Doctors with iPhones will want to download Apple’s new iOS 12 software update today. While features like faster swipe speeds and new Animojis will steal the headlines, the new software will also make your iPhone more secure.
Data security is a more important than ever as healthcare goes digital and more practitioners access medical records from mobile devices. About three-quarters of doctors now use their smartphone as a mobile health device on a weekly basis. For the roughly half of those physicians using mHealth on an iPhone, iOS 12 will help keep your device secure.
The annual iOS upgrade arrived today. While Apple has always made security a priority, iOS 12 will make your iPhone more secure than ever. As a healthcare professional there’s no reason to wait (here are instructions for updating your device).
Here’s are six ways iOS 12 will make your iPhone more secure.
1. Smarter two-factor authentication
Two-factor authentication means you need something else beyond your username and password – often a code sent to your phone – to log into your account on a new device. If you haven’t set up two-factor on your most important accounts, you should do that now.
While 2FA makes hacking harder, it also adds a step for you. iOS smooths that process with a new feature called Security Code AutoFill. When a security code gets sent to your iPhone via SMS, in iOS it will automatically pass that code to the app requesting it. This saves you time and makes it easier to adopt this security measure.
2. Less ad tracking
The Safari browser on iOS 12 will implement additional security measures that block websites from tracking your activity.
For example, as it stands now, a Facebook Share button on any page can spot who you are and link the page to your Facebook account, even if you don’t share anything. With the new iOS, Safari will detect this kind of tracking and give you the option to block it.
3. Password protections
iOS 12 will also bring better, stronger password management to Safari. The browser can already keep your login info safe and it already suggestions randomized passwords if you need a new one.
With the upgrade, Safari will start suggesting stronger passwords by default. The browser will also add a function that shows when two or more of the logins you’ve saved in Safari use the same password and prompt you to change them.
4. Encrypted group video chat
Everything is already encrypted in iOS – the texts you send through iMessage, your location and the data logged by your apps. Without the passcode or fingerprint you’ve assigned to your iPhone (which act as the decryption keys) your data can’t be read.
FaceTime video chats are also encrypted on your iPhone, and with iOS 12 you can now hold video calls with up to 31 other people at once. Like the existing one-to-one calls, these group video chats will be encrypted conversations that are so secure even Apple couldn’t watch them.
5. Instant 911 location sharing
As of iOS 12, Apple’s 911 call function coordinates with RapidSOS, a startup working to upgrade the 6,500 emergency call centers across the US. This means that when you call 911 from your iPhone Apple will securely share your location with the call center operator. In the event of an emergency, this automatic location service could make the difference between life and death.
6. Stronger hacking protections
If a criminal hacker wanted to access information on your iPhone, one way would be to make multiple attempts at transferring data in quick succession. Apple is making that harder with iOS 12.
Now if an iPhone isn’t unlocked for an hour it will switch the Lightning port to a charging only state, which would prevent attempts to pull data from it. The previous time limit was seven days, so a device with the new software will block access much more quickly.