Almost 50% of adults have been working remotely since 2020.

This includes working from home, in local cafes and on mobiles when they’re out and about. 

Because of this, a lot of businesses provided their staff with business mobile phones during the recent pandemic, to ensure they can work and respond to emails on the go.  

However, not many people know how to stay safe when using them. 

If you have confidential information in emails and cloud storage on your business phone, it’s important you understand the risks of phone safety.

Without being aware of security issues on mobiles, you could have data and personal information stolen.

If you have online storage systems such as cloud storage, people could get unwanted access into these and change things, which could ruin your reputation. 

Here are some easy ways to keep your business mobile phone as secure as possible. 

Change the default pin

Each phone provider will have a default pin to have access to the sim card and all the information that’s stored on it. 

Finding this is only a Google search away and can have detrimental effects on your business. 

By changing this, it makes getting onto your phone harder. 

To make your phone even more secure, change the pin often. 

Keep your phone hidden when searching for Wi-Fi connections.

If your phone isn’t hidden, other people can link up to your phone and steal data, including emails and private documents. 

On both Apple and Android mobile phones, it’s easy to stop location access in your settings app. 

This stops your phone from showing joining requests on public Wi-Fi networks. 

This is a simple and easy step to ensure your phone can’t be found if you’re working from a public place on your phone. 

Consider using a VPN (virtual private network)

A VPN basically creates an internet network specifically for users of your business phone. 

On your business phone you could be accessing company systems and accounts that you don’t want anyone outside of the business to see. 

A VPN encrypts the user’s data to make it harder for other people to see it. 

You can also change the visible location of the phone so those around you can’t see you’re using it. 

This is a great way to keep your phone safe when using public Wi-Fi as no one will know you’re connected. 

VPN’s are very affordable, so you should definitely consider installing them on the mobile phones you have for your business.  

Get a phone plan with more data so users don’t use public Wi-Fi

Using your own data instead of public Wi-Fi means your phone will be less vulnerable to people stealing it’s data. 

As a business owner, it’ll be a priority that you keep your staff as safe as possible. 

By limiting the time they spend on public Wi-Fi when working out of the office, you’ll be protecting them from criminals getting into private files and storage systems. 

Public Wi-Fi isn’t the quickest, so by using mobile data you can be sure your staff have reliable and fast connections whenever they need it as well as being a safer option. 

Educate users about the dangers of rogue Wi-Fi networks

If you’re the one that’s in charge of distributing mobile phones to the business, it’s vital you educate staff on how to keep information safe and why they should be wary of public Wi-Fi connections. 

It’s very common for criminals to create fake Wi-Fi networks for you to connect to, that look real but are actually there to steal data.

If you click on one of these networks, the owner of the network can see everything you do, as well as gain access to confidential information. 

If your employees understand the risks of public Wi-Fi and can spot a fake one, you’ll limit the risk of important information being stolen. 

Consider installing security software on your phones

Educating your staff is a great way to make sure they know how to stay safe when working remotely, but there are other things you can install for added protection. 

There are various software that you can install on mobiles to keep them safe from hackers. 

Apple devices already have security features installed that can’t be edited by the user, so you don’t have to go out of your way to buy anything. 

Android devices don’t necessarily need antivirus software but they can add an extra layer of security, as settings can easily be modified. 

It’s definitely something to think about if you and your employees store a lot of confidential data on a business mobile. 

Keep your phone updated

Although it may seem like a nuisance, updating your phone also updates all the behind the scenes features that you may not be aware of. 

Updating your phone regularly ensures any security features of your phone work efficiently. 

This can prevent unwanted people getting into your files and emails. 

What are the risks of unsecured Wi-Fi?

People can get access to your phone and steal data

If your Wi-Fi network isn’t secure, it can have severe effects on the information stored on your phone. 

People can get access to your phone and steal confidential information that they could leak or change to affect your business’ projects and progression.

If you don’t put things in place to make your business phone’s secure, it can end up in a large fine. 

If people have access to your phone they could also have access to your customers and their personal details, putting them at risk as well. 

Be aware of accessing company systems on the go

When you’re on your company system on public internet, people can hack into your connection, getting access to everything to do with your business, including invoices and plans for future projects. 

This can be done in a range of ways, but the most popular is through Wi-Fi as mentioned above. 

To prevent anyone from stealing important information while you’re working remotely, make sure you log out of company systems and change passwords regularly. 

An even better way is to make sure you don’t log onto these systems when you’re using public Wi-Fi if you can or use your mobile data. 

Your reputation could be damaged if you’re a victim of cyber attacks

If someone hacks into your phone and goes looking for private information, it’s likely to be a planned attack to damage your business. 

Your business’ reputation can be affected if any information is leaked or changed.   

If it’s widely known your business was vulnerable to a cyber attack, customers are unlikely to trust you. 

If you have an online shop on your website, customers will be scared that their information has also been taken and shared, putting them into a vulnerable position as well. 

Depending on the level of damage they do, you may have to build up your business all over again, including clients and online content. 

This will push back business plans and profits, as you’ll have to spend more time building up your social profile and less time working on projects. 

If personal data is stolen, there could be fines and GDPR will get involved

If your data is stolen, your business could be fined up to a few millions of pounds. 

The fine depends on the steps you’ve put in place both to protect the business from it happening in the first place, and what you do after it to fix and damage.  

This is because it goes against the Data Protection Act and puts customers in danger. 

This is why it’s best to do as much as you can in terms of mobile security, to protect your customers and lower your fine if anything does go wrong. 

Why is mobile security important? 

Phone security is a big issue for businesses whatever the situation. 

But with more people working from their phones when they’re on the go, keeping data secure is essential. 

The first part of protecting data is getting a reliable business phone with the latest security features and updates to meet new challenges. 

After that it’s down to employee education about the risks to data and installing the right software to keep everything secure.

At Communications Plus, we have a range of the latest Apple and Android phones that support the most up to date security technology. 

We also have all the data plans you can think of, so you can find one that suits you and your employees to make sure you never have to search for rogue connections when you’re working out of the office.

Shop our range now or try our savings calculator to see how much money you could save by choosing us to supply your business mobile phones.