Greetings friends! Spyware is malicious software that can collect the information you have stored on your phone, tablet, or computer to send it to a third party. Generally, it usually masquerades as an ordinary application so that you are not aware of its presence. A well-known example of Spyware is WebDetective, which compromised the information of more than 70.000 users. Because there are always reports that warn about the appearance of new malware and spyware. In this post, we will show you how to know if your Android phone is infected with Spyware and how to fix it.
How to tell if your Android phone was infected with Spyware
Now that you know what Spyware is and why it can be so harmful. We can now explain how you can tell if your Android phone was infected by Spyware. The good news is that it’s not a difficult thing to do. It’s all a matter of knowing the signs that your phone is infected:
- Your phone gets very hot.
- The apps you use every day run slower than normal and so does the operating system.
- Your battery and mobile data last less than usual.
- You get a lot of pop-up messages.
- You have installed apps that you do not remember installed. Pay special attention to apps with the following names: mSpy, XNSPY, CocoSpy, or Hoverwatch.
The last condition does not necessarily have to be met because this type of malware can disappear from the main screen to run in the background. Also, it does not necessarily have to have those particular names.
How to remove Spyware on Android
In case you have the signs that we have mentioned to you, your mobile is likely infected with spyware. In that case, you should do the following:
First step
Press the power button on your phone until you get the menu to turn it off or restart it.
Second step
Then press and hold on the screen the option to turn off your smartphone until you see the “Safe mode” option. When you do that your phone will reboot.
On Xiaomi devices, the process is a bit different. Just turn off your device, Once it has turned on before the MIUI logo appears, press the volume down button.
Third step
After that, the next thing is to go to the “Settings” section and then enter “Applications”. If you see any apps that you don’t remember installing, don’t hesitate to delete them. When you are done, restart your mobile to exit Safe Mode.
Remove administrator privileges from unknown apps
Sometimes, Spyware can be installed on your smartphone with administrator privileges. In this way, it has access to the operating system settings and even to the deletion of data. If you want to find out if you have Spyware with administrator privileges and also stop it from running, here’s what you need to do:
- Go to the “Settings” section, then to “Security & Privacy” and then to “Other security settings”.
- There you will see several options, but the one you should enter is one called “Administrator Apps”.
- The last thing is to disable administrator privileges for any unknown app.
If there is any app that you have doubts about, search Google for information about that application to confirm if it is a system app or Spyware. We also recommend that you put your phone back into Safe Mode to try to remove that application. Remember to keep your phone updated with the latest version of the operating system. Which usually include security patches. Thanks for reading. Goodbye!
