“Finally, If you have some identified spam, you can use the reported spam or blocking feature for any contact on your phone,” Tan says. “To apply this setting on any contact, just go to the contact settings and push the report spam/block button.”
Because of all of these risks, Chan says she highly recommends turning off the WiFi radio and then back on whenever you want to use it to prolong battery life and keep your data safe and secure.
“Use the drop-down menu of your smartphone, tap the WiFi radio to turn it off, or go to network settings and slide the Wi-Fi toggle off,” Chan says. “If you want to refresh your previously connected networks, most modern devices will allow you to delete them one by one. However, if you own an iPhone or iPad, you need to go to General settings, then look for Reset Network settings to delete them at once.”
Guess what other setting you should turn off the minute you leave your home and enter a shopping mall, restaurant, or other public space? Wifi itself, according to Olivia Tan, co-founder of CocoFax. It may not be something you think about, but switching Wifi off can protect you from identity thieves.
“Public Wi-Fi networks are often controlled by hackers and the names of these wifi networks are also fake,” Tan says. “If you connect to these fake networks, the hackers can control anything you do. Thus, turn it off and you can turn it back on whenever you want, so that your personal data remains safe and secure.”
To switch off your Wifi, simply slide the Wifi toggle off in your phone's settings menu.
“Unsecured Wi-Fi networks are one of the most popular ways for hackers to target mobile devices,” Tan says. “Anyone may use these public networks, such as those used at airports and coffee shops. This means that a hacker might potentially see everything you do on these networks when you're logged in. You can switch it back on whenever you want, but it will keep your phone from automatically connecting to public Wi-Fi networks.”
These two simple and effect Wifi setting changes can give you major peace of mind when it comes to keeping your phone secure and private.