought and often neglected. You might be tempted to think, ‘I have nothing of value on my device’ or ‘no one wants what I have,’ but you’re underestimating what you carry. Even something as simple as your email account can be used to send spam or malicious material to your contacts.

Take the time to create a secure passcode; many smartphones now offer fingerprint verification, which is unique to you and no one else. For a passcode, four digits is a decent length, but six digits are quickly becoming the new standard. Avoid repetitive numbers or easy to guess combinations – ‘0000’ and ‘1234’ are not valid options.

Use Cloud Backups for Those Puppy Photos
Your data might be safe and secure behind a passcode, but what happens to all your photos and videos? Memories from nights out with friends and special occasions could all be lost in the blink of an eye. Don’t let forgetting your phone in an Uber mean that you need to lose a world of personal memories.

No matter your smartphone platform, you can utilize a service such as Google Photos to always keep your photos backed up. A free service available for both Android and iOS, Google Photos allows you to backup all your pictures to a single, centralized location. Lose your device? No worries, merely download the app to your new device, and your memories are back.

Add an Extra Layer of Frosting to Sensitive Apps
While a passcode is a good way to keep thieves from accessing your phone’s content, it’s only one layer of security. Consider adding another step to protecting your apps, like an Applock. This type of feature allows you to lockdown specific apps with a secondary password.

Apps that carry sensitive information, such as your bank account, can be configured to have a second password, even if your device is already unlocked. Secondary lock applications also come in handy if you need to temporarily give your phone to a friend and don’t want them having rogue access to everything on your smartphone.

1. Grabbing It Right Out of Your Hands

The preferred method for many smartphone thieves is to quickly yank the phone from a victim’s grasp. Although this may sound like a crazy idea that would never work, it’s surprisingly effective. Many people have a loose grasp on their phone and aren’t protecting it because they don’t assume someone will take it right from their hand. This also is typically done at concerts and festivals. Phone thieves will run through a crowd during a song and steal and phones that are raised above the victim’s head to record the band. So many people film or record songs during a concert so they make easy targets for phone thieves. These criminals will go through the crowd and steal phones without much of a consequence because the crowd is so tightly packed that it’s almost impossible for the victim to find them or chase after them. Keep a close eye on your phone at a music festival or event.

Read More: Going Incognito Isn’t Enough to Keep Your Searches Private

2. They’re Looking for Certain Models

You might think that a smartphone thief will grab any phone, but there’s actually phones that they prefer to steal. These phones are more valuable and will get them more money when they sell it. A phone thief will not want to waste their time and risk getting caught just to steal a phone that isn’t valuable. Some of the most valuable phone models that smartphone thieves are looking to steal are the HTC M8, Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, and Samsung Galaxy S6.

3. They Look for Victims That Aren’t Paying Attention

The majority of smartphone thieves have done this before and know who to look for. The criminals are looking for victims that are distracted or busy, and aren’t paying much attention to their phone. Be sure to keep track of where your phone is even if you have a lot going on. Never leave your phone sitting on a ledge away from your or outside of your sight.

Read More: What Should You Do After Losing Your Phone?

Start with a Powerful Software Offense
dfndr security’s anti-theft feature is a godsend if your phone is suddenly gone.  In addition to providing you with the ability to locate your device on a map, you can sound an alarm to track it nearby, or even remotely wipe your device through your Google account. It’s smart to enable the feature as soon as possible, ideally before your phone is gone. Why not do so now? 

Stay Aware of Your Surroundings
We live in a fast-paced digital world, which can cause us to become stuck in our devices. Whether you’re walking down the street or sitting on a subway train, it’s imperative to remain cautious about your surroundings. Thieves will commonly target individuals who appear unaware and ‘lost in their screens.’ By the time you realize what’s happening, a thief has already grabbed your smartphone and bolted away.

Add a Password
If you ensure that your device is password protected, a possible theft might be avoided. Some thieves carefully watch individuals to see who is genuinely present but also who has an unsecured device. More advanced thieves may not care if your device has a passcode, but still, having one setup can deter the type of thief looking to make a quick buck off a stolen phone.

Any or all of these insider tricks can help you be more conscious of your belongings and still enjoy the benefits of your digital world. Let’s be honest, there are so many!

A Dangerous Loophole in Chrome
When a website wishes to deliver notifications to your device from within Google Chrome, a small popup will appear on your screen. From here, users can either select to ‘Allow’ or ‘Block’ the website from displaying such content. Chrome is now supposed to log your decision and prevent the site from asking you again, but there’s a problem – clever web programming has found a way around this system.

One method of fighting against this type of scam is to use dfndr security on your Android device. dfndr security offers a full virus scan and an advanced anti-hacking feature; these include scanning your device from top to bottom for malware, while also preventing dubious websites from touching your device by blocking malicious links. In a short period, the dfndr lab team has detected and blocked over 10,000 attempts of the Chrome-based scam.

Due to this flaw, if a website wants to ask for repeated permissions continuously, the site programmer can merely swap between multiple subdomains until the user chooses to allow consent. Research at dfndr lab has shown this practice of websites using a slew of subdomains is an attempt to force an individual into accepting.

