For a few days now, you have noticed that your phone starts behaving in a slightly suspicious way: the apps suddenly close and restart, the internet connection is always active and there are some “strange” pages open in the browser, to the point that you start to have the feeling that something is wrong, and more precisely that your smartphone is under control by some hacker!
The suspicion of having fallen victim to a cybercriminal is in your mind, and you would like to investigate a little deeper to understand if unfortunately this is the case for you, and how to clean your phone of the damage done by it.
Well, we are happy to tell you that you have come to the right guide at the right time: below, in fact, we will explain in detail how to eliminate a hacker from your mobile phone, providing you with a series of tips to understand if you are actually the victim of a cyber attack.
Do not worry if you are not very tech savvy: the techniques that we are about to illustrate are easy to apply and also suitable for those who, like you, are not very familiar with the world of mobile phones.
So, without wasting any more time, it’s time to get to work: take a few minutes of free time for yourself, make yourself comfortable and carefully read everything.
Delete an hacker from your Android phone
Android is an extremely customisable operating system, however it’s “open” nature makes it quite vulnerable to hacker attacks of various kinds: a little distraction and a few “risky” taps are enough to leave the field open to spies and malicious people. Below I show you all the methods to understand if you have fallen victim to a hacker and, possibly, get rid of it in a short time.
Delete an hacker from your Android phone: Check for suspicious apps
The first aspect we want to focus on, concerns the apps installed on the victim’s mobile phone: there are some software, in fact, designed for parental control or to act as an anti-theft in case the device is stolen. Even if designed with the best of intentions, these apps can be exploited by bad guys to steal secret information and remotely take control of a smartphone.
To function properly, these apps need to obtain elevated administrative privileges : therefore, to check if a hacker has installed such an app, you must first access the relevant section and check for any entries on it.
Such as? Very simple: to start, go to the Settings icon located in the drawer of your Android phone (the area where the icons of the installed apps reside), then access the Security> Administer device section (or Other settings> Privacy> Device administration ) and take a look at the list that opens on the screen.
If you notice the presence of any “suspicious” app, then you are probably the victim of an attack: to immediately eliminate the hacker, revoke the access permissions to the apps in question by removing the check mark in correspondence of their respective names.
At this point, do not hesitate otherwise and perform the complete uninstallation of these apps using the procedure you would usually use.
Delete an hacker from your Android phone: Check running apps
Another method to track down any intruding hackers in the mobile phone is to check the running processes, that is the apps currently active on the device: in this way, it is possible to find out what is acting on the smartphone in real time, eventually flushing out apps that have escaped the previous checks.
Once this is done, carefully check the list containing all the processes related to the apps launched in the system: if you encounter any “suspicious” results, do not hesitate to search Google for the name of the related process and, if it is a control app, delete it from your device immediately.
Delete an hacker from your Android phone: Disable installation from unknown sources
Usually, the apps with “criminal” intentions are not present on the Play Store: Google, and it is made to protect the integrity of the system and the safety of users, so it adopts a very restrictive policy on the apps hosted by the official market.
Numerous spy apps, on the other hand, can be downloaded from alternative markets, taken from some dedicated spaces on the Internet or offered as sponsored downloads in some advertising circuits: in order to avoid the accidental setup of these contents, Android blocks by default the installation from unknown sources , ie the ability to install apps outside the Google Play Store.
If, for some reason, you have changed this setting in the past, you should disable the installation of apps external to the official Android store, in order to increase the security of your phone and make it less fertile for potential hackers.
Doing so is very simple: tap the Android Settings icon, then go to the Security section (or Privacy and security or, again, Additional Settings> Privacy ) and disable the lever next to the Unknown sources option, if this is active. In this way, the installation of apps not coming from the Google Play Store will be blocked automatically.
Delete an hacker from your Android phone: Scan with an antivirus
If you have followed the instructions we have given you so far to the letter, you should have been able to eliminate any hackers from your phone and secure your data. What we advise you to do, at this point, is to download and install a good antivirus and perform a thorough scan: in this way, not only will you be able to get rid of any unwanted “residues”, but you will be able to protect your device from any future attacks.
There are so many antivirus for Android suitable for the purpose, such as Avast. Pick one you know and trust.
Delete an hacker from your Android phone: Restore Android
You have followed to the letter all the advice we have given you so far, however you still have a very strong suspicion that a hacker is checking your phone and you cannot be calm. At this point, the advice we can give you is to restore Android , formatting the smartphone and returning it to the factory state.
We know, it is a fairly drastic solution, but this guarantees you the complete elimination of the data and apps present in the system (including those that attackers could use to spy on the device): immediately after the reset operation, the phone will return in the factory state, and you will be sure to have a clean smartphone in your hands and safe from prying eyes.
Restoring Android is relatively simple: all you have to do is save the data that is important to you, open the device Settings by touching the relevant icon and, finally, access the Backup and reset> Factory data reset sections, following the instructions on the screen. provided.
