As we go further into the digital age, our reliance on technology grows and grows. But with that growth has come a rise in viruses.

One medium that has been relatively risk-free has been the cellphone sector. Until a few years ago.

Cellphone viruses are few and far between in comparison to their PC-based predecessors, but they're well on their way to being a major threat. These fledgling viruses cause a wide variety of problems, such as deleting contacts, sending out mass messages and disabling phone functions.

As a result, it's becoming increasingly important for you to protect yourself against these threats, so here's a few ideas on how to do so:

• Besides draining your battery life, leaving your Bluetooth on also leaves you susceptible to viruses being sent to you. Often looking like software programs, many viruses transmitted like this hope to dupe you into thinking it's a real application. So one tip would be to turn off your Bluetooth in heavily-populated areas, such as airports.
  
  

• Another oft-overlooked step is to scan your phone's memory card as PC viruses often reside on them. It just takes one person, connecting their phone to a PC via USB cable, to spread the virus.
  
  

• Of course, there is another step which most will probably not even know about: downloading anti-virus software for your phone. For example, Nokia's N-series phones (such as the N70, N85 and N96) come packaged with a six month trial version of F-Secure anti-virus protection.
  
  Alternatively you can download a one month trial version from the F-Secure site. Norton also offers smartphone protection with its Smartphone Security package at $30 (roughly R200). The app works on both Windows Mobile (5 and 6) and new Symbian phones.
  
  

• Running an iPhone? The device is considered to be a big target for hackers and viruses — though little viruses have been found yet. Recently, a hacker created a virus for the iPhone in the form of an SMS — and brought it to Apple's attention. As a result, Apple released a software update addressing the issue. So update your phone's system software/firmware regularly!

Know of any other ways to protect your phone? Please share them by leaving a comment below!

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