Second-Hand Phones Could Be a Security Risk

Smartphones being the crucial parts of your life, demand to be looked at properly before you buy them. Most of the people these days are opting for second-hand smartphones and they should be checked thoroughly before you buy them. The place you buy them should also be taken into consideration and must be authorized so that if you face any problem, you might confront them. Various second-hand phones do not provide security updates. Although a refurbished mobile phone is really cost-efficient than buying a new phone, there are some things that need to be considered. Research shows that a mobile phone that does not get security updates is more vulnerable to hackers. It has been told by the researchers as well that 31% of the models that are resold are not supported by security updates from manufacturers. These inadequate policies lead to crimes of the web thus allowing hackers to exploit you. In order to avoid such crimes and use a smartphone that is supported by the security updates from manufacturers, you need to run an analysis and see yourself. Otherwise you won’t be getting any profit. Even if you buy a cost effective phone, you will have to eventually spend money again when you will get to know that your phone is vulnerable to any malware or hacker.

Are second hand phones worth it: Analyze and spend

Second-hand phones always are a risk If not analyzed properly. According to research it was revealed that 62% of people think that a mobile phone is broken down for parts when it’s sent to the recycling companies. But it came out as the opposite. Investigations show that most of the phones are refurbished and resold. That is why it is suggested that you consider everything and check the mobile phone completely before you buy it from a local vendor. Three of the biggest companies were held responsible for reselling refurbished phones when a complete check was conducted. After this incident, the word came out and people started taking care of these things.

Which popular phones are no longer being updated?

In order to see if your cell phone is still receiving updates from the manufacturing company, you should visit the website. The manufacturer’s security update pages are updated regularly and they can give you an idea about which phone is still restuck to the Apple store iOS and Google Play store because these are official stores and apps that you install through them go through a verification process. The apps that you will download from somewhere else might look perfect and normal but they are not legitimate and contain malware. If you receive text updates were removed from the page only 28 months after its release. That is why it is suggested that you check security updates on the manufacturer’s page.

Here are some popular mobile phones that are not receiving any more updates:

•Apple iPhone 5 – launched ‎September 2012

•Google Pixel XL – launched October 2016

•Huawei P10 – launched March 2017

•Samsung Galaxy A8 Plus (2018) – launched January 2018

•Samsung Galaxy S7 – launched March 2016

Avoid apps from unofficial stores

You might want to stick to the official stores and not install apps that are scams and then we can be all risk to your mobile phones. If mobile phones are not receiving security updates then they are the perfect target for dodgy apps. That is why it is suggested that you stick to the Apple store iOS and Google Play store because these are official stores and apps that you install through them go through a verification process. The apps that you will download from somewhere else might look perfect and normal but they are not legitimate and contain malware. If you receive texts from unofficial senders and emails from unrecognized senders you should never open them. They might be a hacking scam.

Summing up:

Security updates are considered very important now that mobile phones are a big part of everyone’s life. Even if someone wants to spend a small amount of money he/she must make sure that the devices are still receiving security updates from the manufacturing companies.