As 2024 comes to an end, is the cellular cybersecurity recommendation we are getting from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National Security Agency listening to in 2025?The answer, as you can imagine, is complicated. Here’s what all smartphone users, Android and iOS, want to know about the FBI’s and NSA’s recommendations for mitigating threats to smartphones.
If I were asked to tag my quotes with agencies like the FBI and NSA when it comes to cybersecurity recommendations, that is, when it comes to Android and iOS smartphones, I guess it would have to be # mixed. On the one hand, those two agencies have a long history of collecting risk intelligence and sharing knowledge that allows them to produce in-depth research on mitigation measures. On the other hand, they take a while to update those tips and therefore some of them may be poor. Therefore, an FBI recommendation that users deserve to continue checking for spelling and grammar errors to combat phishing in today’s risk landscape is something I consider unforgivable at best. Likewise, the NSA’s 2020 recommendation to reboot your smartphone every week to counter the risk of spyware is not only outdated, but also harmful given that maximum existing malware would exploit patience despite this supposed mitigation. . Does this mean that you deserve to discard all the recommendations coming from those two agencies? Hell no, of course not. And why: 99% of the FBI and NSA mitigation recommendations are, IMHO, correct.
As for the NSA turning you off and on over and over again, the tips are actually just a small component of an extensive infographic that covers various tactics to protect your smartphone from attacks. While there are still some facts that suggest that turning off your device every week can save you or mitigate spear phishing and phishing attacks coming from installing malware, it is not the most productive recommendation out there today. Most smartphones now have their own malware shields stored in memory, making it much more likely. What a risk to restart. The recommendation not to connect to public Wi-Fi networks is just as outdated and relatively meaningless today, the same goes for turning off Bluetooth when you are not using it and not using public Wi-Fi USB charging stations, since they have a A massive effect on usability with very little, if not very little. All security benefits for the vast majority of users.
However, some of the remaining advice is still good to go for 2025:
As for the FBI, there are even more mitigations I propose as part of your smartphone security posture:
So my recommendation is to do your due diligence here, study the recommendation presented through any of the agencies, your age, and see what other security experts and the media are saying. Don’t rely solely on the FBI or NSA for recommendations on smartphone security, but don’t dismiss them out of hand either!
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