Smartphones are a crucial component of our lives. We cannot imagine functioning without our phones these days. But with the advancement in technology comes the risk and responsibility of maintaining them. Most of us store crucial data on our phones, and if we lose our phones, we might lose all that data. It is therefore essential that we take proper safety measures when it comes to our phones. 

Here are some tips you can use to protect your smartphone from being stolen.

1. Use a strong screen lock

The first step that you can take towards the safety of your phone is using a secure screen lock pattern. Try and skip the 4-digit PIN and secure your phone using a strong password that contains a combination of letters, numbers, and special characters. Some phones also come with this unique feature of deleting all your data after a certain number of failed attempts at unlocking.

2. Use an app to find your phone

Although this app has limited applications, you should install it on your phone. There are different apps for iPhone and Android users. This app will be useful only when your phone is turned on and is connected to a network. 

3. Attach a note to your phone

Sometimes you might lose your phone in a cab or at a restaurant. In this case, you will need to let people know how to contact you. You can write a small note containing your email address through which the other person can contact you. This note should be attached to the phone where it will be safe.

Every phone has a unique number. This number can play a crucial role in helping you locate your lost phone. Note this number as soon as you buy a new phone.

4. Protect sensitive data

While PIN entry and password locks are helpful, a smartphone is effectively a miniature computer with frequently easily removable storage. It's far too simple to retrieve data by simply plugging it into a pc or removing a microSD card.

It's important to protect sensitive data stored in internal storage. Software is available that can encrypt folders or files so that code must be entered before a file can be viewed or duplicated. A good deal of this software is free to download and use and can work effectively with your phone to provide automated protection, so there is little hassle involved once it's up and running. A good example of such applications is AutoKrypt but do' shop around' to find the right solution for your set-up.

Always back up your information, for iPhone you'll have to back up your data on iCloud. You can also store data on Dropbox or even OneDrive

5. Use a sim card lock

A display lock is useful but will not stop somebody from removing the SIM card on the phone and using it on a different telephone. To stop this from occurring, install a SIM card lock in the form of a PIN number which will have to be input when a telephone is switched on so as to connect to your community.