Smartphones infected with malware or viruses can quickly cause damage, especially since your information can be stolen, threatening your accounts, money, and private information, both risking losing money and being threatened and harassed.
Signs of a phone infected with a virus
Ads don’t disappear by themselves: If you suddenly see a lot of ads on your phone in a specific app or even when no app is open, your phone may be infected with adware. If the ads require a click, it’s even more dangerous because when you click, malware will install or redirect you to a scam website.
Device is hotter than normal: Suddenly, the phone is hotter than even when not in use is very dangerous. When infected with a virus, the phone works harder to gather information for the virus installer. So, even if you don’t use it, the phone is still hot.
Sudden upgrade request: This phenomenon occurs when you visit a website using your phone’s browser like Firefox, Chrome, and Opera, and you will see upgrade requests like “Upgrade to the new software immediately,” “Your device is too slow, so download the new software,” “Your phone is infected with a virus. It needs to be scanned immediately!” Along with that, the phone vibrates strongly, emits strange sounds, and displays provocative images. Be cautious with this situation. These are notifications created by hackers to deceive users and lead them to perform the actions they want. Through that, hackers steal your personal information and data.
Interrupted calls and poor connection: When infected with a virus, the phone may connect to servers abroad, thus interfering with the connection, causing your network to be unstable. If you are in a place where other people’s wifi is stable but yours is not, the risk is even higher.
Suspicious applications: Sometimes, an app you download may contain malicious software that installs additional programs. If an app that you didn’t install or use suddenly appears, it is very suspicious. Uninstall them and do not use them.
How to handle when your phone is infected with a virus
If your phone is unfortunately infected with a virus, you can apply the following solutions:
– Virus scan: If you can’t find anything suspicious, you may need the help of a good antivirus program like BitDefender, Kaspersky, Norton, and McAfee. You can install these antivirus programs to ensure your phone’s safety.
– Factory reset: This is a good way to fight viruses but it also deletes data. So, you need to backup your data before performing a factory reset.
How to prevent phone virus infections
– Stay away from software applications of unknown origin, do not install cracked games or applications. Be cautious when downloading any application.
– Do not visit websites or use apps that have deceptive advertising to install malicious software on your phone.
– Delete all unfamiliar software that appears on your phone. To ensure safety, you should only install necessary apps such as Facebook, Messenger, Zalo, Zing Mp3 from the app store.
– Be cautious with attachments and only open them from trusted sources (do the same with embedded links).
– Be suspicious of emails that look like they are from the companies you are cooperating with.
– Only grant access permissions for necessary features.
– Regularly update the software from the manufacturer because each new version has bug fixes, error corrections, and increased security.
Smartphones are almost inseparable devices for many people today. But if they are infected with viruses, they can cause serious consequences for you, such as losing money in your account, having your sensitive and private information stolen, being leaked personal information, being threatened… So be careful when using them.