Delete an hacker from your iPhone
Although Apple, for company policy, has designed iOS (ie the operating system that the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch are equipped with) in order to make it closed and secure, there are still apps and ways of acting that allow unauthorized access to the system. Even in this situation, the distraction of those who use the iPhone plays a decisive role: it takes just a few seconds and the damage is done! Don’t worry, though: in this section, you’ll learn if you’ve fallen victim to a hacker attack and how to get out of it by securing your phone.
Delete an hacker from your iPhone: Check for custom configuration profiles and VPNs
Exactly as we have already explained to you in the section relating to Android apps, also for iOS – and therefore for the iPhone – there are apps designed for parental control: since it is completely “legitimate” software, it does not raise alarms for the control systems. security built into iOS, however it could be used to hack the device.
To work, the apps in question can make use of customised configuration profiles , which can guarantee access with particular privileges to certain areas of the operating system, and of VPNs to monitor Internet traffic: consequently, just consult the appropriate sections of iOS and check the proposed list, to realize the presence or absence of “suspicious” apps.
Such as? Very simple: first, touch the Settings icon residing on the home screen of your iPhone, then select the General and Device Management items to access the list of custom profiles and check the presence or absence of apps that you consider “offending”.
In the event of a positive response, touch the item relating to the “offending” profile, press the Delete profile button, type the security code set in the system and press the Delete button. Finally, delete the app in question with the classic procedure provided by the iPhone. If you can’t find the Device Manager item on your iPhone, then you can rest assured: there are no apps that require advanced access permissions.
To check for VPN , instead go to the Settings> General> iOS VPN menu and, if you find any suspicious names, delete the related app from the iPhone.
Restore iPhone
Did you follow all the “tips” we gave you to the letter but are you still terrified of being monitored remotely? The only advice we can give you, then, is to restore the iPhone : in this way, you will be sure to use a clean device and away from any suspicious apps, so as to close all the doors to potential criminals intent on monitoring you . .
You have two ways to proceed with the restoration of the iPhone: the first is to go to the Settings of the “iPhone by”, then accessing the section General> Transfer or initialize iPhone and finally selecting the option Initialise content and settings ; the second, on the other hand, involves the use of iTunes (on Windows and macOS macOS 10.14 Mojave or an earlier version) or the Finder (on macOS 10.15 Catalina or later versions): after disabling the Find my iPhone option from the Settings of the smartphone, connect the device to the computer, select the “iPhone by” icon from the iTunes or Finder window , press the Restore iPhone button and follow the instructions provided on the screen.
Other useful tips: how to avoid this from happening again
You have finally figured out how to eliminate a hacker from your phone and, almost without realizing it, you have managed to complete the goal you set yourself in a masterly way!
If you have read this far, you have surely understood that the main cause of unwanted access to mobile phones is the distraction of those who use them: it takes very little, in fact, to pave the way for an attacker and open the doors of access, without not even realize it.
It is for this reason that, before leaving you, we would like to provide you with some useful tips to avoid the repetition of this unpleasant inconvenience: what we are about to tell you may seem obvious, but we can guarantee you that, all too often, it is not at all!
- Update the operating system and apps – some cybercriminals “study” the code of the operating system and of the most popular smartphone apps, looking for malfunctions to exploit for their own purposes. For this reason, updating is nothing short of fundamental: having the most up-to-date versions of the app and operating system means reducing, and greatly, the possibility of being exposed to problems of this type, thanks to the corrections that programmers make from time to time. in time to their products.
- Properly protect the smartphone – as we have repeated several times, it only takes a few minutes for someone to install a spy app on the phone, without the owner realizing it. Therefore, especially if you tend to leave your smartphone unattended for even very short periods, it is essential to protect it with a PIN, a biometric system (fingerprint, facial recognition or iris scan) or a password, to be jealously guarded and not disseminated in ride: this makes it impossible for unauthorized people to use the smartphone.
- Avoiding dubious Wi-Fi networks – Some bad guys could create fake (and apparently functional and open to all) wireless networks to steal data in transit and guarantee access to accounts – or to the devices – of whoever connects to them. Even if today this procedure is no longer very successful, thanks to the introduction of sophisticated encryption methods (ie data protection) in almost all apps for smartphones and tablets, it is always advisable not to connect to Wi-Fi networks that you don’t know about.
- Do not lend your smartphone to strangers or untrusted people – it is a rather trivial measure, but it should not be underestimated: if the mobile phone were to fall into the wrong hands, the attacker on duty would have plenty of time to configure an anti -theft or parental control app, and to make it invisible even to the antivirus (these apps, in general, are considered safe and reliable). Furthermore, lending such a personal device can induce those who take advantage of it to poke their nose among the stored files, potentially allowing them to acquire data and information that would backfire against the rightful owner: this is why, even if it may seem rude , one must know how to say no to the right moment!
- Get help from us – Technology can break down in a moments notice. With local repair centres charging by the hour & insurances not covering most problems it can be difficult to know where to turn. But with your WiseGuys plan, you’ll never need to worry again! Instant, same day support no matter how big or small your problem is, for any device you own. This includes Free Anti-virus Installation and Virus, Malware & Pop up removal, which includes Data Backup.
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