Smartphone spying has become the common topic and target for online hackers in the era of mobile technology. It can be seen that the issue of phone spying and hacking could be a result of the rise of smartphones usage. Therefore, hackers are likely to track movements and activities through phone (Schlesinger & Day, 2016). This is due to a huge amount of sensitive data, such as photos, messages, and banking information in mobile devices. According to The National Center for Victims of Crime, 1 in 4 of 6.6 million victims in the United States, are affected by having their mobile devices monitored and tracked through some forms of technology (Lewis, 2019). It is clearly shown that this is an important issue that everyone should be aware of.
There are some people who know about negative effects of getting hacked on their privacy and the importance of smartphone security, but there are still some people who do not take this issues seriously due to lack of information regarding cybercrime (How to Stop Someone from Spying On Your Cell Phone, 2020). This topic is very significant to everyone and especially your family because there are numerous ways that your phone can be hacked and get tracked of everything that occurs on phone.
There are 7 common ways that your phone can be anonymously hacked. A well-known way that your device can be hacked are spy apps that are available on Google Play for IOS and Android to be easily downloaded. Those apps allow hackers to track your location, communication including text messages and emails, history, photos, log phone calls, and even hijack the phone’s mic to record person’s conversations. The second common way that your phone can be hacked is through phishing messages. It might happen when you receive messages or emails from anyone to check out links, videos or download malicious apps that may to steal log in information and expose user phone’s data. Thirdly, Signalling System No 7 (SS7) is a communication protocol for global phone network, allows hackers to track messages, calls, locations, access to protected accounts and damage personal and financial information. Moreover, free Wi-Fi networks or public hotspot is also commonly used to view unencrypted mobile traffic, and redirect to lookalike banking sites to steal usernames, passwords and relevant browsing history. Another way is hacked iCloud and Google accounts allow hackers to access to information backed up from your phone including photos, current locations messages, calls and passwords to email or browsers that saved by iCloud Keychain. Additionally, when hackers are able to cracked Google accounts, they will also be able to the Gmail. One advantage that hackers can take and it is not really well-known to some users is hacking when users plug their phones into malicious charge hub or malware-loaded computer. As some people have known already that USB cables can be used to transfer data and charge battery, so it is shown by security researchers that it is possible to exploit the video-out feature on phone when plugging to charge hub. This way, hackers may be able to monitor every keystroke such as passwords and data in phone. However, the chance of getting hacked by charging is low because newer android phones need permission and iPhones require PIN to load their hard drive when plugged into a new computer. Last but not least, FBI’s StingRay and similar pretender wireless carrier tower are used for criminal investigation purposes, involves the cellular surveillance device’s usage. Stringray and other cellular towers, force nearby phones to drop their existing connection and connect to the StringRay instead which allows the device’s operators to monitor and track movements including texts and calls made by this phone (Stokes, 2019).
Since mobile spying and hacking are the common issues that can cause many dangerous damages on user’s privacy such losing personal information and activities, there are many victims and most people are worried about this issues and do not know whether their phones were hacked or not. No wonder that noticing that your phone has been hacked or not, is the first thing that everyone should do before figure out the ways to protect your phone security.
There are 5 signs that you should pay attention at, to notice whether your phone may have been hacked or not. Firstly, a decrease in phone battery without excessive use. Normally phone battery drains when we actively use or play games but there is a reason to be concerned if your phone battery decreases without using it because it could be a result from malware or spy apps use up phone resources scan the device and transmit information, which cause a decrease in lifespan of battery. Another sign that you should notice is slow-moving performance on your phone like frequently freezing or crashing and even having phone restart repeatedly because it could be caused by malware overload phone’s resources and other applications. Thirdly, high use of data. An increase of high mobile data usage is a sign that you should also notice when you have high data bill, which could be caused by spy apps are running in the background and sending information to its server. Another sign is unusual activities on your phone. Any unusual activity on phone such as calls or messages that you did not send, reset password and including activity on accounts linked to your phone, especially when it is on standby mode. These activities indicate that hacker has accessed to your phone and your device is remotely controlled. Lastly, mystery pop-up alerts. Some constant pop-up alerts show that a form of malware affects your phone and forces devices to view pages that drive revenue through clicks (Stokes, 2019).
Since mobile hacking is dangerous to phone’s users, your phone can be protected from hacking, by using a secure password, anti-malware and encryption tools, and having security applications installed to prevent your privacy from spying (How to Stop Someone from Spying On Your Cell Phone, 2020).
List of References:
How to Stop Someone from Spying On Your Cell Phone. (2020). Retrieved February 10, 2020, from PureVPN: https://www.purevpn.com/internet-privacy/how-to-stop-someone-from-spying-on-my-cell-phone?fbclid=IwAR0i_sicTntZhw8BVnLrexek18nPqvDUP3NdLJ1uJr3jaFg7CKI5HQZ12qE
Lewis, S. (2019, September 05). Your mobile phone is a magnet for cyberstalkers and hackers. Here’s how to protect yourself. Retrieved February 10, 2020, from CNBC LLC: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/05/how-to-protect-your-mobile-phone-from-cyberstalkers-and-hackers.html
Schlesinger, J., & Day, A. (2016, June 17). Your smartphone could be hacked without your knowledge. Retrieved February 10, 2020, from CNBC LLC: https://www.cnbc.com/2016/06/17/your-smartphone-could-be-hacked-without-your-knowledge.html
Stokes, N. (2019, May 01). How to Tell if Your Phone Has Been Hacked. Retrieved February 10, 2020, from Techlicious LLC: https://www.techlicious.com/tip/how-to-tell-if-your-phone-has-been-hacked/comments-/CP4/?fbclid=IwAR1_Gua3Nrxz90XtaXrb2BB5JdfBFgY0d-Ew49IB6Vs8dkNGgZX-ScnXPkM
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