Spying Cell Phones
Cell phones have become a ubiquitous part of life, so much so that sometimes it may feel like a part of you is missing if you've forgotten it at home. We expose so much of our lives to these devices that it's scary to think they could be spying on us, logging everything we do and every click we make. Unfortunately, Malwarebytes reported a 77% increase in malicious mobile software from 2020 to 2021, affecting more than 150 million consumers.
Apple and Google are already working to reduce malware on their mobile platforms. Apple has released Lockdown Mode to protect iPhone users. Google has been analyzing apps to reduce the number of Potentially Harmful Applications (PHAs) on their Play Store, with PHAs now accounting for less than 1% of total apps installed. When you look at the numbers, though, this 1% could still account for hundreds of millions of spyware apps installed on consumer devices.
A red flag that malware has been living in your phone is that the phone is running slow or sluggish. This could be caused by malware constantly uploading your personal data, including photos and documents, to an external server. While some spyware will be hidden by hackers, others will be installed alongside your legitimate apps. You should look through your apps and delete unfamiliar or suspicious apps. Some of these apps are meant originally to monitor a child's phone usage for their own safety but could also be installed by a jealous ex-partner to spy on you. These include apps such as mSpy, Spyera, Flexispy, Umobix, Ikey Monitor, and Clevguard.
Random reboots could also signal your phone has been taken over. If your phone reboots without your permission, it could indicate a hacker has administrative-level access to your phone. To check, you can update your phone's operating system and delete any malfunctioning apps. If this doesn't help, you may have spyware on your phone.
Malicious apps on your phone could also cause it to overheat or use high amounts of data. If you suspect your phone is overheating, especially if you're not doing much on it, check which apps use the most energy under your battery settings. Some apps could have a legitimate reason for taking so many resources but this will at least point out the problematic apps. Your phone's settings can also let you know which apps are using a high amount of data.
