Weekly restarts of mobile devices help guard against malware says the National Security Agency (NSA).

A device restart at least once per week can help guard against “zero-click exploits” and other malware attackers often used to eavesdrop and collect data from mobile devices, the NSA says.

A reboot is among several recommendations in a recent document by the Agency detailing mobile device best practices to help users mitigate the threat of ‘phishing,’ which could lead to more malware and spyware.

“Threats to mobile devices are more prevalent and increasing in scope and complexity,” the NSA said while warning that some smartphone features “provide convenience and capability but sacrifice security.” 

Restarting the devices is not a “silver bullet” against data security concerns, it stated, adding other practices to help curtail privacy breaches.

The NSA also advises disabling Bluetooth when not in use, updating to the latest operating system once available and disabling location services when not needed among best practices.