All About Smartphones

How safe is your Android device from the Stagefright bug?  Android owners have been warned recently about the Stagefright vulnerability that can hack up to 95  percent of Android devices. A hacker can send a malicious MMS to your cell phone number and quietly infiltrate the device even without the knowledge of the user. After taking control of the Android device, it can be exploited using remote code execution bugs to collect private data and even perform functions on the device. How to find out if your device is safe or not From the security research firm that discovered the Stagefright vulnerability, Zimperium has recently  launched the Stagefright Detector App. This will help you find out if your device is vulnerable to the  security bug, and if you need to update your mobile operating system.  Nexus devices, a few Samsung models, and OnePlus One with a CyanogenMod nightly have already received patches that protect against the Stagefright vuln...

Google have finally released its Android device manager which allows you to track, locate and wipe your phone should the need arise.  This device manager is like the Apple's version of Find My iPhone. Before now, Android device owners turn to third-party apps to achieve this essential phone security feature but thanks to Google, an official version is now available. Of course this is long overdue, however, its better late than never.  To use this service, the Android device must have had the back-end update which stealthy installs on the device when connected to the Internet and then activated.  To activate, go to Settings>Security > Device Administrators and look for new "Android Device Manager". Check the box and you are good to go.  The images below should give you a better guide. I have done this on quite a few Android devices including Tecno F7 and it works well.    As mentioned earlier, Android Device man...

Sequel to the last meeting held between smartphone makers and some government agencies including security experts concerning the rate at which smartphone theft are becoming more prevalent in the society especially the iPhone which as been stolen more than any other smartphone.  Apple have made up a new way to deter thieves from stealing iOS devices. This new feature which would be present in iOS 7 would help curb the rate at which iPhone, iPad  and iPod are stolen. To achieve this, whenever one of these devices is stolen, it would become impossible to erase. Before one can erase any of these devices running iOS 7, one would need to input both the Apple ID and password of the owner. Without these parameters inputted, the device won't allow the anyone to erase and restore the device. This will definitely serve as a deterrent to iDevice theft.  Although, it's a good way to reduce smartphone theft for iDevices yet it far from complete.  ...

At one point in time we get to buy a new smartphone, these smartphones are not like the phones we use back in the day when we only receive calls and send text messages. Smartphones do much more and therefore what you do to when purchase a 21 century smartphone is quite different from that of the old time phone. Let say you got a new Blackberry smartphone or an Android or Apple smartphone, there are lists of things you should consider doing immediately. Some of these things will be a life saver at some point in the near future especially in an era where phone theft is a huge business for some people. Below, I have highlighted these things that we sometime take for granted and overlook until something happens to the smartphone. These things that one must do are quite easy and sensible if you look at it. THINGS YOU SHOULD DO WHEN YOU BUY A NEW SMARTPHONE 1. First thing first is to setup your device as new and input the email address you want to associate with the device. Cho...

We are in that age and era where cyber crime and account hijacking are on the increase.  So many a people have fallen prey to these attacks due to little knowledge on how to securely increase the security of their online accounts. A lot of people use more than 3 Google products ranging from Gmail, YouTube, Google+, Google Doc, Picasa and Google Wallet on a daily basis and these accounts are connected to online applications and websites. Invariably, if someone gets control of your Google password either directly or from other websites/applications, almost all Google services one uses becomes compromised: that would be a disaster. This post is to help Google account users to further increase security on said accounts and provide at least a greater level of account security than the uninformed individual. Although Google tries as much as possible to secure accounts of its users, still a little extra fortifying is better and won't hurt. Requirements 1. You have a Google acco...