Everyone is now immensely dependent on mobile phones. From acquiring education to shopping, online banking people prefer smartphones. These electronic devices have made our lives much more relaxed than expected, and people are spending more time than before.
However, mobile phones, especially the Android ones, bring vulnerabilities and threats along with themselves. Stats reveal an increase in the number of mobile bugs and security flaws in 2021, and this figure will increase over time. The situation is alarming as Symantec also warns of different malicious apps. The company claims to block more than 10,000 malicious apps daily. Android malware like the Joker malware has been rising for quite a long time.
This post discusses different signs of Android malware and quick ways to prevent it. But before this, let's first talk about how malware gets into your phone. Let's read on.
Android malware is a severe concern for Android users. There are many ways of phone hacking. Some of these includes:
Before concluding, it's better to confirm whether either your device is being infected with malware or not. For this, you need to look for some common Android malware detection signs. Below are the five signs of Android malware:
There are mobile apps for almost every reason. Some of these apps are installed by default, while you install some. For instance, the manufacturers already have YouTube installed when you buy a smartphone. You need to download other useful apps such as WhatsApp, Messenger, Facebook, and Venmo money transfer apps.
Having all these apps is always a great idea but, cross-check them with Google Search to make sure that you've downloaded the legal and verified version. At times, users are mistaken, and they install malicious versions. As a result, malware finds a way of entering into your phone. Hence, whenever you watch any suspicious app, uninstall it because it can put your device security at significant risk.
It is yet another sign of Android malware. When you feel abnormal battery drainage, you must assume some malicious actor in your phone.
Because of a battery problem, your smartphone works slow. It is because extra code and data are running behind your device in the form of malware. The malware is continuously spying and capturing your activities and giving all this information to the hackers. However, other reasons are too associated with battery drainage, like the charger's malfunction and frequent use of mobile apps.
When hackers gain illegal access to your phone, you notice that you receive pop-up messages more often than before. These messages are sent by hackers who want to trick the users into getting their valuable information. These messages usually request you to click on any given link. Upon doing so, malware gets installed within your Android device. Thus, if you get pop-up messages, be cautious because it's a sign of phone hacking.
If your contacts complain that they're receiving malicious messages that ask them to perform some action, it is a sign of phone hacking. When a hijacker hacks a phone, they want to get maximum benefits from it.
Hackers send malware containing links and files in the messages to your entire contact list to infect their devices. When someone complains about such suspicious activity, make them aware that it's not you.
Increased data usage is also a sign of malware infecting your Android phones. When your mobile is consuming unexpected data, your device contains malware. The malware works in the background without the user's knowledge and exploits the vulnerabilities or steals data. During this time, you'll also observe that there's a sudden increase in your mobile bill.
Android malware can bring catastrophic impacts and thus needs to be prevented. Below are some of the best ways to avoid Android malware:
Android malware has become a serious issue that can cause loss of sensitive data and result in privacy breaches.
All you can do is be aware of the signs and adopt practices to avoid them. Those, as mentioned earlier, are some of the best possible ways to prevent Android malware. Implement these practices and protect your Android phone from potential risk.
Farwa is a cybersecurity journalist and infosec writer who has a knack for writing internet privacy-focused articles. She is skilled in writing topics related to cybersecurity, AI, DevOps, Cloud security, and a lot more.