The near ubiquity of smartphones has changed the way we view the world. It has also changed the way in which hackers ply their sinister trade. Cell phone hacking is a very healthy industry, and you need to know how to spot if your smartphone has been compromised. Hackers can steal your credit card details, mine bitcoin and proliferate malware from your mobile device. Luckily, once you know you have malware installed on your phone you can begin to deal with the problem by talking to a professional. Here are four telltale signs that your mobile phone has been hacked.
Rogue Credit Card Purchases
Purchases being made without your permission are telltale signs that your mobile phone may be completely compromised. Gaining access to another person’s card details and making unauthorized purchases might not be the most sophisticated method of hacking, but it can still be devastating. Hackers could incriminate you by purchasing illegal goods online. They could also simply drain your bank account entirely – liquidating all of your cash into goods that can later be sold on. If you notice any unusual activity in your bank account you need to immediately uninstall your mobile banking application and do a thorough antiviral audit of your phone. If you are unsure of how to do this then seek advice from a professional.
Hot Battery
A hot battery is not always a sign that your phone has been compromised. Understanding how to know if your phone is hacked is largely to do with spotting things that do not follow the logic of your usage patterns. If your phone has been sitting in your pocket unused and suddenly starts to burn a hole in your thigh then you might well have a problem on your hands. A hot battery on a seemingly dormant phone can indicate that it is being used for cryptocurrency mining or that it is downloading software without your permission. Either way, you’ll want to conduct an antivirus sweep.
New Apps
Some types of mobile phone malware will automatically download new applications onto your device. They do this for several reasons. New applications can be used to trick you into giving away sensitive data like your credit card details. They can also be used to download more malware onto your mobile phone in the background. Always uninstall any applications that you cannot remember downloading and give your phone a proper audit if you find any unwanted software.
Spikes In Data Use
Hackers sometimes use phones to transmit viruses to other devices. More often than not, this involves the connection of a host device to the internet – although some hackers are able to spread viruses exponentially using Bluetooth. Quite often, the only way that this activity will be apparent will be a spike in data use. You probably have a relatively good idea of how much data you use in a month. If your bill is unusually high or if there are anomalous spikes during the month then you should make efforts to rid your phone of malware.
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