Staying Protected Against the Attack
Besides downloading an antivirus solution for your device, if you still stumble upon the scam, your best bet is to try and close out the webpage, so that it can no longer ask for permission requests. Do not give in to hitting ‘allow’ out of pure frustration, once you’ve done that, hackers are one step closer to infiltrating your Android.

To begin protecting yourself from the start, consider using dfndr security, which offers an anti-hacking feature for your Android device. With the dfndr security anti-hacking feature on, malicious sites are blocked even before you have a chance to click on a link in an email or SMS.

Website Spoofing is Pretty Scary
Website spoofing is a conventional component in the criminal scam of phishing. Hackers have been creating lookalike sites since hacking was born, yet the alarm here is their methods are getting more sophisticated, so the average person can’t tell the difference between a legitimate site or a phony one. This is why educating yourself is one step away from getting hacked.

Read More: Phishing Attacks Can Be Stealthier Than You Think

The latest website spoofing trick is a technique known as a cloaked URL. By utilizing technical loopholes, a hacker can make a link in your address bar look completely genuine. Here are few things to look out for when attempting to avoid spoofed websites:

• • Double check the address bar. Many spoofers will utilize a slight typo in the web address that they hope you won’t notice. Instead of visiting ‘Money.com,’ you may indeed be visiting ‘M0ney.com.’
  • Verify the email address. Received a suspicious email? Tap on the name in the ‘to’ field to reveal the originating email address. The email may not be from who you’d expect. So it’s easy to conclude the web link may not be genuine either.
  • Keep your browser updated. Some ploys, such as the cloaked URL scam that we already spoke of is being addressed by browser manufacturers. Update your software to help fight phishing and blot out cloaked URLs.
  • Watch the language used. Not bad language, we mean pay attention to the information provided. If some of your private details seem spot on, but the rest is vague  – that’s a red flag. Watch out for emails that don’t address you by name, but instead use a generic greeting. Even spoofed websites can be full of general information that’s not specific enough – look out for that too.

Stay Safe by Staying Aware
Website spoofing is an issue that we all need to remain aware of when browsing the web. If you receive an email from your bank or other financial institution, be sure to read the link carefully before clicking on it. Even better, don’t click the link at all, but instead manually type the address into a new tab of your web browser and compare. If you’re 100% positive what lays beyond is safe, only then should you click a mouse or tap a finger to proceed.

While email scams are still prevalent, online con artists have evolved into targeting everyone from video game users to cryptocurrency investors and organizations in virtually every industry. What’s also evolved is where they attack. Smartphone cyber attacks have steadily risen every year, nearly equal to computer hacks. 

Read More: Why You Shouldn’t Store Data on the Cloud

Learn more about some of the more frightening phishing attacks you should be aware of in 2018.

Spoofed Email Accounts
The traditional phishing scams via email are becoming more sophisticated as these messages can now beat email safeguards. Scammers are targeting users by impersonating email accounts from friends and co-workers that look like the real deal. These hackers are often taking advantage of phishing vulnerability Mailsploit, which can spoof email addresses to the user and email server.

FIFA World Cup 2018
The FIFA World Cup 2018 is only a few months away as it kicks off on June 14 and runs through July 15, marking the most anticipated sporting event of the year. Hackers are taking advantage of the event by sending fraudulent emails to victims, offering them “free” tickets and other products for free. These emails appear to be legitimate because they use FIFA’s official logo, as well as information from organizers and official sponsors to trick you into believing it’s legitimate.

SMS and Social Media
Hackers are also using SMS phishing attacks because it’s typically more difficult to protect users from these types of attacks over email scams. Clicking on a fake link may be all it takes to gather your information. Social media is also being used to con victims with fake accounts that pretend to be customer service agents for large brands. Hackers are also using phishing bots to steal your social media information and launch social engineering attacks against you or your family and friends. 

Cryptocurrency Attacks
If you have a digital wallet filled with bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, hackers may be targeting you with links that download malicious files on your device and take over your “wallet” with the intent to steal your bitcoin. These often come in emails that appear to be from a digital wallet site, offering you a free upgrade to your account.

Cloud-Based Phishing Scams
Using a cloud to backup your data has no shortage of benefits, but cloud technology is still vulnerable to phishing attacks. Beware if you receive an email that appears to be from your cloud provider, asking you to authenticate your account. Though it seems like a normal procedure, it may not be. Review any past emails from your cloud service to compare, or contact support directly to check if they indeed, sent the request.

Increased personalization is the goal of spear phishing attacks. Instead of sending out a collection of mass messages or spoofing an online campaign for stealing waves of user data, spear phishing is aimed at a specific target, which sounds unsettling. Such is the tip of a spear, sharpened and directly aimed at one fish in the pond. But how are these attacks carried out and who is at risk?

Open Season for Spear Phishing
Spear phishing attacks are launched against a targeted individual or organization. When a business has been selected as the target, the hacker is looking to obtain industry secrets or put themselves in a position of financial gain.

