Most of us are well aware of the risks associated with malware that effect our computers, but how many recognise the data recovery risks threatening our mobile phones? Mobiles are now much more vulnerable to virus attack and what’s more… we are using them for many applications. Don’t believe me? Well just look at the recent news whereby the Android have announced the ‘biggest update ever’ to fix a flaw which lets hackers into your phone by simply receiving a message.

Do you anti-virus on your mobile? At the moment the threat is quite small but for how long? It is easier to receive an infection from Android as opposed to Apple iPhone. This is because their distribution rules are not as strict. Trojans can be wrapped around existing Android apps and surreptitiously uploaded to the unofficial market. If you do not install unapproved apps, you are unlikely to encounter this, but the threat is increasing.

You can download an antivirus application directly onto your smartphone and scan it regularly to keep check on any malware. Other than installing mobile antivirus, there are a few other precautionary steps that will help in the fight.

Firstly do not download anything that you think might be malicious. Unknown software and phishing emails are well documented ways to infect your device. If you have Bluetooth, make sure that ‘non-discoverable mode’ is enabled and do not accept data from sources that you do not trust. Use the password protection and do not rely on default PINs and passwords. Similarly beware of using unsecured Wi-Fi and unknown QR codes. This will prevent unauthorised data access and the need for our data recovery services!