Lion Cipher Lab
Harden your phone's privacy and security
- Foundations
- Beginner
- ~20-30 min
- Free · no account required
Why it matters
Your phone is the most personal computer you own. It holds your email (the master key that can reset your other accounts), your messages, your photos, your banking apps, your location history, and a live microphone and camera -- and it is the device most likely to be lost, stolen, or left unlocked on a table. Yet phone hardening is the high-value security almost nobody actually does: the settings that matter are already built in, free, and take minutes, but they sit switched off or half-configured out of the box. This lab walks a complete beginner through the short list that matters most -- a…
What you'll learn
- setting a strong screen lock and turning on biometrics
- confirming your phone's storage is encrypted
- turning on automatic security updates
- auditing app permissions (location, microphone, camera)
- limiting cross-app tracking and resetting your advertising identifier
- enabling hardened modes (Lockdown Mode / Advanced Protection)
- setting up device-finding and remote wipe
- filtering scam and spam calls
- making a safe, encrypted backup
Steps in this lab
- What phone hardening is, and the plan
- Set a strong screen lock -- and add biometrics
- Confirm your phone's storage is encrypted
- Turn on automatic security updates
- Audit app permissions: location, microphone, camera
- Limit tracking and reset your advertising identifier
- Turn on the phone's hardened mode
- Set up device-finding and remote wipe
- Filter scam and spam calls
- Make a safe, encrypted backup
- What you just did -- and why it punches above its weight