How to Know if Your Phone Is Hacked

May 19, 2020 By Janne Smith No Comments 11 minutes

Unlike in the past, there’s now a heightened risk of cyber attacks. With tech advancements to the black hats’ aid, how to know if your phone is hacked? Fret not! This article covers a brief guide about signs your phone is hacked and ways to block hackers from hacking your phone.

Note: You’re always only a step away from a potential cyber attack. And you can only successfully mitigate a potential cyber attack using a reliable VPN, like FastestVPN. Despite being affordable, it doesn’t cut out on its premium features.

When connecting to the VPN, your virtual location is disguised according to the server’s location. Meanwhile, the military-grade AES 256, robust protocols, and the strict no-logs policy always have your back!

Can Someone Hack Your Phone and Control Your Phone?

Yes, a hacker can always hack your phone if exposed to vulnerabilities. And, with the Internet being our numero uno for every help, we’re always closer to a potential cyber attack than we know. According to Exploding Topics, Generation Z spends an average of approximately 9 hours per day in front of screens.

Mobile phones are our confidante, so they are a primary target for black hats. Usually, it’s the trojans and malware that hack a device. Following this, the black hats always monitor your device activity.

While this may sound scary, there are 5 signs to always look out for to ensure that your device is safe from hackers. The following sections consist of how to tell if your phone has been hacked.

How to Know if Your Phone Is Hacked

According to Statista, in December 2022, there were roughly 2.2 million mobile cyber attacks worldwide. And the stats have only been dropping over time, thanks to most users now being more aware of the signs present.

That said, here’s how to know if your phone is hacked:

1. Battery Drain

Here’s the first step to “how to know if your phone is hacked.” Generally, a full smartphone battery should last you a day, but a hacked phone will barely last enough. And you’ll notice a significant battery drain. While this might be the first indication, looking for other signs your phone is hacked is important.

2. Persistent Pop-Ups

Here’s a clear red flag: the pop-ups! This is also how to know if your phone is hacked. It’s uncommon for pop-ups to appear on your smartphone, especially if you haven’t subscribed to any of the channels.

3. Lagging Phone

Apart from the regular device performance, you’ll notice your phone is lagging. And, despite restarting the phone, you’ll notice a similar device performance.

4. Significant Data Usage

If you’re dependent on the phone’s data, you’ll notice significant data spikes despite regular usage, and this is one of the primary ways how to tell if your phone has been hacked. Usually, the malware in the background consumes the data to carry out the functions.

5. Suspicious App Downloads

This might clearly indicate how to know if your phone is hacked. Check if any different apps installed on your phone can look suspicious. Along with the apps, there might be suspicious purchases or calls.

6 Ways Your Phone Can Be Hacked

The portion mentioned above helps with the question of “How can I tell if my phone has been hacked?” but how does the phone get hacked? Here’s a brief description of 6 different ways a phone can be hacked:

1. Public WiFi and Phone Charging Stations

Public WiFi might seem bliss, but here’s what’s at stake: your personal information. The best way to mitigate the risk of your device being hacked is to connect to FastestVPN. Doing so will enable you to leverage the WiFi access without compromising your digital security.

On the other hand, despite the convenience public phone charging spots offer, they’re equally dangerous, and it’s best to avoid them. Plugging the same USB cable stations into the device can infect it with malware.

2. Social Engineering Attack

This attack usually happens with more than one step involved. An attacker initially researches the targeted victim to collect essential background details, including potential entry points and weak security measures required to carry out the attack.

Next, the attacker works to gain the victim’s trust and prompts actions that compromise security protocols, such as disclosing sensitive information or allowing access to important resources.

3. Phishing Attack

Phishing messages and texts is one of the most common ways to hack a device. For example, you might get a text with a link encouraging you to click the link by creating a sense of urgency. This can either be related to securing a bank account or a too-good-to-be-true deal. Once clicked, your device will be infected with malware.

4. Bluetooth Connection

Bluetooth connections are one of the most common and oldest ways of hacking phones. After connecting a Bluetooth device, those devices are usually on your phone despite being disconnected, i.e., the device can still connect to yours. The hacker reconnects to install malware on your device.

5. Malware or Spyware Installation

You might see malicious spyware installed on your device through an unintentional download. For example, you might click on an ad or pop-up when using free streaming sites online. This will lead to spyware installation on your device. The only way to stay protected from this is by using FastestVPN when navigating your way in the grey area.

What to Do if Your Phone Is Hacked: The Top 5 Ways

While the percentage of phones getting hacked has dipped slightly, being a victim is still a cause for concern. Don’t panic and search for “how to know if your phone is hacked” just yet. Here are the 5 steps you should take if your phone has been hacked:

1. Reset the Device

Reset your device before proceeding with other methods to protect your phone from hackers. Here’s how you can do so:

• Check if your bank or e-commerce accounts were accessed.
• Change all passwords to strong, new ones immediately.
• Delete suspicious apps/messages and install online protection software.
• If needed, reset your phone to factory settings.
• Inform contacts of the hack and advise them to ignore messages from your phone.
• Secure your phone by enabling two-factor authentication on all accounts.

