5 Key Signs of Spyware You Need to Recognize

July 17, 2024 By Janne Smith No Comments 6 minutes

Spyware is malicious software installed on devices such as mobile phones or computers without the user’s knowledge or consent. It has become alarmingly common, and cybercriminals are constantly developing new techniques to infect devices and steal data.

5 Key Signs of Spyware

A security audit conducted by Astra mentions that 80% of internet users experience spyware attacks, including Android, iPhone, PC, and Mac users–all being targeted. Here are some tips on how to identify if spyware is being used against one of your devices.

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Spy Apps Vs. Spyware

It’s important to note that spyware and spy apps are different. Spyware aims to secretly gather your data with malicious intentions, such as identity theft. ReadWrite’s Radek Zielinski explains the difference in more detail as he states that phone spy apps are usually used by parents or guardians of minors to monitor their online activity to ensure their safety.

Employers may also use spy apps to monitor productivity for geo-tracking reasons and ensure confidential data is handled securely. In contrast, spyware attaches to your operating system undetected and runs in the background. Yet there are signs that your device may have been infiltrated by spyware.

Signs Your Device is Infected With Spyware

Detecting spyware can be challenging. It’s like a skilled burglar breaking into your home and taking great care to cover their tracks, making it difficult to detect. However, there are small clues that something is amiss. You might often overlook these subtle details until you pay close attention.

Slow Performance

Spyware is constantly running in the background, consuming device resources. This will make your phone feel sluggish and slow, even when not running intensive apps.

While spyware runs in the background, it may transfer data from your device to an external server, which requires data usage and processing power. This interference can contribute to a noticeable slowdown in your phone’s overall performance and responsiveness.

Pop-ups and Ads

Spyware can be bundled with adware, malicious software that displays unwanted pop-ups and advertisements on a device. For example, these pop-ups will display “Caution! Ransomware detected!” as part of a pop-up scam used by threat actors to commit fraud. The fake ads and pop-ups are often spread by adware, which can direct you to malicious websites to further infect your device.

Unusual Network Activity

Spyware often needs to communicate with a remote server to send data collected from an infected device. This includes location data, login credentials, browsing history, and more. To do this, the spyware initiates network connections to specific IP addresses and domains controlled by the cybercriminals. These connections could happen at regular intervals.

Many mobile data plans include large or unlimited caps, which could make it harder to detect spyware. However, sudden changes in your network’s performance, like slower speeds or frequent disconnects, are potential signs of spyware. Additionally, connections to unfamiliar IP addresses or domains, especially those hosted in other countries, are a red flag for spyware.

Battery Drain

The most apparent sign of spyware is the abrupt and dramatic drop in battery life. Since spyware needs to run in the background, it consumes extra resources, which speeds up the drain on your phone’s battery. This would include:

CPU cycles: The spyware is constantly executing code and processes.
Memory usage: A spyware infection takes up a ton of RAM and other memory resources.

All of this background activity heavily strains your device’s battery, causing it to drain much faster than normal.

Unusual Behavior

Unusual browser and software behavior strongly indicates that your device has spyware.

Malvertising: Spyware can potentially install unwanted browser extensions or change your default homepage without your knowledge or consent. This allows the spyware to monitor your browsing activity and inject ads. This is malvertising, a form of false online advertising to spread malware to steal user data, hijack devices, and spy on user activity without a user’s knowledge or consent.
Unfamiliar toolbars: Spyware may install unwanted browser extensions or potentially change your default homepage without you noticing. This allows it to monitor your browsing activity and inject ads. Using a VPN can prevent spyware from collecting sensitive data like your browsing activities and login credentials and block malicious websites.

Redirected web searches: When browsing, you may face unintended redirections. This can happen through malicious browser extensions, links, or injected code from the spyware.
Inability to access secure accounts or websites: Spyware could interfere with your ability to access secure websites, like online banking, or block you from logging into certain accounts like online casino accounts or video gaming accounts. This could be a tactic to prevent you from discovering the spyware.

Banking systems and online casinos typically use artificial intelligence in their security systems to detect unusual or suspicious transactions on your account. Trying to access these accounts could detect the spyware on your device.

Antivirus Software Disabled

Spyware often tries to disable or interfere with an infected device’s antivirus, anti-malware, and other security programs. Unfortunately, spyware software is commonly used to avoid detection and removal.

Spyware will typically terminate the security processes or services running on your phone or PC, change the settings to prevent the security software from launching at startup and delete or quarantine the security program files.

An apparent sign of spyware is the app unexpectedly shutting down. You may also notice security alerts and notifications disabled or that the app crashes when running security scans. This is deliberate interference and a massive red flag for spyware.

Conclusion

Spyware can cause significant damage and harm if left undetected and unchecked. Consider investing in a VPN and reputable anti-spyware software to identify and remove spyware infections.

All your traffic passes through an ecnrytped tunnel, concealing all your browsing activities when you connect to a VPN. Moreover, restart your device in safe mode. This will prevent third-party apps from running, allowing you to uninstall infected apps if the spyware is not running safely. Conclusively, the key is to use a combination of anti-spyware apps to eliminate a spyware infection fully.