The rise in cyber attacks targeting mobile devices in recent years have got many organizations worried about the safety of their digital assets. Mobile digital assets refers to content such as images, videos, and files that are stored digitally in mobile devices. Given that many organizations have their own social media accounts and have built online-based communities or followers, one can also consider a social media account as a digital asset to the company.

Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, organizations have been relying on digital platforms for marketing, communications and organizational purposes. But the reliance on smartphones and other mobile devices have significantly increased when the pandemic happened, and with it, the risk of getting cyber-attacked via mobile devices.

Cyber attacks targeting mobile devices not only come in the form of malware such as madware (mobile adware), spyware or viruses, but also from unauthorized access, social engineering, and exploits. Mobile digital assets may be compromised when a device is targeted for such attack. Private and sensitive data may be breached and leaked, social media accounts may be taken over by hackers, or worse, these hackers may use the compromised digital assets to access physical assets of an organization and cause more damage to the company and it’s clients.

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43% of breach victims were small and medium businesses — Verizon

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Sure, there are many ways to secure mobile digital assets, but here are three of the easiest steps that you can take now (while reading this article) to bring your mobile security up to another layer.

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Step 1: Go to mobile settings and make sure that your mobile is operating on the latest software version. If it is currently not, please install the latest version as soon as you finish reading this article. Usually, when a developer releases the latest version/patch of their software, it is because they discovered some vulnerabilities of the previous version, and hackers love vulnerabilities. So, do not put off because you never know when you will get attacked.

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More than 90 percent of mobile apps are prone to cyber-security threats — Moveo

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Step 2: Check all the apps currently on your mobile device, make sure they are updated with the latest version, and remove any app that has not been used in a long time or the ones that are from unverified entities. Why? Well, because hackers prey on the vulnerable, and vulnerabilities can exist in the apps that we installed on our phones or tablets.

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Over 80% of hacking-related breaches in the midst of Covid-19 pandemic are caused by stolen or brute-forced credentials — Verizon‍

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Step 3: Visit your social media settings and activate 2-step authorization for every social media account. This is particularly important for businesses that rely on social media for marketing, sales, and community-building. You do not want to have your social media accounts already with thousands or millions of followers being taken over by others. And, regardless of how strong you think your passwords are, hackers can easily brute-force them, so you still need to activate the 2-step authorization setting to improve the security of your social media accounts. More importantly, if you are a micro business owner, chances are you share your passwords with at least a team member to help manage the account. So, think about the risk if that person has been exposed, or leave the company if you haven’t activated the 2-step authorization.

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There you have it. Three of the easiest steps that you can take now to protect your mobile digital assets without the help of an IT executive. Before I end this article, just to remind that there are many more ways that you can take to increase the level of your cyber security, which I will share in my upcoming articles.

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