Using a code or a diagram to protect access to your mobile is a good start … But have you chosen the right combinations? Here are our tips to limit the risk of piracy.
No need to have a fingerprint sensor or a face or iris recognition device to protect your mobile. It suffices to condition the unlocking of the terminal to the entry of a numerical code or to the drawing of a diagram on the screen. Efficient devices … as long as you don’t take it easy.
Choose a complex scheme
Android allows you to replace the classic password with a more or less complex drawing. If the plot must connect at least 3 of the 9 points of the reference matrix, it is better to avoid too simple shapes (L, I, /, etc.). Choose a tortured pattern passing through 6 or more points. Make sure you can memorize it and reproduce it smoothly with both right and left hands, so as to cope with any situation.
Extend PIN codes
Appeared to protect access to mobile SIM cards, the eternal PIN code can now contain more than 4 digits. Take the opportunity to define more complex combinations. IPhone allows 6 digits, Android up to 17 digits. It’s up to you to find the right compromise between security (10,000 possible combinations with 4 digits, 1,000,000 for 6 digits) and your storage capacity.
Beware of Social Engineering
What applies to an alphanumeric password applies to a PIN code or a pattern: flee like the plague the combinations formed from personal data that your relatives or someone who is even slightly informed could easily guess. Avoid the dates of birth, the postal code of your place of birth or, in the case of an unlocking pattern, the initial of your first name!
Erase fingerprints on the screen
You probably remember a scene from a movie where the hero guesses an entry code by blowing on the keys of a digital code. Fingerprints left on your smartphone screen can betray you in the same way, especially if you’ve gone for a pattern lock. To avoid giving clues to a possible thief, remember to clean the screen regularly.
Hide code or diagram
Like a password, PIN codes and patterns should be kept secret, so don’t write them down on a sticky note. Also, make sure they don’t appear on screen when you type or draw them. Access the Android settings for this. Press Security, on the cogwheel to the right of the Screen lock label, then deactivate the Show password or pattern option.
