How to know if your Phone is Hacked and How to fix it?

With 3.3 billion smartphones in the world today. Smartphones have become a favorite target for Hackers. And given that smartphones are mostly connected to the internet, remotely accessing them becomes easy. But should you be afraid of it? or Is your phone Hacked or compromised?

Let’s answer these questions one by one, should you be afraid of it? No, not at all. See almost everything we use has some kind of risk. So we just use these things with some preventive measures everything remains all right. The same is for smartphones if you use them with some precautions then mostly everything should remain fine. Now, about these preventive measures, we will discuss later in the post.

Second questions, Is your phone Hacked or compromised? If you are reading this chances are you doubt so. Lets clear your doubts and see if the below-mentioned signs are present in your device.

Signs your phone is hacked or compromised and contains a virus

1. Random Pop-ups and Ads

Are you seeing random popups like your mobile device is slow or a virus has been detected on your phone in your browser? These popups often make noises, flash screen, or vibrate your phone randomly. If these appear in your browser you should close the browser or Close that tab having this popup clicking on that popup will install a virus on your phone. Although do note if this is happening on your phone without you opening any faulty website then your phone has already got a virus.

2. Automatic installation of Unknown apps on your phone.

Apps are the easiest way for hackers to gain access to your phone. And if you are seeing apps that you have not installed on your phone and are installed without your approval. Chances are you have got a virus or malware on your phone.

3. Check battery usage

If your device battery is draining fast without any reason than this might be an indication that some app is continuously running in the background. Open Settings > Battery > Battery Usage and scan the list for anything unusual. If you see anything other than ordinary then its a virus.

4. Check Data Usage

If you have a virus, keylogger, trojan in your phone it might increase your data usage. These kinds of viruses do share your personal info with hackers without your knowledge. This increases your data usage so if you are unnecessary data usage your device might be affected.

5. Device Malfunctioning

If your phone is functioning unusually like randomly turning on and off, Apps are opening and closing automatically. This is a sign of your phone being hacked or you have a virus on your phone.

6. You are Receiving strange Text messages

Sometimes hackers even send you links which if you click will install viruses, keyloggers, trojan or spyware, on your phone and open backdoors for hackers. Is your device receiving strange text messages then also it can mean that your device is hacked. As many hacking apps use text messages to communicate with hackers and receive orders.

7. Device is Slow

If suddenly your phone has started to feel slow and sluggish it might be some virus is running in the background. As it uses your phone’s resources you might feel your device performing slow. To check it navigate to Setting > Memory > Memory used by apps and analyze if any app is consuming a high amount of ram even if you are not using it.

If anything mentioned above is happening with your device, then your phone might be hacked. Now you will need to fix it and for that follow the steps below.

Disable Unkown source

The first step is to navigate to Settings > Security > and disable Unknown Sources this stops the installation of apps from sources other than Play Store. Its always recommended installing apps only from Google Play Store. It protects your device from getting viruses. Although it’s not 100% sure as sometimes even apps on Google Play Store have reported viruses which somehow escaped Google’s strict scan.

Uninstall unwanted or bad Apps

Uninstall any unwanted apps or apps that might have installed without your knowledge. If you have observed any app consuming more than required resources, like the battery, data, Ram then you should remove those apps. Its always better to have apps only which you use as these apps always run in the background and reduce your phone’s performance.

Install Antivirus to Scan

Although we don’t always recommend using an Antivirus as it consumes a lot of resources on your phone. Which in turn slows down your phone. But if you have a doubt of a virus on your phone you should install a reputable Antivirus like Avast Antivirus and do a complete scan of your Phone.

Erase everything

This is the last option, If after doing all of the above steps you are not satisfied and your device has not returned to normal then you should Factory reset your device. This will solve your problems but you will lose your data so be sure to back it up.

How to Prevent from Getting Your Phone Hacked

Once you have got rid of all the viruses you would never want to have them back. So for that just follow some simple preventive measures:

1. Always try to install apps from only Google Play Store(You should install apps from other sources but only if you completely trust that source.)
2. Never click or links if you don’t trust the person who has send you that link. Sometimes even your over-possessive boyfriend or Girlfriend can send you links that contain spyware to keep an eye on you.
3. When browsing the internet always try to browse through https sites only.
4. Always keep your phone updated with the latest software updates.
5. Keep your phone secure with a Password or Pin.
6. Your devices have higher chances of getting hacked if you use public wifi.

If you want to know which apps can be used to hack Android phone click here.