5 Ways To Make Your iPhone More Secure

Learn how to protect yourself!

Have you ever misplaced your iPhone? Or had it stolen? I have. The tips below will not only help keep your data safe during that time of panic when you are frantically trying to retrace your steps, but they will also help you track down your lost (or stolen) iPhone.

1. Use a passcode

First step is to set up a passcode. It’s not smart to walk around with an iPhone that anyone can swipe to open. You need to Protect your iPhone with a passcode.

You can set up a passcode by going to Settings > Touch ID & Passcode or Settings > Face ID & Passcode and enroll your fingerprint or face. Make sure iPhone Unlock is toggled on after you set up your passcode. It is suggested that you toggle on iTunes & App Store, Apple Pay and Password AutoFill too.

2. Make Your iPhone Lock Sooner

This setting is set to ‘Immediately’ by default when you set up Touch ID or Face ID. However, most people change this option for convenience. They don’t want to be bothered punching in their passcode every time they pick up their phone. Why not change it? Because if your phone gets swiped someone could act quickly and get into your iPhone before your passcode is required.

This setting can be found on the Touch ID & Passcode page of Settings. The most secure option is to set Require Passcode to Immediately, which will require you or anyone who picks up your phone to enter your passcode no matter how long ago you last unlocked your phone.

3. Enable Data Protection

This setting is important because it will prevent unwanted people from accessing your phone. That is, if someone has your iPhone and enough time, they could systematically guess at your passcode until they landed on the right combination, especially if you use only a four-digit passcode. To prevent this, iPhone has a security feature that will wipe your phone if 10 consecutive incorrect attempts are made to enter your passcode. This may be scary if you are a clumsy person or have kids around that are always messing with your phone. Don't worry! You won't erase your iPhone. After the first four attempts, iOS adds a delay until you can try again. There's a one-minute delay after the fifth attempt, five minutes after the sixth, 15 minutes after attempts seven and eight, and a full hour after the ninth attempt.

Head to Settings > Touch ID & Passcode, scroll down to the bottom and toggle on Erase Data to enable this feature.

4. Disable Lock Screen Options

Why is this important? Because certain savvy minded individuals can still get into your phone via the lock screen no matter how rock solid your passcode is. For example, Siri can share too much information from the lock screen, freely displaying personal information to whomever finds your lost phone. Therefor, it is best to disable this option. Another way hackers can get into your iPhone is to enable Airplane mode via Control Center from the lock screen. With your iPhone in Airplane mode, you can't track it via Find my iPhone. Again, better to be safe and disable it.

To disable access to Siri and the Control Center from the lock screen, go to Settings > Touch ID & Passcode (or Face ID & Passcode) and toggle off Control Center and Siri in the Allow Access When Locked list.

5. Turn On Find My iPhone

With it enabled, you can track your lost device from another iOS device or your computer, seeing where your iPhone is on a map. You can also play sound on your lost phone to aid your search efforts. And if you really aren't having any luck with locating your iPhone, Find My iPhone lets you lock your iPhone and also remotely erase its data.

To turn on Find My iPhone, go to Settings > [your account name] > iCloud > Find My iPhone and toggle the switch on for Find My iPhone.

What do you do for added security on your mobile device? We would love to hear your suggestions?