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5 top tips to prevent your phone being hacked

Hacking has always been computer-related and as Smartphones become increasingly advanced, it is important to learn how to protect them against potential hackers. This could be essential to maintaining your privacy.

A mobile hacker could possibly remotely listen to your calls, read your text messages, take pictures with your phone’s camera, follow your internet browsing activity and keystrokes, pinpoint your geographical location and even access your passwords in some very extreme cases.

With this in mind what are 5 top tips to prevent mobile hacking?

1. Set a screenlock pattern or pin on your mobile – If your mobile phone is lost or stolen then a password will instantly stop a hacker picking it up and using it.
2. As mobile phones are becoming increasingly similar to computers, perhaps we should start treating them as such to avoid hackers. Make sure you download an anti-virus app like Lookout, Norton or AVG which is even free to download.
3. Only buy apps from a well-known vendor like Google , Apple, facebook and Twitter. Hackers can embed malicious software into an app which allows them to corrupt your phone’s internal system and steal important data.
4. Avoid unofficial versions of popular apps because they often have malware hidden in the code.
5. If you suspect your phone is being hacked you could pull out the phone’s battery to stop the flow of data. However if you know which app is behaving badly try and remove it, if this is not possible you could factory reset your phone (warning this will remove all your data and photos, but is the only way to ensure your phone is clean).

Mobile marketing insight by mobile specialist TigerSpike

Two representatives from TigerSpike, the Australian mobile specialist, have provided some interesting insights about the prospects of the mobile marketing industry within the country.

In an interview published in mobiThinking, General Manager of Asian operations Alex Burke and Chief Operations Officer Alex Hall spoke widely about the mobile marketing potential that Australia has by providing data and forecasting the future of this growing sector.

In the last few months, Australia’s mobile market has grown enormously. Right now, the country has mobile penetration of 11% and enjoys good 3G coverage overall. According to the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association, News Digital Media are seeing their mobile sites grow at 89% per year.

For the mobile expert, the right development of the mobile web in Australia is narrowly linked to three requisites; 3G infrastructure, carrier pricing models and consumer propensity to adopt new technology.

“Consumers are changing their lifestyle habits, consuming content in different ways. As it becomes habit for people to use their phones to get content, demand for mobile Web services increases. This makes sense as the heavy users of their news, sport, weather and mapping services online are likely to be technology-savvy, and will want to access them on the mobile phone as well,” said Hall and Burke.

In the opinion of both Hall and Burke, although there’s a strong case to be made for almost every brand to use mobile marketing, those that solely target younger males are “missing out the most, by not getting involved.”

Mobile marketing – A potential market

Hall and Burke also suggest that companies such as Toyota, Nike, Coca-Cola and Fosters are examples of innovators within the industry. These firms hit the right target by utilising all the delivery methods at their disposal, such as SMS messaging, MMS, Bluetooth, WAP or QR codes.

However, Hall and Burke also feel that there is a unique reason which makes Australia a location with so much potential when it comes to developing mobile marketing?

“One key advantage is the adventurous nature of Australians – the willingness to give new things a go. This is critical for a new medium like mobile, as growth stems from both the brand’s willingness to innovate with mobile marketing and consumer acceptance of the new channel. Due to the size of the market, Australia is a great test bed to gauge likely success of mobile campaigns in other larger markets.”

Predictions in the world of telecommunications

The auditing and consulting company Deloitte has just published an in-depth report outlining predictions for 2012 in the areas of Technology, Media and Telecommunications.

One of the main reported findings concerns an explosion of the market for smartphones costing less than $100. According to the predictions, over 500 Million of them will be in use before the end of 2012. These figures are based on the consumer definition of a smartphone, rather than the technical one. Studies reveal that users are likely to call a mobile phone a “smartphone” device if it comes equipped with a touch screen or a full keypad, as opposed to categorising the phones according to their operating system.

Deloitte expects 300 million of these lower-priced smartphones to be sold in 2012, representing up to 20% of the entire mobile phone business. They cover the same market segment as netbooks, targeting users who require internet access without needing the graphics and range of functions offered by traditional laptop computers.

$100 Smartphones are likely to be particularly attractive in emerging markets. They generally support e-mail and messaging, feature a camera of at least 2MP and come with a selection of pre-loaded applications and widgets.

NFC (near field communications) enabled devices are also going to conquer a large share of the market. Up to 200 million of them could be sold in 2012, and the figure is likely to climb further in 2013. NFC is particularly valued for the distance payment possibilities it offers, and it opens up the door for the concept of “digital wallet” to develop.

Unsurprisingly, the global demand for consumer technology will increase this year. People rarely deliberately quantify value for money at the time of purchase, but they generally are conscious of how much a mobile device will be used.

Based on this criteria, consumer technology fairs particularly well: a $500 tablet will be used 350-700 hours a year, meaning the hourly cost of use can be evaluated as low as $0.70… against approximately $10 for a car! For mobile phones, the cost is even lower. With approximately 200,000 text messages being sent every second in the world, consumers are getting an excellent return on investment.