5 Critical Signs Your Phone Has Been Compromised.

How To Know If Your Phone Has Been Hacked.

Imagine a situation where your secret files and data stored locally on your phone gets to be in the hands of an authorised person without you even knowing? It can be very devastating mentally. 

According to a tech blog, cyber attacks happen once every 39 seconds. Majority of these attacks are as a result of mobile phone compromise.

But, here's the thing, many people get their phones hacked daily without having an idea that their device which they consider personal and do all sort of private stuff has been hacked.

It doesn't sound good, and that's why I'm bringing this enlightenment to you to help you know when it's most likely that your phone has been hacked remotely.

But, before we dive in, why would someone even decide to hack into another's phone?

In this era, our phones have become part of our daily lives, almost everything that one can possibly do today can be done with a smartphone, from banking to communicating down to shopping and even entertainment. Simply put, the best way to know literally anything about someone is by having access to their phones, freely and this information can be used to bring down a person anytime. There's been occasions where public figures were publicly embarrassed or even exposed because their smartphones were hacked.

Here are possible signs that your phone has been hacked.

√ Frequent Lagging and Poor Performance. 

If your phone frequently lags, especially when you're very sure that you aren't overloading your phone's capacity, it could be that your phone has been hacked and there are lots of background processes pressing down in your device.

Imagine a phone with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage, with a clock speed of over 3 Ghz and Octa core CPU which is just used to watch videos on social media, make calls and create written documents. When such a phone starts lagging frequently, there's a red signal.

This is a rough explanation, but with this, non-techies will be able to understand better.

Another sign related to this is applications refusing to close even after several attempts to close them.

√ Reduced Battery Life & Overheating of Phone When Not In Use or Charging. 

One very obvious pointer that your phone has been compromised is when its battery runs down by itself or the phone overheats when left alone. This could be a sign that some software is running in the background and sending data to some remote location.

Though as a phone gets older, the battery lifespan goes down, but coupled with all the signs on this blog, you can be able to accurately ascertain if your phone is most likely compromised.

One way to be very sure is to switch the phone off or either reboot it. If the issue persists, then another red signal is there.

√ Unidentified Phone Operations.

This can include, text messages, phone calls, downloads, settings and even files being moved.

When such actions which you can't remember doing happen, this is a very high red signal that your phone has been compromised and the attackers are trying to connect to their remote control using your phone.

√Unusual Data Usage.

Your data consumption may get higher, increasing your bills from your network provider when you're sure that you don't consume much data.

One way to be sure when you notice unusual data traffic is by setting your device in data saver and closing applications as soon as you leave them, if after doing this and it continues, a red signal has been spotted.

How's This Done?

There are usually different ways your phone can be hacked.

It's usually by installing malwares or spywares to collect data and give feedback. This malwares can be installed by you unknowingly either when you clicked a link or you downloaded a seemingly harmless application without knowing that it's harmful.

Also, your phone can be compromised by the use of compromised USB, a USB cord can be modified to send malicious softwares to your device. Use of public and free WiFi networks can expose your phone to attacks also.

How To Curtail This?

Ensure you're very careful with who you give your phone to, where you charge your phone and the type of softwares you download including the sites you visit. Check the URL of those sites properly before clicking on any link.

Get your own WiFi router if possible and minimise if you can't stop the use of public WiFi networks.

Constantly update your phone and pay attention to security notifications from your phone. Most phones have special softwares that helps with dealing with phone security, don't overlook these warnings.

You may regularly back up your data and restore it to factory settings.

Remember, you don't necessarily need to be a public figure or an influential person for your phone to be hacked.