Hackers are on the prowl, and while they might be far away, they can be closer than you can imagine.
Smart hackers don’t get caught, but then, there are ‘our village people’ hackers, who will hold your phone just to get access into your social media accounts or email addresses.
Smart hackers can break into your device, steal everything they can, and finish without a trace.
Sometimes they leave a trail of destruction in their wake – malware, weird ads, confused relatives, and even a drained bank account or stolen identity.
In our clime, smartphones are mostly vulnerable to cyber-criminals. So what if they’ve already broken in, yet you don’t even know they are there?
Here are clear-cut signs that you have been hacked.
Programs and apps start crashing
Now, here is a clear sign that your phone has been hacked. If apps are either crashing or disabled, a nasty virus has likely taken hold of your critical files.
You may not be able to click on once-reliable apps. In the worst case scenario, ransomware may prevent you from opening your favorite files.
Your gadget suddenly slows down
One of the side-effects of malicious software is a slow gadget. Apps get sluggish, or constantly freeze, or even crash. If you start noticing some of these symptoms, your phone may very well have been hacked.
Malicious software usually runs in the background, secretly eating up your gadget’s resources while it’s active.
You start seeing strange pop-up ads
Malware can also add bookmarks that you don’t want, website shortcuts to your home screen that you didn’t create, and spammy messages that entice you to click through. Apart from slowing down your gadget and eating away at your data, these intrusive notifications can also install more malware on your system.
Criminals can also hijack your phone to modify the ads that you see while browsing. Instead of the regular ads that you should be getting, they can be replaced with inappropriate or malicious ones.
You’re using way more data than usual
Every Internet provider has tools that can keep track of your monthly bandwidth consumption. Look at data usage and compare the amount of data used from the prior months. If you notice sudden spikes in your data activity even though you haven’t changed your patterns, then chances are you are infected.
For example, adware infected gadgets usually perform unsolicited clicks in the background to generate profit for cybercriminals. These stealthy tactics use up bandwidth and the unauthorized data they consume should be fairly easy to spot.
Unexplained online activity on your device
Hackers covet your usernames and passwords. These details, coupled with social engineering tricks, can gain access to your banking accounts, your social media profiles, and your online services.
Keep an eye on your email’s “sent” folder and on your social network posts. If you notice emails and posts that you don’t remember sending or posting, it’s likely that you have been hacked.
Constantly check your accounts for unauthorized activities.
Strange 2-factor authentication attempts
Someone might be sitting miles away and initiating a process to hack into your social media accounts or email addresses. If your accounts are protected with two factor authentication, the account will immediately alert you. If you received strange two factor authentication attempts and you granted access, your account must have been compromised.
Your gadget suddenly restarts
Automatic restarts are part of normal computer life. Software updates and new application installs can prompt you to reboot your computer. Your system will warn you when these happen, and you can delay or postpone them. Yet sudden restarts are a different story.
Watch out for these signs and always keep safe with your digital life.