The phone is the most personal device you have. It contains phone numbers, messages, emails and all personal data of web accounts, including those of applications such as Facebook, Whatsapp, Gmail, Chrome or others.
For this reason, efforts must be made to keep it safe from sneaking and prevent problems if it is lost or stolen.
The Android system, by itself, contains all the essential functions for the security of the smartphone and the data stored inside it, therefore it is worth configuring these options and activating them.
The essential security measures on Android that must be enabled now, if it has not yet been done, are 5.
1) Automatic device location
Google has added to all Android smartphones the possibility of locating the phone from the computer or from another smartphone or tablet, via the internet.
This geo-location also allows you to erase the entire memory of the phone and make it ring on command.
It is not a very elaborate security system, but it can still be considered an essential data protection tool to be activated without waiting, also because there is nothing to install.
All the details on how to activate the location of the Android phone with "Device Management" are in a dedicated guide.
2) Two-factor authentication
Two-factor authentication is not only a protection for the phone but for all Google account activities on the internet.
The two-step verification allows you to prevent those who are not authorized to enter our account using the Google login password that may have been stored.
In another article, the guide to using two-step verification for accessing your Google Account.
3) Encrypt phone
Phone encryption is something that should be done before selling the Android device, to prevent those who buy it from recovering our personal data.
It is not convenient to do this in everyday use because Android can have a drop in performance, at least on older smartphones.
To activate phone encryption, go to the Security settings.
After encrypting the phone, the password will be requested each time it is turned on.
4) Lock screen
Locking the screen is essential for the security of an Android smartphone in any case.
There are several ways to lock your phone: using a PIN, a pattern, a password or even your own face.
The screen lock is configured in Settings -> Security -> Screen lock .
In another article we saw which screen lock is more secure on Android
Those who want to have a more comfortable life can also make the lock screen automatically activate when you go out and unlock your house.
5) Add "Owner Info" to the lock screen .
This option is easy to configure and very useful.
In practice you write the name of the owner, an email address and / or an alternative phone number to call in case someone finds our smartphone lost.
In this, if he lost his cell phone and was found by an honest person, he could call us to give it back.
You can add your name and other information in Settings -> Security -> Owner Info .
In addition to these internal options, you must also take into account all the ways to secure the data of an Android phone listed and explained in another article.
To conclude, it is worth spending a few words to explain Android's security level.
Android, as an operating system, is very secure.
It has multiple layers of protection to rule out malware and dangerous apps by requiring specific permissions to keep data safe.
However, Android is also an open system, much more open than an iPhone, which trusts the user and his developer community.
If you want you can grant multiple permissions or open Android completely with administrator permissions (ROOT) by accessing the apps to the deepest parts of the system.
In essence, Android tries to protect users from all external dangers but cannot protect users from themselves, if they make mistakes or if they install applications from unknown sources and from sites outside of Google Play.
As with any computer, security always depends on common sense and the responsible use made of it.
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