This is what you should do if your phone is hacked: Learn how to secure your data, remove malicious apps, and prevent further damage. Follow these crucial steps to protect your device and personal information if your phone is hacked.
Table of Contents
Learn what to do if your phone is hacked. Follow these essential steps to secure your data, remove malware, and protect your device from further damage.
Hacked phones are not an exception – in fact, they are common these days. Not only can this affect your privacy, but phone hacking can also compromise your identity without you even knowing it. Because fraudsters continue to evolve and improve their hacking techniques, it is increasingly difficult to detect when your phone has been compromised. Simply put, the average user can be fooled by many cyber attacks. For starters, the list of reasons why someone gets into a phone is endless, from accessing photos, personal data, text messages and even bank details – making the device a perfect target for a hacker
Read More: Kylie Minogue UK Tour: Outrage Erupts as £400 Pre-Sale Tickets Spark Fan Backlash
Here are the signs to look for when your phone is hacked
Like it or not, the whole process can be done in seconds. It is from a downloaded app that has malware installed, or you clicked on a bad link or even used an unsecured public Wi-Fi network.
There are many reasons to use high data, like watching high-quality videos, downloading high-quality photos, self-updating applications, or fast network speeds. Yet, if you’re sure your phone habits are still the same but data usage isn’t, it’s time to do some research. A damaged phone can also run very slowly, so watch out for freezes, crashes and reboots.
Cyber security experts, including Kaspersky, have also explained how malware and rogue applications sometimes use malicious code to consume power. If you find that your phone’s battery is draining excessively, it is a sign that your device has been damaged.
Experts recommend checking the battery usage menu on your device to see if there is an app with a special name that is killing your battery. One of the most obvious signs that your phone is disconnecting is when you notice that your phone is sending messages to an unknown number. Experts say any unlicensed work of any kind in this area would be a huge red flag.
How to stop others from hacking into my phone
Even though Apple has strong built-in security, hackers are using increasingly creative and complex ways to access your iPhone, iCloud and Apple ID accounts. If you notice the above-mentioned activities on your iPhone, Samsung or other smartphones, you can download and scan it with high-quality security software, which will be capable of telling you whether it is indeed hacked. Some security programs built for iOS and Android can also assess any problems on smartphones and show you ways to fix them quickly. If there are suspicious apps that you have never seen before on your phone, remove them because apps are still a very common way for hackers to gain access to your phone. These apps may have been added secretly when connected to an unsecured Wi-Fi network or when a phishing link was clicked.
It’s also best to avoid the temptation of free Wi-Fi. It is a common fact that public Wi-Fi poses a huge security risk. Connecting to an unsecured public Wi-Fi network also means opening up your cell phone information to anyone else on that wireless network. If the time comes, you can connect to public Wi-Fi with a virtual private network (VPN). Kaspersky also believes you should never jailbreak your phone because while it lets you download from unofficial app stores, jailbreaking increases the risk of being unknowingly hacked. “Apart from malware or spyware, that means you’ll miss out on security patches in the latest OS updates. Jailbreakers skip updates to keep the jailbreak working. This makes your risks of being hacked even higher than normal,” she said. Finally, most hacking malware can be removed by factory resetting the phones. It means removing all data, but as a last resort, it will make sure that the device is as good as new.
Read More: Co-Development Software: Revolutionizing Collaborative Innovation in 2024
