The rise in cyber risks facing our nation means that taking steps to secure your smartphone is vital. Whether you’re using an iPhone or an Android, check out the following practices to keep your data safe from cyber threats.

Update Your Operating System and Apps

Keeping your smartphone’s operating system and apps up to date is one of the simplest ways to protect it. Updates often include patches for vulnerabilities that hackers exploit. When you delay installing them, you leave your mobile exposed to known security risks.

To stay secure, check your device settings for automatic updates. Also, regularly update your apps through the Google Play Store or Apple App Store. If an app hasn’t had an update in months, consider whether you should keep it.

Enable Two-Factor Authentication

Two-factor authentication (2FA) boosts your accounts’ security by implementing a second step beyond a password. Even if someone steals your login, they can’t access your account without the secondary code. The codes are often sent to your phone or email or generated through an app like Google Authenticator.

Most apps and accounts offer 2FA. Although this might seem like overkill, you should always use it for critical accounts like email, social media, and banking.

Protect Your Connection With a VPN

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) encrypts your internet connection. This makes it harder for hackers to steal your data on unsecured Wi-Fi. Whether you’re at a café or airport, a VPN protects sensitive information such as financial details from falling into the wrong hands.

Choose a reputable VPN service and download its app from the official app store. Many providers also highlight their best VPN offers on their websites, allowing you to secure a great deal while enhancing your online privacy.

For users who can’t access an app store or need advanced features like ad blocking, downloading the app directly from the provider’s official site is another reliable option.

Avoid Suspicious Messages and Emails

Criminals use phishing tactics to trick you into revealing information or installing malware. These attacks are often fake emails or text messages that appear to be from legitimate sources, like your bank.

Be cautious of messages that urge you to click on links, especially if they claim there’s an urgent issue with your account. Visit the company’s official website or call their customer service if you’re unsure. Avoid opening attachments from unknown senders, as they may contain malware.

Combine These Strategies for Full Protection

Following these steps together can significantly reduce your risk of falling victim to online threats. Treat smartphone security as an ongoing practice and stay vigilant against evolving tactics. Your digital life depends on it!

Bee-Bot is an interactive device for young learners to understand coding, sequencing, and problem-solving. With up to 200 programmable commands, children can direct the Bee-Bot to move forward, backward, left, and right, laying the foundation for computational thinking skills.

For two decades, the Bee-Bot has played a crucial role in teaching early years children about coding and programming in over 90 countries. In the UK, 95% of primary schools use the Bee-Bot, and it’s also featured in curricula across Europe, the Americas, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia. From South Africa to Ukraine, Hong Kong, Russia, and Turkey, the Bee-Bot reaches almost every corner of the globe.

Designed in 2004 in Lewisham, the Bee-Bot was created to help teachers introduce programming and sequencing while meeting curriculum requirements. It has since become a key tool in classrooms worldwide, addressing the need for creative ways to integrate technology into early education. Today, the resource continues to play a vital role in helping children develop the skills needed for the future, especially as 97% of top IT jobs now require AI-related expertise and human oversight to review code and scripts.

Over the past 20 years, numerous global studies have highlighted the Bee-Bot’s impact. Research from the University of Waikato in New Zealand has demonstrated its effectiveness in teaching programming concepts to Māori and Pasifika students. In Estonia, it has supported social skills development for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Additionally, studies on the Bee-Bot’s effectiveness in problem-solving and computational skills have led to its incorporation into national curricula in countries like Chile and Greece.

Jo Hardy, Director of Innovation at RM says: “Bee-Bot’s 20 years of coding emphasises the lasting importance of early programming education. Whilst some may think it’s too early for young children to learn coding, it’s becoming essential for their future. Just like learning a new language, the earlier they start, the better. The Bee-Bot is instrumental in this, offering a screen-free introduction to technology and coding. As AI becomes more integrated into our lives, coding will become increasingly vital. Incorporating these skills into the curriculum will help prepare children for a future where technology plays a significant role.”

