How to find spy software on your phone (Android and iOS)

However this is only a potential sign. Are you receiving strange text messages containing random numbers, symbols or characters? The remote control feature of spy software works by sending secret coded text messages to your phone and in some cases these can be seen if the software is not working correctly. If this happens regularly you could have a spy app on your phone.

Some of the less reliable spy apps use extra data to send the information collected from your phone, so look out for any unexplained increase in your monthly data usage. The best spy software programs data usage has been reduced and will be almost impossible to spot but the poor programs will show significant data use. Go to Settings — Applications — Manage Applications or Running Services, and you may be able to spot suspicious looking files. Some of the poorer quality software programs are still quite easy to spot. Generally, if you have an iPhone and someone wants to install spy software they have to jailbreak the phone first.

That said vulnerabilities have been discovered in the past that allowed someone with access to a network used by the device to download significant amounts of personal data. These holes have been patched but you can never be too certain about new vulnerabilities emerging. Looking deeper inside the iPhone directories is more difficult than with Android but there is an easy way to remove spy software from the iPhone.

How to find hidden spyware on Android

Simply upgrade to the latest OS version via iTunes which will remove the jailbreak and any external software not from Apple. But make sure to back up any important data on your phone before you do this. Resetting your phone to its factory settings, whether Android or iPhone, will remove any spy software, but again be sure to back up your data such as contacts, photos and music or you will lose them.

If you do take this approach then you will also need a strong passcode to prevent unauthorized access to your device in the future. It can be a shock to discover that someone is monitoring you with spy software. Blog Security Center Resources Forum.

How to Tell If Your Partner is Spying on Your Phone

BullGuard Blog. May 27, by Steve Bell Categories: Privacy. How to tell if your cell phone is being spied on There are several tell-tale signs that suggest your phone is being tracked, tapped or monitored in some way. Decreased battery capacity Another indication of a bugged cell phone is reduced battery performance.

Types of spyware

Phone takes a long time to shut down Before a smart phone shuts down it must complete any tasks that are processing. Battery temperature feels warm A further indicator of a possible phone tap is the temperature of your battery. Receiving unusual texts Are you receiving strange text messages containing random numbers, symbols or characters?

Increased data usage Some of the less reliable spy apps use extra data to send the information collected from your phone, so look out for any unexplained increase in your monthly data usage. Similar posts. February 22, Windows 7 support to be dropped.

Has your monthly data usage spiked recently?

That could indicate that someone has installed spyware on your device. Lower-quality spy tools will try to send as much data about your device back to their home base AKA the bad guys as they possibly can. This can use large amounts of data. On the other end of the spectrum, some of the spyware makers are quite skilled at it, and their sneaky apps are much more selective with what info they look for and send back home.

This makes detection a bit tougher. It all comes down to making sure that you stay aware of your monthly data usage and pay close attention to any sudden spikes in usage that you might see. To check your cellular data usage on an Android 9 device, do the following. The process should be similar on other versions of Android. To check your cellular data usage on an iPhone running iOS 14, do the following. Is your smartphone rebooting for no obvious reason or without your manually rebooting it?

Someone may have unauthorized remote access to your smartphone.


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Unexpected reboots may indicate someone has remote admin access and can reboot your device at will. This would also indicate they have all sorts of other access to your device and the personal data stored on it. Or, it could mean the latest app or operating system you recently downloaded has a bug in it. Check for new updates for the OS or app. See if you can duplicate the device reboot by using the app that was open when it happened.

On your Android device, you can install and run antivirus or anti-malware security software to scan your device. In the days of analog cell phone networks, weird noises in the background and unstable connections were to be expected. Have you either received unexpected messages with weird characters in them, or have your friends or other parties reported receiving weird or offensive messages from your phone? This can be a sign that you have spyware or malware installed on your smartphone.

SMS worms spread themselves through the online world by sending text messages with links embedded in them. If the victim taps the link, the worm can infect their smartphone. On your Android device, you can install and run security software such as antivirus or anti-malware to scan your device. Spyware monitors all of your on-device activities and sends information about these activities back to the bad actors that infected your device. Shortened battery life often goes hand-in-hand with increased data usage due to the activities of the spyware.

Taking screenshots, copying and pasting text, recording your conversations, and possibly taking photos or recording video can eat up battery life at an alarming rate. This is especially obvious when your smartphone is supposedly idle. Then, monitor the battery usage. But, you can make a Genius Bar appointment and they can check your battery for you.

While increased battery temperature can be a sign of multiple technical issues, it can also indicate that unauthorized activities, like spyware activities, are occurring in the background. If it is overly warm, then spyware could be working behind the scenes , collecting information and sending it back to home base. Your smartphone, much like a Mac or Windows PC, attempts to shut down all active processes before turning itself off or when it is rebooted.

And, much like your computer, occasionally those processes can hang up and either prevent or greatly slow the shutdown process.

How To Know If Someone Is Monitoring Your Phone - DNVlogsLife

While this can happen to any device, you may notice that it is happening more often than usual if your device has been infected with spyware. This could mean the spyware is working in the background, saving its ill-gotten information and sending it back to home base. In addition to slowing the shutdown process of your smartphone, spyware can also prevent your device from shutting down or rebooting completely. Again, this can be caused by a harmless app misbehaving, but if it just started happening recently, or is happening more often than not, your device might be infected with spyware.

Did anyone else hear Jeff Foxworthy say that last sentence in their head? Just me? High-end smartphones made in the last five years or so should run fast and not show many performance issues during day-to-day use.


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  8. If you notice your smartphone is lagging , performing much worse than usual, or is suddenly running out of resources like memory or storage space, it might be infected with spyware. This is tougher to tell with older smartphones or low-priced budget handsets like you get off the rack at Walgreens.

    But, if you pay attention to how your smartphone usually performs, you can usually tell if something is going on. As mentioned above, there is no lack of spying apps available for smartphones. A few popular examples are:. All the spyware listed above can monitor and record text messages and phone conversations. So, is there a way to find out whether spyware is installed on your device? If so, how can you remove it? The following instructions are for Android 9 devices. Your cell phone or mobile device may be running a different version of Android.

    What are these apps?

    However, the process should be similar on many versions of Android. Android device vendors can also make changes to settings menus, so your layout may look different. However, keep in mind that many spy apps do not use the actual name of the monitoring tool, but instead use a fake name to hide it. You should delete any unknown apps on your device. Do the following:. However, jailbreaking requires physical access to your mobile device, making it tougher for a bad guy or a nosy spouse to install spyware on the device.

    While this will prevent the installation of some of the nastiest spyware available out there, Apple does allow some apps in their App Store that can be used as spyware. Unfortunately, a suspicious partner, employer or other nosy individual can also use them to track your usage. But, keep in mind that they would need access to your mobile device and would need to know your device passcode and iCloud password. For tips on creating a strong password, visit my blog post. Bye-bye spy app. Admittedly, there have been reports of security and privacy vulnerabilities that were discovered in iOS in the past, allowing access by certain strains of spyware and malware.

    Although these vulnerabilities have been fixed by now, there are always new threats popping up from time to time. Luckily, Apple does a decent job of keeping these bugs squashed with iOS updates, so be sure to keep your iPhone or iPad updated. If your iPhone or iPad has been out of your sight for an extended period of time, you can simply update your device by following the steps in the previous paragraph.