With the increase of people bypassing their computers altogether and using their cellphones to access the internet, phone security awareness is becoming more and more important by the day. Mail account hacking, identity theft, and stealing of personal data are all ways cyber criminals are attempting to benefit off of your iPhone’s security flaws.

Don’t get me wrong — Apple is doing their job when it comes to patching security issues when they pop up but we must do our part in preventative measures to help ensure our online safety. Here I have compiled 5 easy steps you can take to increase your security.

Use SSL when checking E-mail – If you’re still wondering what exactly is SSL, you should read our article “Secure Sockets Layer“. This is especially important if you are using the iPhone’s Mail app to access your e-mail. Although turned On by default, if you have disabled it you can re-enable it by going to Settings -> Mail, Contacts, Calendars -> (Select an Account) -> Advanced, then scroll down to the Use SSL
option and ensure that it’s set to On

Be sure your WiFi network is secure – One of the coolest features in my opinion is the ability to use WiFi to connect to the internet through your iPhone. This can also be one of the biggest security holes if you do not verify your WiFi network is secure. Check that the router you are connecting to is at least secured with WEP and preferrably WPA or greater. To ensure that you don’t unknowingly connect to any open (unsecure) Wi-Fi networks while on the go, you should enable the iPhone’s Ask to Join Networks function. This is enabled by default (Settings -> Wi-Fi -> Ask to Join Networks).

Enable Passcode Lock: – Not to be confused with Auto-Lock, Passcode Lock requires you to enter a four-digit code to get access to the iPhone’s home screen. This will ensure that someone cannot access your iPhone. To set a passcode, choose General > Passcode Lock and enter a 4-digit passcode. This might seem like a hassle at first, but once you get in the habit of entering this code, you can do it in your sleep and it’s worth the extra security.

Keep up with Apple firmware updates. – Apple requires the use of desktop tools for firmware updates: Users must run Apple Software Update on their Mac or PC to grab them from iTunes when they become available.

Don’t jailbreak your iPhone. – The iPhone jailbreak process purposely disarms the mechanisms that Apple created to protect your data. With App Store, a trusted party tests and vouches for the software, and Apple can trigger an uninstall of an app if a risk is discovered later. The protections offered by open source projects –multiple contributors, readily viewable code, and a central location for comments and fixes — don’t exist in the jailbreak world. I’ll grant that jailbreaking an iPod Touch or a retired iPhone can be good fun. Relying on a jailbroken iPhone as your primary mobile device is idiotic.

It’s so quick and easy to jailbreak an iPhone that it takes a minimum of social engineering to trick a trusting user into bypassing Apple’s built-in guard against modified firmware. It’s a simple sell: By holding down one key while clicking Restore, you don’t waste time waiting for new firmware to download from Apple. Don’t fall for it. Always download firmware directly from Apple.