¿You think they are spying on your mobile? First of all, don't panic. Although film and television have led us to believe that anyone can hack a phone, the truth is that it is not that simple.
Hacking a phone undetected doesn't just require some technical knowledge. It also requires a lot of skill and some other skills that have nothing to do with the world of technology. Spying on a phone, however, is as simple as installing an app on your mobile. In most cases it is usually people from our environment, or app developers who all want to show us advertising even in the soup. The latter are the easiest to detect. The others, however, are much more sibylline, since the only thing they really look for is the personal information of the owner of the phone.
5 clues that will tell you if your mobile is being spied on by someone else
In order to obtain personal data from the victim, WhatsApp is the favorite application of information thieves. In addition, it is quite easy to hack into anything that we have a little oversight (we already discussed in this day in THIS OTHER POST).
The rest of the data like our contact list, call history, messages, GPS location or the use of apps, they are a little more difficult to subtract. Here are some of the points that we have to review thoroughly if we believe that our mobile is being spied on.
Note: The following guide is valid for both Android and iPhone phones.
- If your phone has been rooted (Android) or has a jailbreak (iOS). A smartphone never comes with root administrator permissions as standard. We can check it in a matter of seconds with apps like Root Checker.
- Erratic behaviors If you see that the phone history has call logs that you don't remember making, it may be an indication that we have been hacked. The same applies to text messages and SMS.
- During a phone call, if you hear small knocks, interference, ticks, or noises with certain repeating patterns, it is another sign that the phone may be tapped.
- If the battery drains much faster than normal. Spy apps tend to run in the background, and generally consume a lot of battery power.
- Check the list of installed applications for spy apps. If you find an application or game with a suspicious name or that you do not remember installing, it may be a spy application. Also think that some of these apps may come "camouflaged" under known names or harmless at first glance.
What can I do if my phone has been hacked?
If we have suspicions or even some firm evidence that we are being spied on, it is advisable to carry out a series of actions on our terminal.
- If you have already identified the application that is hacking your mobile, uninstall it as soon as possible. Restart the phone and check that it no longer appears in the list of installed applications.
- These types of apps are usually quite persistent, and sometimes they are impossible to delete using traditional methods. If you have Android, install a good antivirus to check for any active threats. In the case of iPhone, we can install some type of Malwarebytes antimalware.
If we do not have root permissions on our terminal, it is most likely that the antivirus cannot eliminate the threat. In this case, it is best to make a backup of all our data and format the terminal to factory state.
Finally, comment that in these cases it does not hurt either update our phone to the latest version available. The latest system updates may include patches and security measures against the type of threats that are hijacking the phone.
How to protect ourselves against possible hackers and spies
Normally, spy applications require that the assailant take over our phone physically, at least for a few moments. To avoid this, it is important that we protect our phone with a PIN, password or any other screen lock.
In the face of other information theft techniques, such as the phishingIt is also important that we do not click on suspicious links or install any application like that, no matter how much it seems to be a message from our bank or financial institution. Even more reason if the number from which the SMS or email is sent is from an unknown number or sender. Remember also that your bank will never ask you to send your PIN or password via text message.
The last point, and perhaps the most important to avoid being hacked, is not to connect to open WiFi networks. Only use wireless networks where the traffic is encrypted, and if you have no choice, at least install a VPN app to encrypt the data traffic of your terminal.
Related: The best VPN apps for Android
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