Tech Channel Ambassadors aims to raise awareness of career opportunities across the IT channel to those in education, those returning to employment, and those looking to change career. This includes, but is not limited to, career opportunities for girls, BAME, disabled, neurodiverse and disadvantaged groups.

The UK channel needs to recruit around 100,000 people to plug the current skills gap, with businesses spending around £1.5bn a year just to hold onto key staff and avoid losing them to the competition.

And Tech Channel Ambassadors will also work to dispel some of the myths associated with careers in tech including you don’t need to be a coder to get at job, less than 5% of roles involve coding, and most roles do not require science and maths skills.

The Tech Channel Ambassadors (TCA) team is calling on vendors, distributors, VARs, system integrators and service providers to join and make it a component of their ESG efforts. As part of TCA, they will be helping to strategically address the systemic failure to attract enough diverse talent into the industry, through both outreach and education.

TCA’s member companies will be encouraged to invite younger staff members to act as industry Ambassadors, who will visit schools, deliver positive presentations of their experience and engage with pupils to encourage them to recognise the IT channel as a future career choice.

TCA will provide content, delivery and engagement support, and will work closely with organisations supporting LBGTQ+, the BAME community, neurodiverse, minorities, disadvantaged backgrounds, maternity leave returners and retired people who want to return to work, plus others, to ensure a structured, long-term approach.

The Community Interest Company’s leadership committee includes; Ian Kilpatrick, former EVP of Nuvias, Crayon managing director Hayley Mooney, Distology CEO Hayley Roberts, Westcoast executive director Alex Tatham, Rubrik’s director of channels and alliances Lisa Roberts, Rebecca Monk, chief people officer at Softcat, and Wendy Shore from the TCA .

The idea for TCA was born from Kilpatrick’s frustrations with talent recruitment and retention, in this a sector crying out for more people. With 40 years’ channel experience, and involvement with the STEM Generation Charity, the channel veteran felt it was time to create tangible action to address the sector’s strategic failings around recruitment requirements.

Ian Kilpatrick says: “We need more people in the IT industry, particularly women, and feedback is saying to get youngsters interested in the industry as early as possible – from primary school level.

“We have had a shortage of talent for decades, and there is a continual stress point with companies paying money to hire and retrain talent, followed by churn and then repeating the cycle again. This impacts remuneration at all points in the business chain, which then negatively impacts growth and profits.

“Everyone is struggling to get more staff. What we need is a channel-wide strategy that goes down to schools and up to government and NGO levels. We have to make the message heard that our industry is an area where you can do great things.”

And while he stresses that that there are numerous companies delivering exceptionally good practice, the founding members of the committee being prime examples, it is the exception not the rule, and there is a need to implement an industry wide strategic approach to raise awareness that the IT Channel is positive career choice for those in education.

“What we need is a co-operative approach, across the channel to address the systemic failure to attract enough talent into the industry, both tactically, but also strategically,” he said. “As a multi-billion-pound industry – including vendors, distributors, VARs, SI’s and service providers – we have all the capabilities to address the awareness and inclusiveness issues to resolve this.

“We believe there is a fundamental requirement for the channel to go beyond universities and into schools at Key Stage Three and Four, and even at Key Stage Two level – to drive awareness of the breadth of opportunities.

TCA will provide hands-on experiences through internships, industry collaborations and real-world projects, and drive networking opportunities with industry leaders, technology providers and business professionals.

“We have seen that students often self-exclude because they say they are not great at maths and science – but you don’t have to excel at those subjects to get into the channel. There are huge career prospects around sales, marketing, customer experience, logistics, and way more – the possibilities are endless. They just need to know this,” says the IT veteran.

TCA will also interact with school career advisors, LEPS and governments and NGOs to grow its network and awareness.

TCA is looking for companies and individuals to participate in raising the profile of the IT channel to boost our mutual success. To find out more and to become a member of Tech Channel Ambassadors, visit the website here, www.techchannelambassadors.org.