Smartphone: Six clues reveal a hacker attack
Smartphones are increasingly the focus of cyberattacks. Sometimes the criminals' deeds remain undetected, but there are often signs that one's own device has been affected. VPN pioneer NordVPN has identified six conspicuous features that indicate a hacker attack.
The increased number of attacks on smartphones comes as no surprise. After all, sensitive data is stored on mobile phones these days, and hackers can do a lot of damage with it. But how do I find out if my smartphone is affected? The following six signs of a hacked smartphone identified by NordVPN should prompt a thorough security check.
Severe loss of performance
The latest smartphones are true high-performance machines. If the performance drops for no reason, there is usually something wrong: apps that start very slowly or run sluggishly, and a battery that quickly drops to its knees can be indications of a hack: malware and surveillance software often work invisibly in the background and consume resources.
Unknown apps
Regularly downloaded apps, even if they come from trusted sources, can be a gateway for malware. Many free apps make their living by playing out advertisements from external providers. However, through appropriate docking stations that developers implement in the app's code, hackers may also be able to gain access to the phone. If other unknown applications appear after the installation of an app, there could be a security vulnerability. In this case, smartphone owners should check which applications they have downloaded themselves have permission to install further apps. Keeping an eye on your own app catalog is also part of security 101.
Faulty apps
Not only unknown or invisible apps can make a foreign access to the smartphone obvious. A hacker attack could also be the reason if everything seems normal at first, but then otherwise perfectly functioning apps no longer start or close during use for no apparent reason. Mysterious in-app purchases and messages in messenger programs that do not originate from the user are also possible signs that a vulnerability is being exploited. Security gaps in the system or careless user behavior, such as the careless opening of email attachments, are the usual gateways for cybercriminals.
Increasing data consumption
Another point that can indicate malware is a larger consumption of data volume. If extremely high numbers of used data transfer cannot be explained, monitoring software could be working in the background. In order to avoid escalating costs in case of doubt, smartphone users should cut the Internet connection until the security vulnerability has been cleaned up.
Inexplicable advertising
Everyone who is on the Internet knows them: pop-up ads. Unfortunately, this type of advertising is not unknown on smartphones either. Nevertheless, it is rather unusual when a large number of pop-up windows suddenly appear on the screen, even though no browser app is running. Spyware or malware could then be the cause.
Eerie camera phenomena
Probably the most atypical, but at the same time scariest case of hacking activity is directly related to the smartphone camera. Hacked phones sometimes turn up pictures and videos in the local file folders that were demonstrably not shot or filmed by the user. Similarly creepy, and another sign of third-party access, is when the flash constantly turns on and off by itself. Camera software and related hardware in particular consume large amounts of resources. Therefore, it usually comes to inexplicably large heat development of the device.
"If there is a suspicion of a hacker attack, the most important thing is not to panic," emphasizes Joanna Rusin-Rohrig, Country Manager DACH at NordVPN. "The first step back to security is to change your passwords. After that, it's a good idea to install anti-virus software and run a virus scan. In parallel, mobile phone owners can of course also look out for suspicious and unknown apps on their own and uninstall them. If these measures don't help or don't help enough, the last option is to reset the smartphone to factory settings."
Source: NordVPN
