A lock screen on the phone, a PIN on the SIM
In one line
A lost phone still has a SIM. Someone can move that SIM and receive your codes. A SIM PIN stops that at the moment they move the card.
What it costs
Free. Set the lock screen and the PIN once each.
What you get
The FCC tells people to use a strong lock so someone else can’t run up charges or take the data. A Chinese case story in the book was left out here. The grade stays C.
How strong the evidence is
Source
U.S. FCC. Protect Your Mobile Device.
Watch-outs
Too many wrong PIN tries ask for the carrier’s PUK. Write it on paper. Don’t keep the only copy inside the phone.
Adapted from HowToLiveBetter item 14-3.
Next habitRelated
Best valueTurn on two-step verification. Prefer the prompt
In a Google study, device prompts blocked over 94% of phishing takeovers and 100% of automated ones. Prompts beat text-message codes. Start with email.
Lost the phone? Suspend the SIM first
The order is: suspend the SIM, lock the phone remotely, change email and payment passwords from a computer, file a police report, then freeze cards if you need to. You can call the carrier from a borrowed phone.
The email password is used nowhere else
A password leaked from another site can open your email. Once email is open, every account that recovers through it can fall together.