How to Stop Someone from Spying On Your Cell Phone

Smartphone spying has become common in the mobile technology era. In spite of that, people usually don’t take their smartphone security seriously, until they become a victim of a cyber crime of course.

There are many reasons for you to fear cell phone spying. For instance, if you connect to a compromised public Wi-Fi for handling your online transactions, you can be exposed to financial theft. Likewise, a hacker can dump a backdoor in your device to spy on your activities through hacking your phone’s webcam.

Or, a cyber-stalker could sneak malware in your mobile to track your GPS, read your messages, and be always in the know of your exact location. The reasons could be many, but the one suffering from the consequences of cell phone spying is only you.

The victim might even be anyone from your family such as your siblings, children, etc. As such, you may be wondering, “How to stop someone from spying on my cell phone?” Read on to learn how to stop someone from spying on your cell phone and protect yourself and your family against the dangers of cell phone spying.

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Cell Phone Spying Happens Around the Globe

On March 2017, Wikileaks exposed a series of confidential documents of Government spying. The report presented details of the backdoors and malicious tools that spying agencies use to hack into every smart device and spy on the users. In fact, the tool could even hack into a user’s Smart TV and spy through its camera.

It is not just the USA where spying is common, but other countries like Australia and UK are exposed to cell phone spying.

Critical Data Cell Phone Spy Tools Track

There are many serious reasons to get worried about cell phone spying. After all, it is a breach of your online privacy! Here are some common ways cell-phone spy tools track your data:

  • Spyware can hack into your GPS and keep track of your everyday commute. Any hacker with access to your GPS can easily see your whereabouts.
  • A spying tool can also tap into your calls and listen in on every important conversation you make with your spouse, your business partner, etc. Scary, right?
  • Some spyware tools are built to track and record the text messages sent from your phone or tablet.
  • As mentioned earlier, there are many high-level spyware tools that can hack into the webcam of your smartphone, tablet, laptop and even smart TV and monitor your every activity.

Fortunately, There Are Some Telltale Signs of Cell Phone Spying

There are many ways you can quickly check if your phone is being spied on. However, those signs usually go unnoticed as they are quite subtle. Here’s what you need to stay on the lookout for:

  • Activity on the smartphone even though it is on standby. Any unusual activity on your phone when it is on standby indicates that it is remotely controlled. For instance, your smartphone keeps sending messages when it should be in standby mode. Or, your smartphone is rebooting on its own.
  • Phone battery drains without excessive use. Battery drains usually occur when you actively play games on your smartphone or binge watch your favorite TV shows. However, if your smartphone battery is draining without any excessive activities, then there is a reason to be concerned.
  • Your smartphone’s back feels heated all the time. Spyware usually runs in the background without attracting the users’ attention. If you notice that your smartphone always feels warm, it might be infected with spyware.
  • Increased Usage of mobile data plan. Spying software sends sensitive information from your phone to the hacker controlling the tool. In such cases, the software uses the mobile data plan (when it is not connected to a Wi-Fi) for uploading the data. If you notice any significant increase in your data usage history, it means you have a spyware to worry about.

Are There Any Ways to Find Cell Phone Spy Tools?

You may be wondering, “How to find spy software on your phone?” For starters, spy tools are built for spying, and therefore they are not always easy to detect. You can find such tools by accessing the app directory and looking out for tools that you remember not downloading.

Remove Spy Software from Android

If you want to check spying tools on an Android device, go to the Settings and proceed to Applications. Secondly, go to Running Services and see what services are currently running. If you find any unknown service, Tap it and uninstall it after clearing the cache. Also, check for spying software in the Manage Application screen and follow the same process if you come across any malicious tool.

Remove Spy Software from iOS

Cell phone spying on an iPhone is not as easy as on an Android-powered device. To install spyware on an iPhone, jailbreaking is necessary. So, if you notice any suspicious application that you can’t find in the Apple Store, it probably is a spyware and your iPhone may have been hacked.

Luckily, getting rid of any spyware or malicious software from your iPhone is relatively easier than Android. You only need to update your iOS, and all your third-party applications will be rendered useless.

Here’s How to Stop Someone From Spying on Your Cell Phone

Use a secure password: Using strong and complex passwords should come as a no-brainer. However, many users don’t take passwords seriously and end up getting their devices hacked. A good password can not only keep your phone secured but also protected from spying tools being installed.

Install security applications: You can find security applications both on Android and iOS that can notify you whenever there is a new application downloaded. You can install the app and get instantly notified.

Always Use Anti-Malware: Malicious tools like spyware are quite hard to detect and hence remove. Therefore, it is best to use an anti-malware tool. These applications secure your device from any malicious third-party applications, and that also includes spyware apps. Once installed, you don’t even need to worry about any future spyware tools since these applications’ database is updated on a routine basis.

Use Encryption Tools: Dusan Petricko, a Digital Forensics Manager, suggests that the phone storage should be encrypted to close all the doors for hackers that lead to a privacy breach. “If your device is lost or stolen, even the more advanced adversaries will have little to no chance of getting to your data,” suggests the expert.

How to stop someone from spying on my cell phone? Well, you aren’t the only one with that all-important question, as cell phone spying has existed since the advent of mobile phones. However, with a few important considerations, such as the ones discussed above, you can save your privacy from getting compromised.

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