10 Mobile App Security Tips for Small Business Teams
For many small businesses, the phone is now the office. Staff read email, approve invoices, join Teams calls, scan documents and sign in to banking apps from their mobiles. That makes phones a prime target, and a single risky app or lost handset can expose business data.
These ten tips help your team use mobile apps safely, whether they carry a company phone or use their own.
Choosing and installing apps
1. Only install from the official app stores
Stick to the Apple App Store and Google Play. Both check apps before they are listed, and Google Play Protect scans Android apps for harmful behaviour. Avoid installing apps from links in texts, emails or websites. On Android, leave the setting that allows installs from unknown sources switched off.
2. Check the developer, not just the name
Fake apps often copy the name and logo of popular banking, delivery or productivity apps. Before installing, check the developer name, the number of downloads and recent reviews. For work apps such as Microsoft Authenticator, Outlook or your accounting software, follow the link from the vendor’s own website to be sure you get the real one.
3. Question every permission
When an app asks for access to your contacts, location, microphone, camera or files, ask yourself whether it really needs it to do its job. A torch app does not need your contacts. Both iPhone and Android let you review and remove permissions at any time in Settings, and allow location access only while the app is in use.
Keeping phones secure
4. Keep the phone and its apps updated
Updates fix security holes that attackers actively exploit. Turn on automatic updates for both the operating system and apps. When a phone stops getting updates from the manufacturer, it is time to replace it, especially if it is used for work email or banking. Patching is one of the ASD’s Essential Eight strategies, and it applies to phones as much as computers.
5. Use a strong screen lock and biometrics
Set a PIN of at least six digits, or a passcode, and turn on fingerprint or face unlock. Set the screen to lock automatically after a short time. If a phone is left in a cafe or a ute, this is what stands between a stranger and your business email.
6. Turn on multi-factor authentication
Turn on MFA for email, Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, banking, accounting and social media. An authenticator app or passkey is more secure than SMS codes. Never share an MFA code with anyone who calls or messages you, even if they say they are from your bank or IT support. Our guide to multi-factor authentication explains how to roll it out across a team.
Using apps safely
7. Treat links in texts and messages with suspicion
Scam texts pretending to be from delivery companies, toll operators, banks and government agencies are common in Australia. Do not tap links in unexpected messages. Open the official app or type the website address yourself instead. If you are unsure, check Scamwatch for current scams and report suspicious messages there.
8. Be careful on public Wi-Fi
Free Wi-Fi at airports, hotels and cafes is convenient but you have no control over who runs it or who else is connected. For banking or business systems, use your mobile data or a personal hotspot instead. Our article on remote work security for small businesses covers working safely away from the office in more detail.
Protecting business data
9. Keep work data separate and manageable
If staff use their own phones for work, you need a way to protect business data without taking over their personal device. Tools such as Microsoft Intune can apply app protection policies to apps like Outlook, Teams and OneDrive. That means requiring a PIN, blocking copy and paste of business data into personal apps, and removing business data if someone leaves, while leaving personal photos and apps alone. On Android, a separate work profile keeps work apps in their own space.
10. Be ready for a lost or stolen phone
Turn on Find My on iPhone or Find My Device on Android so a lost phone can be located, locked or erased remotely. Make sure staff know to report a lost work phone immediately, not the next day, so access can be blocked and passwords changed. Contact your mobile carrier as well to block the SIM and the handset.
Quick checklist for your team
- Apps only from the App Store or Google Play
- Permissions reviewed, and unused apps deleted
- Automatic updates on for the phone and apps
- Six-digit PIN or better, plus biometrics
- MFA on email, banking and business apps
- No tapping links in unexpected texts
- Mobile data instead of public Wi-Fi for sensitive work
- Find My switched on, and a clear process for reporting lost phones
Make it a policy, not just advice
Tips work best when they are backed by a simple written policy and the right settings applied to every device. That covers which apps are approved, what happens when a phone is lost, and how business data is removed when someone leaves. Our managed IT security service can set this up and manage it for you, and our Essential Eight checklist shows how mobile security fits into the bigger picture.
Are your team’s phones a weak spot?
Our free IT Health Check reviews how your staff’s phones access business email and data, and shows you how to secure them without getting in the way.
Or call 1300 133 770.
