Protect mobile phone data on the phone's companion PC and web accounts

Mobile phone data is stored not only on the phone, but also on the phone's companion PC and web accounts. For instance, the Nokia PC Suite can copy everything in the phone's memory to a PC for offline processing or backup purposes. Voice mail messages are typically stored in the wireless operator's voice server. Mobile web portal sites also store a lot of sensitive data from the contacts or photo albums in the Camera application. Any comprehensive mobile security solution needs to protect this remote data as well.

Secure the Companion PC
Generally, you should not use a public PC in a library or web cafe to copy data from your phone. In theory, you can delete everything off the public PC after you are done and you won't leave a trace. But in reality, you can miss or forget to delete important data. The Nokia PC Suite can also store important information and settings (e.g., Bluetooth settings) in directories that are not obvious to most users. Hence, to avoid these potential information leaks, I recommend avoiding public PCs altogether.

You should also safeguard your PC from viruses and spyware, which can be used to steal data from your phone. A piece of good PC antivirus software, such as Norton AntiVirus from Symantec, will protect your Nokia PC Suite databases and synchronized Outlook databases from attacks.