5 Ways to Keep Your Smartphone From Viruses

 Viruses for Smartphones are rare, but they do exist. Therefore, you must know how to protect your smartphone from viruses as early as possible. It is noted that the number of malware-infected Android apps on the Google Play store has almost quadrupled in recent years.

Make no mistake about it, there is such a thing as Android malware, cybercriminals create malware-spreading apps in a sneaky attempt to steal personal details and advertisers use it as a marketing channel by bundling pushy ads with apps.

In the first case, the user's mobile security is clearly compromised. In the second, the ad-app bundle is rarely mentioned, so users who download it unknowingly face mobile privacy threats. Viruses and malware can infect your phone in new ways, but some of the symptoms and indications described below can tell you whether your phone is infected with a virus or malware.

Indications of Mobile Phones Affected by Viruses

1. Increased Battery Life

When your phone is infected by adware, malware or other viruses, it seriously affects the battery life. Abnormal battery usage could indicate the presence of a virus or malware on your Smartphone, as one of your seemingly harmless apps might be malware pretending to be a regular app or trying to stay hidden from mobile users.

2. Call Interruption

Interrupted calls during phone conversations can also be another indication of malware infecting your phone. In such a case, you should contact your service provider to find out if the dropped call is due to the service provided. If that is not the case then someone or someone might be trying to eavesdrop on your conversation or engage in other suspicious activities.

3. Slowing Cell Phone Performance

Just like a computer, a virus working in the background can slow down your smartphone and if you feel that your phone was faster before and is now slow, it's possible that your phone has been infected with a virus. Malware running in the background consumes too much processor power to allow applications to run smoothly. You can try checking CPU load or Random Access Memory it might reveal the presence of malware that may be actively running in the background.

4. Use of Data Becomes Wasteful

A virus or malware that sends spam running in the background will definitely use up a lot of the internet. If you look at Data Usage under Settings on your Smartphone, you may notice excessive data consumption and changes in internet usage. In all these cases the battery consumption will inevitably spike higher and the battery monitoring app can tell you which apps are using up the battery the most.

5. Unknown Apps And Notifications

One of the best practices is to check your phone for unknown apps that you may not have downloaded at all. If you're wondering how this happened, the harmless app you downloaded may have a bunch of malicious apps on it. Make sure you keep an eye on the apps on your phone and remove the ones you don't recognize. You can also receive unknown notifications and when you open them nothing appears. This can also happen due to malware which is also an indication that your phone might be infected.

Can My Smartphone Get a Virus?

Then what about malware? Should we be worried? The main thing to remember about malware on Android is that you have to actually install a malicious app. Malware authors will use increasingly clever techniques to try and trick you into doing that.

As malware authors try to get money for their bad deeds, they are constantly looking for new ways to install their malware on your device. The best recommendation is to think twice before installing untrusted software or clicking on strange-looking links.

Apps designed to personalize the Android-based phones of those most vulnerable to compromise, as well as entertainment and gaming apps. Some apps in the Google Play store have malware that steals confidential information such as device IDs from infected devices.

When downloading apps, you have to do it from a legitimate app store. That means from companies like the Google Play store, Amazon, Samsung, or any other major manufacturer or carrier. Because these companies monitor and scan for potentially malicious or fraudulent programs. However, sometimes a malicious application slips through the cracks, often disguising itself as a legitimate application.

Pirated or cracked apps are another way that cybercriminals use to get Smartphones infected with malware. They obtain legitimate Android application package (APK) files and bind them with malicious programs is a relatively simple process to infect Android phones. Most of the pirated or cracked applications usually contain some form of malware so it is recommended that you do not install such applications.

Where Do Viruses Come From?

To make sure none of the above happens to your Smartphone, it is important for you to know how mobile malware got into your phone. There are four places where viruses originate:

1. Infected apps – Usually infected apps are popular apps that are repackaged with malware and then distributed via app stores. Oftentimes, cyber criminals will come up with completely new applications specifically designed to trick users into installing them.

2. Malvertisements – Malvertisements is the practice of inserting viruses into advertisements distributed through ad networks. Simply clicking on an ad can trigger a virus download, infecting the device.

3. Fraud – Users send links to infected web pages that contain malicious code. Simply visiting the page can initiate a virus download onto the phone (unless it is protected by antivirus software).

4. Direct-to-device download – The least likely type, direct-to-device infection requires the hacker to attach the targeted device to another, and manually install the malware onto that device. This is a lot of high-end corporate espionage.

How to Protect Your Smartphone From Viruses

1. Do not install applications from untrusted sources

2. Avoid cloned apps

3. Check app permissions

4. Keep Smartphone updated

5. Install an antivirus application

How To Remove Viruses On Smartphones

If indeed your Smartphone has been infected by a virus or malware, the most important thing to do is to switch the phone to airplane mode which will stop the malware from sending further information.

The next step is to find the harmful apps present in your phone, under Settings >> Applications and uninstall them. Of course, you need to remove all dubious applications. If any of the malicious apps refuse to be uninstalled, switch your phone to safe mode.

The next step is to back up all important files on your Smartphone to your computer via a USB cable. Next, you can go to Settings >> Backup and reset your phone. You have to make sure that your app data, settings and passwords are set to back up with Google.

If you are sure that your data is backed up, select the factory data reset option. After the reset is complete, you can sign in to your Google account and your data can be returned to the phone again. Then, the safe and reliable apps can be reinstalled and you can move documents and photos from your PC to your phone again.

Conclusion

So How To Keep Your Smartphone To Avoid Viruses. You have to make sure that you install applications or click links from sources that are truly trusted and have permission. And you can add an Anti Virus application to strengthen security on your Smartphone.