Easy ways to protect your Android phone

Your Android phone not only enables you to
do nearly everything online, but also allows
you to carry your life in your pocket.
Although having all that information in a
single location and always on hand may be
especially convenient, it makes for an
appealing target to thieves and hackers. But
you're not defenseless: You can take a number
of steps and precautions to ensure that your
stuff stays safe.
Pay attention to app permissions
App permissions are your first line of defense
against malicious software. Every time you
install an app, you see a pop-up that lists all
of the aspects of your phone that the app is
designed to access. While most people
mindlessly dismiss the pop-up and continue
the installation, it sometimes pays off to
discover whether the flashlight app you
downloaded uses services that could cost you
money, for example, or to learn that
Facebook's app essentially asks to use your
entire phone.
App permissions are archaic and difficult to
read, but newer versions of Android make
understanding them a little easier. You can
tap each individual permission to learn more
about it and make better decisions as to which
apps you download. Unfortunately, you can't
pick and choose which permissions to accept,
so if an app wants access to something, you
must either accept all its demands or find a
different app.
Download only from the Play Store
Android evangelists often talk about the
benefits of sideloading software onto your
smartphone. On paper, it makes sense: We
should be able to install and run whatever we
like on our devices. The harsh reality is that
downloading and installing random apps you
find on the Internet can lead to trouble--even
if you're being vigilant.
Although the Google Play Store has housed
malicious apps in the past , Google has done
its part to clean out most of the riffraff. The
store isn't as reliable as the Apple App Store,
but you won't feel like you're playing Russian
roulette every time you download a game or
Twitter client. Downloading an app from a
random website on the Internet, in contrast,
opens your data--and sometimes even your
wallet--to all sorts of malware. Android apps
are notoriously easy to take apart, and
attackers can repurpose even popular apps
such as Snapchat or Tinder to distribute
mobile malware without your knowledge.
You can find a handful of reputable third-
party app stores, such as the Amazon App
Store or F-Droid , but sticking to the Play
Store greatly reduces your chances of coming
across unsavory software.
Install a security suite
If you're really worried about malware, you
should look into getting a security suite for
your phone. A search for "security" on the
Google Play Store produces a couple thousand
results, some of which come from desktop-
security software companies such as McAfee
and Norton. I recommend downloading either
Lookout Mobile Security or TrustGo Mobile
Security, as AV-Test (an independent antivirus
testing center) ranked those apps highly on
features and on their ability to catch malware.
A security app often gives you functions
beyond alerts that flag infections from
malicious apps. Most mobile security suites
offer ways to back up your phone--a feature
sorely missing from Android--and some
security tools can help you locate, lock, and
wipe your device remotely should it be
pilfered from your pocket. Installing a
security suite on your phone may not sound
like a glamorous task, but once you have set
it up, you can rest easy knowing that you have
a system in place in case anything goes
wrong.
Lock your phone
This might seem obvious, but putting a PIN or
pattern lock on your phone is one of the
easiest ways to secure your device. Doing so
keeps nosy friends out of your text messages
and makes it harder for thieves to wipe and
resell your phone. You can set a lock screen
on your phone by going into Settings and
making your way to the Security & Screen
Lock option. Note that attackers and snoops
can crack pattern locks by examining the
streaks that you leave on the screen by
entering your pattern over and over again, so
a PIN is the way to go if you're worried about
someone using your oily skin against you.
You lose the convenience of just being able to
turn on your phone and get right into using
it, but the increased protection is worth the
extra hassle.
Look past the FUD
The most important thing to remember about
Android security is that you shouldn't buy
into all the scaremongering that media outlets
report on an almost daily basis. Android's
open nature makes it less secure than iOS or
Windows Phone, but you can avoid most of
the threats to your phone if you take even
just one of the precautions described above.
So while a plague of phone-bricking Trojan
horses might be spreading via a shady app
store in Ukraine, you and your freshly
secured phone have nothing to worry about.