Every summer millions of people go on vacation. A smartphone is a must, on which you can use apps to search for and book accommodation, restaurants and excursions. But be careful: some apps do more harm than good!

To ensure that the apps, which are usually only randomly installed shortly before the holiday, do not bring any nasty surprises such as malware or viruses onto your smartphone, the BSI (Federal Office for Security and Information Technology) has issued a few tips that you should take to heart.

Download and use mobile applications safely

  • Only install apps from official app stores. Find out whether the author of the app is trustworthy, for example by doing an internet search.
  • Check beforehand what permissions an app requires. They should always be plausible - sometimes apps access to functions such as the location or the microphone that they do not need for the actual function. If in doubt, you should look for an alternative.
  • Check the terms and conditions and data protection regulations to ensure that secure data transmission and storage is guaranteed.
  • Protect not only your smartphone with a PIN , password or swipe pattern, but also individual apps if they offer this option.
  • Be careful not to permanently save access data for automatic log-in apps If an app requires an email address/password to log in, assign a different password than the one you use to log in to your email provider.
  • Check the status bar on your display. For example, if Bluetooth or GPS are active without you turning them on, it is recommended to deactivate unnecessary connections.
  • Install security updates promptly. This applies to the operating system as well as to all applications. update check whether apps now require new access permissions. Think carefully about the conditions under which you want to use the app.
  • If the app offers relevant configurable security settings, such as encryption, activate them.

Question the necessity of apps

Smartphones are like pocket-sized PCs; there is an application, or app for short, for almost every area of ​​application. However, if such an application can access certain system resources and has too many permissions, it can become a security risk. The same applies if it is not regularly updated and adequately protected. The BSI therefore advises only installing what is actually needed and deleting applications when they are no longer used.


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1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )