6 suspicious signs your phone may have been hacked

1. Noticeable decrease in battery life:

While a phone’s battery life inevitably decreases over time, a smartphone that has been compromised by malware may start to display a significantly decreased lifespan. This is because the malware – or spy app – may be using up phone resources to scan the device and transmit the information back to a criminal server.

2. Your phone sluggish performance:

One of the major side-effects of a malicious software is a slow working phone. You will start experiencing that your phone is constantly freezing. This virus usually runs in the background and start utilizing your gadgets resources when it is active. You can download the app. A factory reset helps fix the bug once and for all. Sometimes, someone takes your phone and installs a spy app that has no icon in your phone and works in stealth mode and records all your communications for the person who installs a spy app in your phone. In such scenarios, it is best to factory reset your phone, that will uninstall the app.

3. High data usage:

You can track your data consumption through data usage meter on your phone. You can compare the data consumption from prior months and also see how much time are you actually spending on your phone. If the data consumption seems unusual, your phone might be hacked. for instance, adware infected gadgets usually perform unsolicited clicks in the background and generate profit for cyber criminals. this results in unusual spikes in your data consumption.

4. Your apps start to crash:

If you are facing such a scenario on your android phone, then you can activate safe mode in your phone. Since iOS does not have a Safe mode, you can try a soft reset to fix a lot of issues. In order to do so, press and hold iPhone’s sleep button and Home button at the same time. Now, wait for it to restart. If you own iPhone X, you need to press and release the volume up button first and then volume down button. Now press and release the side button and you are good to go.

5. Mystery pop-up ads:

Malware adds bookmarks that you do not want. This includes website shortcuts to your home screen that you did not create, spammy messages appear on your phone that tempt you to click them. These notifications may install more malware into your system.

6. Unexplained online activity:

Hackers get access to username and passwords of your personal accounts. These details can help them gain access to your bank accounts, your social media profiles and the online services you are taking. Regularly check your email inbox and sent folder. If you notice any email or social media post that you did not post, there’s a possibility that your phone is hacked and you need a professional to look into this matter.

Ever got your phone hacked? Let us know in the comments section

(The headline, pictures and some of the content of this report may have been reworked by the Glisten Pakistan staff; the some of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)