Let’s show you how you can detect if there are viruses on your phone. Trojans like Chameleon either Anatsathey make us increasingly alert about the possible dangers that can reach our mobile phone, so having different tools to know if we are infected or not can be especially useful.
It is convenient to know that, due to the particularities of each operating system, it is easier to infect an Android phone than an iPhone with iOS. Nevertheless, neither can be free of malwareso we are going to explain in depth how to know if there is something strange installed on your phone.
Recognize the different types of malware
It is not necessary to delve too deeply into the technical behavior of each malware, but it is important know what types of malware there are and, even if it is superfluous, know what the most common ones do. This will help you know where to start looking, since each virus behaves in a different way. Specifically, we are going to talk to you about the three most common on mobile phones.
He adware It is one of the most common malware on mobile phones and, as its name suggests, inject advertising into the phone. If your phone shows ads where it didn’t show them before (applications, settings, messages and so on), you may be infected with adware. Generally, the adware It is not as dangerous as other types of viruses, but it can take over user data, so it is important to recognize it. An example is BeiTAdan Adware that they hid in 238 apps and that left Android almost unusable.
The trojans They are viruses that can have different types of behavior but usually have one thing in common: its difficult detection. An example is System Update, an app that posed as a system update and that he stole information from the phone, took photographs and was capable of turning on the microphone itself.
Although the best known example is FluBot, the SMS malware who managed to have full access to the device. Later we will give you some clues to recognize the Trojan, but a good clue to recognize it can be search the list of apps, including system appssince sometimes they can be hidden from the launcher, but not within the system settings.
Lastly we have the spywaremalware that runs in the background in order to collect user information. These are apps that usually abuse camera and microphone permissions, even though they do not need them for their operation. An example is ZooParka spy malware that collected data about our activity on the phone.
Some signs to distinguish that our mobile phone is infected
Unfortunately, malware is becoming more sophisticated, so it can become increasingly difficult to recognize. However, we are going to give you a few clues so that you can know when there are viruses on your mobilegoing over some possible strange behavior.
- Abnormal phone performance: menus and apps that close, applications that are installed without our permission, settings that change on their own, etc.
- Excessive battery consumption: from settings and battery we can see which process is using so much battery, we don’t even recognize it or it is a strange app, we could be infected.
- Excessive data spending: Viruses usually send data from the phone to their servers, so we may notice an increase in data from one day to the next. Check it from settings.
- Advertising where there shouldn’t be: If your phone shows more ads than normal and, above all, it does so in browsers where there were none before, you may have adware.
- Apps with ‘accessibility’ permission on Android. This permission can cause a virus to completely control your phone. If you have any suspicions, look at the list of apps with accessibility permission, there may be something suspicious on the list.
Apps that help you recognize malware
About mobile antivirus we have already talked in depth, coming to the conclusion that they are not necessary, although they are one more option. From Xataka Móvil we have compiled which are the best antiviruses, so you don’t have to search for them. However, there are services to detect malware that are not antivirus itselfespecially highlighting two.
The first of them is VirusTotala web page that analyze APK files looking for viruses. If you have downloaded an app from outside the Play Store and you are suspicious, you can always run it through VirusTotal before installing it.
Our second recommendation is to install the Malwarebytes app, available for iOS and Android. Unlike other antiviruses, Malwarebytes hardly consumes resources and is especially good detecting trojans and ransomware. It also scans Chrome URLs looking for phishingto prevent us from entering inappropriate addresses.
A factor that can be decisive: having an updated mobile phone
Both the manufacturers of Android customization layers, as well as Google itself or Apple with iOS, spend a lot of time researching security holes in your mobile software. Based on them, they usually release periodic updates in order to implement patches that cover devices against these vulnerabilities.
For this reason, and although it may sometimes seem tedious, it is important to always have the latest version of the system available for your mobile. Sometimes these updates seem minor, since they do not seem to bring visual or functional changes, but they precisely gain importance when we talk about protecting the devices.
Therefore, go to the terminal settings and check if you have any pending updates. Unfortunately, updating may not be enough and must be combined with tools like those mentioned above. But it is an essential recommendation and one that will grant a very important extra security to your Android mobile or iPhone.