Cell Safety
Shopping for a pre-owned cellphone doesn’t need to imply compromising your safety – take these steps to get pleasure from the advantages of cutting-edge expertise at a fraction of the price
09 Dec 2024
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5 min. learn
The fashionable smartphone has develop into an indispensable piece of expertise. These highly effective, pocket-sized computer systems allow us to do the whole lot from hailing cabs to consulting with our native physician. However prices will be prohibitive. Unsurprisingly, second-hand and refurbished gadgets have develop into an more and more standard possibility, offering entry to premium expertise at a fraction of the value and interesting to budget-conscious customers or these in search of sustainability.
Smartphones are additionally usually among the many most desired presents throughout the vacation season. The most recent fashions could also be out of attain for a lot of because of their excessive worth, so second-hand telephones current a extra inexpensive possibility for gift-givers.
Additionally, any folks improve their smartphones throughout the vacation season, both as presents to themselves or as a result of they’ve acquired a brand new cellphone as a gift. This creates a secondary marketplace for pre-owned gadgets as they promote or commerce of their outdated fashions.
The important thing drawback shouldn’t be figuring out what situation these gadgets will arrive in. To keep away from unwittingly exposing your self to cyber-risk, take day trip to contemplate the next ideas.
What are the dangers of pre-owned telephones?
Due to persistently excessive rates of interest and inflation throughout a lot of the Western world, second-hand telephones are more and more commonplace. In truth, gross sales generated over $13bn globally within the first quarter of 2023 alone, up 14% yearly, in line with one estimate. In a mature market just like the UK, 1 / 4 of all telephones bought in 2023 have been reportedly second-hand or refurbished.
But this comes with sure cybersecurity dangers. These embody:
Outdated software program
Some gadgets might not be supported by the producer, that means the underlying working system doesn’t obtain software program updates. That’s unhealthy information from a safety perspective, because it implies that when vulnerabilities are discovered by researchers or risk actors, your machine received’t get a safety patch to repair it. It’s going to successfully be uncovered to attackers. One 2020 research within the UK discovered that just about a 3rd of fashions being resold have been not supported with safety updates.
Malware
In some circumstances, a earlier proprietor might even have (unwittingly or not) put in malicious software program on the cellphone. This can be designed to do quite a lot of issues, from steal your private info and passwords to snoop in your calls and messages. It might even flood the machine with undesirable advertisements or subscribe you to premium-rate providers. The top objective is normally to become profitable in a roundabout way off you, both by stealing private and monetary info to be used in fraud or digital extortion.
No refurbishment checks
Some pre-owned telephones might not have undergone the form of checks that respected second-hand sellers carry out to make sure they’re operational and operating on a supported OS. This will expose you to a number of the dangers outlined above.
How one can keep away from cyber dangers on second-hand gadgets
Mitigating these dangers takes a multi-pronged strategy, beginning with due diligence throughout the shopping for course of. That successfully means doing all your analysis. Second-hand gadgets can be found from all kinds of sources, from producers themselves to high-street retailers, telcos, and personal sellers. Put the time in to verify the vendor has good critiques and their supply is reputable. A guaranty of at the least a yr ought to be a baseline requirement to make sure high quality.
It is also greatest to keep away from jailbroken or rooted gadgets, as these might have had security measures disabled which make them extra uncovered to threats.
Additionally, solely select gadgets which can be nonetheless supported by the producer; normally, phone-makers will assist a handset for at the least 2-3 years after it’s launched.
To additional mitigate safety dangers, think about the next after buy:
- do a full manufacturing facility reset, wiping any information which will have been left on the machine by the earlier proprietor, together with contacts, images, messages, searching historical past, passwords and apps,
- replace all of the software program on the machine after buying to the most recent, most safe model, and change on computerized updates,
- preserve an eye fixed out for tell-tale indicators that it is likely to be compromised with malware, reminiscent of undesirable pop-ups or advertisements, apps showing that you just didn’t obtain, or sluggish efficiency and unusually excessive battery utilization,
- set up safety software program from a good supplier and have it scan the machine for threats.
As soon as your machine is up and operating, think about the next greatest practices to mitigate ongoing safety dangers:
- arrange a display screen lock and PIN, password, or biometric authentication (face recognition/fingerprint scan) for safe entry
- backup your information and set to computerized backups to the cloud in case the machine is misplaced or stolen
- delete any unused apps to reduce your assault floor
- change on machine encryption for an additional layer of safety
- at all times use multi-factor authentication to entry your machine and any software program/accounts on it
- flip Bluetooth, tethering or Wi-Fi off when not in use, to keep away from eavesdroppers snooping round
- test your app permissions – if some apps are requesting entry to greater than is important, that ought to be a crimson flag
- solely obtain apps from official app shops and from respected builders
- be looking out for phishing messages and emails. If unsure, by no means click on on hyperlinks or open attachments contained in these messages. At all times contact the supposed sender individually first, or open the message on a safer machine
- keep away from utilizing public Wi-Fi with out a VPN.
For those who’re nonetheless involved about your pre-owned cellphone exposing you to safety dangers, don’t entry any delicate info or accounts when utilizing it – reminiscent of cell banking or syncing together with your company accounts. In truth, in case your employer permits BYOD handsets within the office, there could also be a further algorithm and insurance policies you’ll want to comply with to make sure that your second-hand machine can be utilized. The dangers outlined above may very well be amplified if risk actors handle to make use of your handset as a stepping stone to achieve company information and techniques.
That stated, there’s no cause why a pre-owned cellphone ought to trigger undue stress and safety threat, so long as you comply with these greatest practices. And in case you resolve at hand it on to another person, bear in mind to carry out a full backup, information erasure and manufacturing facility reset.
