Can your smartphone get a virus

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Select language. Link Copied. Can phones get viruses? This article contains:. Viruses vs. To get a better idea of the difference between the three terms, let's look at them one by one: A virus , as we mentioned above, is a specific type of malware that copies itself by inserting its code into other programs or your operating system.

How do viruses infect phones? The most common ways that malware gets onto your iPhone or Android device are: Downloading apps to your phone Downloading message attachments from an email or SMS Downloading content to your phone from the internet Connecting your phone to another device Can a phone get a virus from a malicious app?

Ask yourself these three questions: Is the app popular? Does the app have good reviews? What other apps has the developer created? Poor-quality look and feel Does the phone app you downloaded look and behave like a professional app? What Is a Logic Bomb? What is Petya Ransomware, and Why is it so Dangerous?

What Is a Botnet? What Is a Brute Force Attack? What Is a Zero-Day Attack? What Are Meltdown and Spectre? What is Cracking? What Is Hacking? What is a Smart Home? What Is Cloud Security? You might also like How to Remove Viruses from an Android Phone. The Best Free Antivirus Software in Protect your Android from threats with free Avast Mobile Security. Protect your iPhone from threats with free Avast Mobile Security.

For Partners Mobile Carriers. Hackers are constantly working to steal data from mobile phones and tablets.

And the attacks are becoming more and more common. Why are mobile devices so dangerous? Because of this, mobile devices may not be protected by things like firewalls, encryption, or antivirus software. This puts their company more at risk for data theft. How does mobile malware affect businesses? Most businesses have corporate resources available from employee devices. Should any of these devices be compromised by malware, sensitive information could be captured. A lot of the risk depends on how your mobile environment is set up and how your employees can access sensitive data.

Unless you have policies and controls in place regarding mobile devices, your employees are probably accessing sensitive information from their mobile devices, information that can be stolen by malware. Here are 5 ways your mobile device can get malware. The most common method hackers use to spread malware is through apps and downloads. These are apps that appear to be legitimate, but instead contain spyware or other types of malware. Occasionally an app with malware will make it through to an official app store.

One recent example is InstaAgent, an app that stole Instagram user credentials and sent them to a third-party server without the knowledge of the user. These apps are usually discovered and taken care of quickly, but they illustrate what can happen. Sometimes developers will use pirated development tools, which have been compromised. Everything developed using these tools will then contain malicious code, which may steal sensitive data or damage the mobile device. That usually prevents you from coming across malware-infected apps.

Using a mobile device with operating system vulnerabilities Often the mobile device itself may have vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit.

Opening suspicious emails More employees are using their phones to look at and answer corporate email, which is a way hackers can install malware on your phone.

Signs your Android phone may have a virus or other malware Phones can be vulnerable to damage externally and internally. Your phone is too slow. Apps take longer to load. The battery drains faster than expected. There is an abundance of pop-up ads.

Unexplained data usage occurs. Higher phone bills arrive. How to check for viruses and other malware on your Android phone A good way to check for malware on your Android phone is to run an antivirus scan. Power off the phone and reboot in safe mode. Press the power button to access the Power Off options. Most Android phones come with the option to restart in Safe Mode. When the animation starts, press and hold your phone's volume down button. Hold it until the animation ends and your phone restarts.

Uninstall the suspicious app. Find the app in Settings and uninstall or force close it. This may not completely remove the malware, but it could prevent further damage to your device, or from it transmitting the malware to other devices on your network.

Look for other apps you think may be infected. If you think you can identify those apps, delete them immediately. Install a robust mobile security app on your phone.

Tips to help protect your Android device against viruses and other malware Here are seven key steps you can take to help protect against future risks. Invest in and use robust security software to protect your Android device. Keep all operating systems and software updated with the latest versions. Use strong, complicated passwords or a password manager.

Never use unsecure Wi-Fi connections. Always use strong cyber safety protection on all devices that connect to the internet.