Are pre-owned smartphones safe? How to choose a second-hand phone and avoid security risks

The article outlines security risks associated with buying second-hand smartphones—such as unsupported/outdated software, possible preinstalled malware, and inadequate refurbishment—and offers practical mitigation steps. It advises purchasing from reputable sellers with warranties, selecting models still supported by manufacturers, avoiding rooted/jailbroken devices, performing a factory reset, enabling automatic updates, installing reputable security software, and watching for compromise indicators. Ongoing hygiene includes strong screen locks and MFA, regular backups, careful app permissions and sourcing, disabling unused radios, phishing caution, VPN use on public Wi‑Fi, and awareness of BYOD policies.