Imagine playing your favorite game on your mobile phone, and it starts behaving weirdly. You ignore it at first, but things become quite common. You start witnessing sluggish operations, device freezes, and pop-ups commonly.
What do you think the reason could be? Is your phone hacked? Probably, yes!
As mobile phones have become a critical part of our regular lives, we surely can’t ignore their overall importance, no matter what. In fact, most of the things we do, whether it’s booking cabs, restaurants or playing games, are all mostly done through mobile phones. As commonly as it’s used, we cannot prevent the exposure of our devices to hacking practices.
So what can be done to ensure its negligible effect on our device? Look for signs and take steps immediately:
1. Slow Phone
This is the most common sign of hacking, and you should be aware of it. A slow or sluggish phone that suddenly starts lacking in performance could mean that your device is hijacked by hackers. In most cases, you may see that the online websites that loaded faster earlier have become slow.
You may also witness slow apps, difficulty with general phone operations and trouble sending messages. The majority of the time, such instances are related to malware. So, once you face such problems, try following the generic steps to prevent malware, like keeping your device up-to-date and installing strong security software.Â
2. Reduced Battery Performance
If you have been struggling with your phone battery performance, there could be many common reasons behind it. Perhaps, you have an application running in the background unknowingly or maybe your phone battery has worn out due to long-term use. So, first things first, get your device checked by a professional.
If they give a green signal, but it still shows the same issue with the battery performance, it’s likely that your phone has been hacked. In most cases, iPhones don’t face glitches and battery issues that commonly.Â
So, if your iPhone has been showing signs of performance loopholes and battery problems, check if iPhone was hacked immediately. If that’s the case, follow the basic steps for its troubleshooting or get it checked by a professional thoroughly.
3. Pop-ups
Are you seeing too many pop-ups on your device from unknown sources? It could be a sign that your device is hacked. Usually, pop-ups are used for advertising and lead generation. But, sometimes, these pop-ups can be the result of adware or cyber threats. So, make sure to uninstall unnecessary programs/apps/files that may have been installed on your device with your knowledge.
Also, keep in mind that despite how persuasive the pop-up seems, do not click on it unless you are assured of its genuineness. If you do so, you may open doors to malware to enter the device, making it more vulnerable to threats.
4. Ouch! The Phone’s Hot
A phone gets overheated due to many reasons starting from device overuse to battery strains and direct heat exposure. But if those reasons have been ruled out, it could be a sign that your phone is hacked.
A hot or overheated phone indicates that there is some fishy malware application running in the background that you aren’t aware of. Besides overheating, you may notice that the device is burning extra data.
So, check for such symptoms and also consider ways to keep the mobile overheating at bay, just as you would do in case of PC overheating.
5. Messages, Mails, and Phone Calls That You Haven’t Sent
If you notice any suspicious data sent from your device either through messages or phone calls/emails, it’s another sign that your device is hacked by a hacker. Usually, such hacking practices are used for spreading malware to your contacts. That’s why you should monitor your device for such things and never pick up unknown calls.
Nowadays, you can find varied caller-identification applications to instantly identify whether the number from which you are receiving calls/messages is, in fact, legitimate or not. Trying using it for more safety.
How Can a Phone Be Hacked?
Your phone can be hacked through different methods that you may or may not be aware of. That’s why, if you have been practising any of these, stop it instantly to prevent hacking of any sort:
- Clicking on a suspicious link (can be a phishing attack)
- Using public charging stations (hackers can hide malware/mini-computers in such places)
- Downloading apps that are not genuine (can be a malicious app)
- Using free Wi-Fi (can be used for spying)
- Poor password hygiene (makes your device more vulnerable to hacking)