Read More: 5 Phishing Clues to Look for in Emails from Your Contacts

The attack itself may start with a low-level employee: the hacker takes time to learn a bit about the person and their position. After their research is complete, the hacker sends a phishing email to coax confidential information or sensitive data, such as passwords, out of the individual.

Different from a standard phishing attack, a spear phishing email will address you by name and may claim to be from an internal department you’re accustomed to dealing with. For example,  fake email may claim to be your colleague from IT asking that you confirm your information for the system. The dangerous aspect of spear attacks is how personalized they, customized for you — the hacker’s target.

Always double check the email address in the ‘from’ field. Does it truly originate from within your company or is the email address similar enough, but not quite right? The best defense in the workplace is to stay vigilant and notice where emails are actually coming from. Also, take a moment to have a discussion all the departments you work with, so you know what types of information they will never ask.

Targets Go Beyond Businesses
You don’t need to be an employee or a corporate CEO to be the target of a spear phishing attack. You may be unaware of the sensitive information stored on your personal devices and assume you aren’t a worthy target of these types of attacks. Uh, not so.

When it comes to regular people, spear phishing is more efficient than regular attacks. An attacker may obtain specific information about you such as your name, where you bank, and the contacts you trust. Are you friendly with your local banking repr? Now the hacker also knows this and can create a personalized phishing email that’s aimed at stealing your account details. What’s unsettling is it seems trustworthy – the email addresses you by name, it’s signed by your banking rep, and they even know some of your details.

One way to get started on securing your Android phone is to download a robust antivirus app such as dfndr security, which has an advanced anti-hacking feature. With the ability to alert you of phishing attempts and block potentially malicious links, an app like this can become your line of defense.

Whether you’re on personal or work devices, be sure to check the ‘from’ field of emails to ensure they are originating from an actual trusted source. Basic practices should also be followed like not giving out any personal information or passwords to anyone.

Read More: Here’s Why Your Phone’s Battery Life Sucks

Not only can a hot device be miserable day to day, but the extreme heat produced could shorten the life of the battery, processor, and other internal components. Let’s look at a few ways your phone might be overheating and how you can improve the situation, so both you and your smartphone can get on with life.

Fancy Ginormous Cases
While some of us love to adorn our phones in leather for its prestige or solid cases for ultimate protection, your choice of a case could actually be stressing out your phone. Materials like leather don’t breath and allow in airflow, while a lighter silicone or rubber case does.

Reconsider the case for your phone and make a switch. We all want a beautiful and protective case, but if your phone is suffocating, it’s likely overheating in the process.

Intense Chatting, Playing or Watching
The advent of the wireless internet is probably one of the best inventions since avocado toast, but it has been and continues to be a power-magnet. If you find yourself engaging in heavy online activity such as streaming video content or scrolling through Instagram for a few hours, there’s a good chance your device will heat up from the work of the chip.

Are you an intense gamer? While our devices have become experts at reproducing previous generation console quality, their form factors were never designed with maximum ventilation in mind. When gaming, you’re challenging both your CPU and GPU to work to their fullest extent.

Similar to when using your Wi0Fi card like there’s no tomorrow, you may find yourself with little battery life and a hot phone in your hand. Take it as a sign to get up, stretch your legs, and have a break from the screen.

Running Endless Applications
In the end, everything comes back to basics. Your phone could just be overheating because it has too many processes running in the background. Android phones have the ability to switch between multiple apps, well before other mobile options on the market did. However, with great power comes responsibility, and your overheating phone might mean closing what’s happening in the background.

Apps hogging up memory and sucking up power is an ongoing problem. Luckily, you can download an app like dfndr security, which includes a cpu cooler feature to cool down your Android by closing background apps with a single tap. If you are a gamer, the function can do double duty to reduce lag time and free up more resources for your epic gaming battles.

The problem is not always with the ads themselves. For instance, someone may try to download a program but then click the wrong link. This malicious link then brings them to a virus that carries out the attack. Websites, browsers, and plugins are attacked on a daily basis. Whether you’re shopping, doing research, reading the news, or just surfing the web, it is important to take some crucial steps to protect yourself.

1. Enable Click to Play

Enable the plugin to choose when and what you want the plugin to play. Most of the malvertising out there uses these plugins to play the content and then download it to your computer. When you choose to do this manually, you can protect yourself from many viruses.

Read More: Can’t Stop Clickbaiting? Anti-Hacking Will Protect You

2. Do a Full Virus Scan

When you perform a full virus scan through a high-quality secure malware and virus detection software, you can recognize and remove the virus that might be on your computer. These programs can also locate and warn you of any programs that might be lurking within the web browser or other areas. PSafe has a strong antivirus app for this.

3. Keep Your Web Browser Up to Date

Make sure that your web browser is not outdated. An up-to-date browser ensures that any suspicious links are scanned and then can be removed if necessary. This protects you if you tend to be tempted to click on questionable links. They can also remove any previous malware that might have popped up on older versions that did not have the right protection.

Malvertising is found throughout many places on the web. You don’t want these links to cause you further harm than they have too. Thankfully, a few simple safeguards can help protect your personal information and your privacy.