How to Check If Your Android Is Hacked
How to Check If Your Android Is Hacked
Nowadays, everyone has a smartphone, and they pretty much run our lives, so keeping them safe from viruses is critical. Do you know if your Android device is compromised?
If your phone is acting strangely, use these tips to check for malware, scam apps, and other issues. We'll also cover how to stay safe moving forward. How to detect a hacked Android phone
1. Bad Battery Life or High Battery Usage
Even if you don't see any obvious signs of malicious activity, it could be happening. Checking your battery usage can reveal if your phone has been hacked.
If your phone gets hot while not charging, something could be running in the background. For starters, check your phone's or tablet's battery usage menu.
Navigate to Settings > Battery > Battery Usage and look for strange apps.
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It doesn't happen as often now that Google Play Protect is built into Android, but it's worth checking. As seen above, an unknown shady app named "10214" drains 40% of the battery. "Miscellaneous" takes up to 70% of your juice. That's bad!
In this case, a keylogger or virus is hiding its name to avoid detection. But don't just look for odd app names; we've seen perfectly normal apps do similar things. Look for unusually tiring.
We all use our phones differently, but a rapid battery drain is cause for concern. Reboot your phone, force close the suspect software, or uninstall it completely. If your battery is draining quickly and you're wondering "Is my phone hacked? ", run this test!
2. Look for adware installs
Random apps installed on your phone is also a sign of malware or phone hacking. These aren't your apps.
Scammers can install malware on your phone and send sensitive data to third parties.
This means your device has been hacked. It can cause harm and drain your data even if it doesn't use a lot of battery life. Here's how to get rid of one.
Go to Settings > Apps > App Manager and look through your phone's apps. You may need to tap the All Apps arrow. Uninstall anything you don't want by tapping it.
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Obviously, only uninstall items that look suspicious but aren't critical. Uninstalling random apps could damage or break your phone's vital components.
Many pre-installed apps by phone manufacturers or carriers are safe. Caution is advised when removing items.
3. Unusual High Data Usage
With unlimited data plans, most people ignore the "Data Usage" menu in settings. But if your Android is acting up and you want to see if it's hacked, this is another quick way.
To send your data back to a third party, a virus may use an app that runs in the background and communicates with bad actors.
Check Settings > Connections & WiFi> Data Usage.
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The data used by streaming services like YouTube, Spotify, etc. But if another app uses a lot, something is wrong. No random app should use 5GB in a month, so look for anomalies.
Uninstall anything suspicious (after ensuring it's not essential to your device).
4. Watch For Weird Pop-Ups and Ads
Pop-ups appear at random times and from all types of websites. We've gotten used to them, and they're usually just an ad covering content.
They can be helpful, but they can also be harmful. Look out for odd pop-ups or funny ads. Don't click them.
Google has made several changes to avoid this happening, especially in Google Chrome on Android, but it still happens. It makes your phone vibrate as pop-ups appear repeatedly. Your screen may even flash.
That's a lie: don't hit "remove."
Instead, reboot your smartphone.
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