How to protect yourself from a mobile phone Spyware
True life story; Sequel.
About two weeks ago, I shared a story about a friend that got defrauded four times over a period of six months.
ICYMI; Click here for the gist.
If you have read it, remember that I promised to drop precautionary measures on how to protect yourself from this type of fraud.
Promise delivered. 😁
So, how do you protect yourself against this type of fraud?
If you follow these instructions you are about to read, then you’ll be fine.
1. Know that Spyware doesn’t come pre-installed on your mobile phone. However, don’t be carried away. Some people can install spyware in a phone before selling it to you. Some people can even unknowingly sell you a Spyware infested phone.
This is why you should always format any mobile phone your purchase. Be it brand new or used. So that you can be sure you are using a clean device. Also, do the same for computers.
2. Understand app permissions and how to set them when using a Smart Phone.
An app or a Spyware can only access any section of your device your permit it to access.
E.g.
For you to use WhatsApp to send messages to your contacts, you need to give WhatsApp access to your phone contacts.
For you to be able to take pictures, make video calls, record/send voice notes and send pictures/videos, you must grant WhatsApp permission to access your Camera, Microphone and storage respectively. Most times you are asked to grant these permissions at the point of installation.
Now imagine a Spyware that has access to all these. Including your SMS inbox.
If you want to know what every app can access on your phone, go to your settings and check app permissions. You’ll see the apps that can access your SMS, Contacts, Location, Camera, Microphone, calendar, call logs, storage, etc. You can quickly grant or deny access to any component of your device. This configuration varies with different devices. Be sure to ask Google for directions.
3. Be careful about the people you give your mobile device(s) to. It takes a few minutes to get really damaging spyware into your device.
4. When you want to install any application, always watch out for the permission they ask for. For example, you download a dictionary app and it asks for permission to access your storage, camera, location, SMS etc. Does a dictionary app need to access all these to function? Definitely not.
5. Don’t download apps from untrusted sources. This is a no brainer. Get your apps from their respective stores. But still, be mindful of permissions. Some bad apps are available on the Play Store and Apple Store.
6. Always scan through your phone as often as possible for strange-looking applications.
A spyware app will not be named Spyware.
It won’t also bear the name of an app your visit very often, e.g. WhatsApp.
It may just be a name that you don’t care much about, e.g. WI-FI, My Files, Cleaner etc. Most times, when you click on them, they may not respond and you may not mind, since you can always access WiFi through your settings and you probably have another file manager app. So you won't care about the app called WI-FI or My Files. Like in my friend’s case, the Spyware was named WiFi.
7. Stop connecting random USB cables to your device.
It was discovered recently that hackers can now rig a USB cable by installing a chip in it that can be used to automatically access your phone by installing Spyware or directly stealing information and forward it to the hacker. There’s no way of physically identifying a rigged USB cable. So just stay away from other people’s chargers.
Finally, if you spot potential spyware on your device, quickly uninstall it. If the spyware is password protected, you may have to format your device to get rid of it.
Now that you have learnt a few things, please press share. Your contacts need to read this.
