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Welcome to the Law Practice Management Section. As Chair of the Section for 2012-2013, I’d like to use this area of the WCBA web site to post weekly tech tips, and answer tech questions we receive from WCBA members over the course of the year. If you have a question (or if you’d like to share a tip you think others might find useful), please email it to me at: awb@hkrockford.com).
Best regards,
Aaron Brooks, Holmstrom & Kennedy
Tech Tip for the Week of September 24, 2012
Most of us are using “smartphones” as part of our practice. If you have an iPhone, Android, or other mobile phone with a data package and capability to download and run software, please consider this quick guide for ensuring your phone is as secure and private as it can be:
1. Make sure your phone is protected by a complex password. If your phone is lost or stolen, you will want to know that whomever gains possession can’t simply turn it on and access your information. Although it’s a bit inconvenient, using a password that has at least 7 or 8 characters (preferably comprised of letters, numbers and symbols) will make it more difficult for others to gain access to the phone. You would be surprised at how easy it is to hack into a phone that is protected only by a simple 4 digit PIN.
2. Set your password option to wipe the phone’s data if too many incorrect passwords are entered. If the phone will not permit more than 8 or 10 password attempts, a hacker will have a much harder time launching a “brute force” attack on the phone to retrieve your password.
3. Install virus protection software. The app store for your phone will have various virus protection products that you can purchase inexpensively. Any device that runs software, including smartphones, can also run viruses. Personally, I use Norton Security, and think it is a good choice.
4. Set up your phone to allow it to be erased remotely. If your phone is lost or stolen, you can limit the damage by having the ability to send a text message that triggers a total erase of all the data on the phone. In the event of a loss or theft, remember to do this prior to cancelling your service, or the remote wipe command will not reach the phone. Norton Security includes this feature.
5. Limit the amount of data that you store on the phone. For example, you can set the email download settings to only retrieve the past three days of emails, rather than a much longer period. Again, if the phone is lost or stolen, you will feel better if there is not so much information stored there.
6. Beware of storing information on the SD card included with the phone. SD cards can be removed and read by other devices, so the information stored there will not be protected by the password and remote erasing features described above.
7. Use “cloud based” storage services whenever possible. It is not good practice to use any personal computing device as the primary source of your data, because if that device is lost, stolen, or damaged, you risk losing the data stored therein unless you have constant backup practices. If your data is stored in the cloud, however, a lost or damaged device does not affect your data, and restoration is a simple process. Examples of cloud storage would be Google Drive for files, and iTunes, Rhapsody for Google Play music.