MARQUETTE -- Our cell phones, the one item most of us don't leave our houses without, can be our life saver, our personnel assistant, and even our bill payer.
How safe is your information on it while you are doing these tasks?
You use it for pretty much everything like the internet, downloading music, online banking, updating statuses, posting pictures, and more.
All of your information can be at risk from being compromised, because cell phones don't have firewalls or security scans that a PC would have.
So what can you do to avoid getting a virus or someone hacking it?
"First off, password protect your phone. Make it so that if someone gets half of your phone and tries to get into it, that the phone after a certain number of tries, the information erases. Also they have apps so that if you lose your phone, you are be able to find it. Plain and simple - it works," said Facebook fan Robert Alwood.
Robert is right. If you have a tendency toward using Wi-Fi hotspots, your information is at a greater risk, since you are sharing the same network with others.
Detective Mike Koehler, with Marquette City Police, says you also want to turn off any Wi-Fi settings that you are not using.
"If you're typing in credit card information, there are certain programs out there that people will use such as key logger to steal your passwords and credit card numbers. So if you're in an area like a hotspot, you become more susceptible," said Koehler.
Koehler also suggests checking with your service provider for any virus protection services you can install and avoid using it for banking or purchases.
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