Hackers employ various tactics to gain access to phone users’ personal and professional data, such as displaying misleading advertisements, installing malware that monitors call logs and data usage patterns, or exploiting public Wi-Fi networks that are vulnerable.
But with some knowledge and foresight, you can recognize the early warning signs before hackers strike. Look out for slow running devices, apps taking longer to load or overheating as well as any suspicious activities on your data connections.
1. Keep Your Phone With You
As a working professional, your smartphone is an indispensable ally in improving productivity. However, its cache of personal and professional information makes it an attractive target for hackers; hackers use various techniques such as phishing emails, malware apps and exploiting public Wi-Fi networks to gain entry to devices.
Staying with you makes it much more difficult for hackers to gain entry to your phone. Utilizing a passcode lock and only storing passwords in the cloud are also useful steps towards protecting yourself against theft. When setting your PIN number, choose something easy for others to guess such as birthdays, graduation dates or 1234567890 to further mitigate risk.
Unusual changes to its settings such as privacy or security measures can also indicate your device has been compromised by malware. For instance, camera and microphone permission changes could indicate such compromise.
Whenever you become suspicious of app permissions on your phone, a factory reset (commonly referred to as a “factory data reset”) may also be beneficial. Doing this will clear all of your information and restore the operating system back to its factory-fresh state, making it harder for hackers to install additional malicious software. Just ensure you back up your phone before doing this so you can easily reinstall all important photos and applications afterwards.
2. Use Complex Passwords
As powerful as smartphones may be, attackers still use age-old methods to gain entry. This may include sophisticated security breaches or even simply stealing phones or hacking the device directly with brute force or other techniques.
Some of the hallmarks of a compromised smartphone include slower device performance, unusual app behavior or changes to your home screen layout, faster battery drain or an increase in data usage and slow app responses or frequent pop-ups – these could all be indicators of malware that require immediate investigation.
An effective password is your first line of defense against smartphone hacks. To make the strongest possible protection, it is vital to choose complex passwords – ones which are difficult to guess such as birth dates, nicknames or personal data such as birthdates or nicknames are best; rather consider using letters from different languages, non sequential numbers and special characters such as @$&&! to strengthen overall strength of password and make it much less susceptible to brute-force attacks.
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth should always be disabled when not in use; hackers often exploit public wireless networks or Bluetooth vulnerabilities to gain entry to phones. Also consider turning on two-factor authentication (2FA), as this provides an extra step that must be completed to use the phone, even if someone knows your password; you can enable 2FA through Settings or its equivalent menu on your phone.
3. Don’t Click on Pop-Ups
Your smartphone could still be susceptible to hacking if it contains malware. Criminals may install apps that appear as games or photo editors but contain hidden functionality – such as stealing personal information or monitoring activity on your phone – with criminals then taking advantage of any vulnerabilities to install additional malicious software onto it.
Constant pop-ups or redirections on both your home screen and lock screen could be indicative of malicious adware that’s trying to drive clicks for revenue generation. Receiving two-factor authentication codes you didn’t request might also indicate someone has compromised your device.
Be mindful, though: pop-ups could also appear due to settings or preinstalled applications – such as bloatware bundled with some phones – that have been configured or preloaded onto your device. When installing new apps – especially free ones which may seem suspicious – be extra vigilant.
Signs of a compromised device include having to reset passwords, being charged unknowingly to your account and new accounts being opened in your name. If these warning signs emerge on your smartphone, it’s imperative that swift action be taken immediately in order to break off their link between you and an attacker and protect your data from theft – such as switching off Wi-Fi and mobile data connections on your phone to break off this connection and prevent further theft of information from your phone.
4. Keep an Eye on Your Data
Hackers love smartphones because they hold so much valuable data – both personal and corporate – on them. Hackers use smartphones to intercept emails and passwords using phishing, convince users into downloading malicious applications from app stores, or set up fake public Wi-Fi networks that harvest the phones that connect to them.
Not to worry! A hacked phone can be easily identified by monitoring for unusual behaviors on your device, such as slow performance or app crashes, ads appearing without you clicking them, and excessive data usage. Furthermore, an unusually higher than usual bill may be an indicator that malware is present and eating up your data usage.
Apps installed without your knowledge should also be checked carefully as these could potentially contain malware, gain remote control of your device, or make calls and texts at your expense (at a premium price).
To avoid hacking, be proactive about security. Keep your operating system updated, don’t click anything that pops up even with an ad blocker installed, monitor data usage regularly and switch passwords frequently so as to reduce attack surface and protect from breaches if one occurs – factory-resetting can always be an option!