2. Change All Passwords

Hackers primarily aim for monetary gains, meaning they’ll first head for your apps or resources that store your personal information, like bank details. After finding out the answer to “how can I tell if my phone has been hacked,” it’s best to change all passwords immediately. Especially the banking app passcodes.

Ensure that you keep a strong password, including letters, numbers, alphanumerics, or anything that is hard to guess. Also, we don’t recommend storing your password in the memos or saving them in another app.

3. Uninstall Suspicious Apps

As mentioned before, one of the signs of your phone getting hacked is suspicious apps being found on your device. For this, it’s best that you overview all apps on your device and uninstall any suspicious app if there’s any. Also, installing an anti-virus on your device is best, or using a VPN beforehand should already help with zero suspicious app installations.

4. Notify Your Contacts Immediately

Once you’ve installed spyware on your device, it’s crucial to inform your contacts that your phone has been hacked. Since the black hats often send phishing texts/emails to your contacts as if it’s you. Before your contacts become victim, too, it’s best to inform them of the phishing texts and emails already on their way.

5. Factory Reset the Device

If none of the above steps work, it’s best to factory reset the device. This will remove all the unwanted apps from your device and wipe off all the temporary data. This means that the spyware will also be removed. Here’s how to factory reset the device for Android and iPhone:

Factory Reset for Android

After finding out “how to know if your phone is hacked,” here’s how to perform a factory reset on Android:

• Save any important data.
• Go to the Settings app.
• Scroll down and tap on “System.”
• Tap “Reset” or “Reset options.”
• Select “Erase all data (factory reset).”
• Follow the prompts to confirm and start the reset.

Factory Reset for iPhone

Here’s how to perform a factory reset for iPhone:

• Save any important data.
• Go to the Settings app.
• Tap on “General.”
• Scroll down and tap “Reset.”
• Select “Erase All Content and Settings.”
• Enter your passcode and Apple ID password to confirm and start the reset.

How Do I Unhack My Phone?

Here are 6 ways you can unhack your phone:

1. Uninstall Suspicious Apps

You must often check the apps installed on your device. If you see any suspicious apps, you must uninstall them from your phone. Installing an antivirus app will also be of great help, as it notifies you of suspicious apps on your device.

2. Clear Cache

To enhance your browsing experience, your phone temporarily saves data from the websites you visit. If you suspect malware from your web browsing, regularly clear your cookies and cache.

Here’s how to clear the cache for Android and iPhone:

How to Clear Cache on Android

Here’s how you can clear the cache on your Android device:

• Tap on the “Settings” app.
• Scroll down and tap on “Apps” or “Applications.”
• Choose the app for which you want to clear the cache.
• Tap on “Storage” or “Storage & cache.”
• Tap “Clear Cache.”

How to Clear Cache on iOS

Here’s how to clear the cache on your iOS device:

• Tap on the “Settings” app.
• Scroll down and select “Safari.”
• Tap “Clear History and Website Data.”
• Confirm by tapping “Clear History and Data.”

3. Set Strong Passwords

You must always only set strong passwords, i.e., by using alphanumerics, small and capital alphabets, and numbers. After setting the password, ensure that you change the password every 3 months. And after setting new passwords, make sure that you never save them in one of the apps, such as the memo.

4. Check the Application Permissions

How to Review App Permissions on an iPhone

• Tap on the “Settings” app.
• Scroll down and select “Privacy.”
• Choose the type of information to see which apps have access.
• Toggle the switch to allow or deny access for specific apps.

How to Review App Permissions on Android

• Tap on the “Settings” app.
• Select “Apps” or “Applications.”
• Choose the app you want to review.
• Tap “Permissions” or “Privacy.”
• Toggle the switch to allow or deny access for specific permissions.

5. Update the Device’s Operating System (OS)

OS updates ensure that your device operates smoothly, without any glitches hindering the user experience. Besides new features and bug fixes, these updates include security patches to protect your phone. Just as you wouldn’t leave your door unlocked while you’re away, you shouldn’t leave your phone without adequate security.

6. Perform a Factory Reset

If the above-mentioned solutions don’t work for you, it’s best to perform a factory reset; you have the option to perform a factory reset on your device. Prior to doing this, make sure to back up any important files, as a factory reset erases all data and personal files stored on your phone. However, on a positive note, a factory reset will also eliminate any malicious files that hackers might have installed.

Why Use FastestVPN to Block Hackers From Hacking the Phone

VPNs elevate your guards against potential cyber threats via their robust protocols and military-grade features, such as AES 256-bit encryption. While the VPNs notoriously cost an arm and a leg for these premium features, FastestVPN stands out of the flock by offering impressively affordable subscriptions without cutting out on the features.

Conclusion

We hope this guide covers everything you need to know about identifying and protecting your phone if it has been hacked. Today, everyone depends heavily on their phones, and preventing them from being compromised is crucial. Take phone security seriously.

Additionally, always use a reliable VPN like FastestVPN while browsing the web, whether on a public network or at home, to keep your identity hidden and ensure safe browsing.

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