Prevent Your Password From Becoming Easy Pickings
This kind of hacking locking users’ devices and demanding money has been used on laptops and desktops before but is spreading to mobile. Some tech blogs have speculated that recent security breaches at eBay and Yahoo might be connected to the attacks.
“It’s possible that hackers have obtained access to a leaked list of email addresses and passwords, exploiting the fact that many people will reuse the same account details for their Apple ID,” writes Tom Warren at The Verge. “Database breaches are becoming far too common, with eBay, Adobe, Yahoo, and Target all falling victim in recent months.”
Somehow, it seems all the more invasive and personal on mobile, since many of us keep our smartphones so close, even as we sleep. This is part of an unnerving trend as technology becomes more integrated into our lives.
Recently, security flaws were discovered that could allow hackers to unlock some BMWs remotely certain BMW models use the i Remote app, which lets drivers turn on the heat or AC or unlock doors from outside the car. Perhaps creepiest of all, criminals have used Blackshades, a remote administration tool or RAT, for extortion and bank fraud, collecting keystrokes to steal passwords and turning on people’s computer webcams. Gives you the heebie-jeebies, doesn’t it?
How can you prevent ransomware attacks? First, enable a pass code on your smartphone. Also, start using two-step verification if you don’t already, and set a different password for each of your accounts.
Restoring Your iPhone Using Catalina
Remember to backup anything important before restoring your iPhone to factory settings.
1. On a device with macOS Catalina 10.15.5 or earlier, connect your phone to your computer.
2. In the Finder on your mac, select your device in the Finder sidebar.
3. Click Trust on your iPhone and enter your passcode.
4. Click Restore iPhone
How To Check If Your iPhone Is Hacked
So, you think your iPhone might be hacked what can you do about it?
Wipe all your data? Get a new phone? Throw it in the trash? No, nothing that drastic thankfully!
You need a way to check your device to find out once and for all if you have actually been hacked. Once you know for sure, not only can you do something about it, but you can also find out who it was who hacked your iPhone in the first place.
Heres why Certo AntiSpy is the best way to protect your iOS smartphone:
- Its Quick & Easy! In under 2 minutes you can discover if your iOS device has been hacked, compromised or bugged!
- Spyware Detection. Using advanced detection techniques, you can quickly find out if you have a spyware infection on your device or not. Simple & definitive.
- Jailbreak Detection. Certo can detect if a jailbreak has been installed and security restrictions have been removed on your device, regardless of whether the hacker has tried to hide it or not.
- Tracking App Detection. Easily find out which apps are tracking your location or accessing your microphone or camera. Certo will also alert you if any apps are installed that are known to be used by hackers when
Read Also: Apple 8 Ball Pool
How To Protect Your Phone From Being Hacked
Dont download sketchy or unreputable apps. Look at reviews and research before installing if you are unsure. If youre not confident in safety of app, do not install it.
Dont jailbreak your phone. While it allows you to download from unofficial app stores, jailbreaking ups your risk of unknowingly getting hacked. Aside from malware or spyware, this means youll miss security patches in the latest OS updates. Jailbreakers skip updates to keep the jailbreak functional. This makes your risks of being hacked even higher than normal.
Keep your phone with you at all times. Physical access is the easiest way for a hacker to corrupt your phone. Theft and a single day of effort could result in your phone being breached. If you can keep your phone with you, a hacker will have to work much harder to get into it.
Always use a passcode lock and use complex passwords. Do not use easily guessable PINs, like birthdays, graduation dates, or basic defaults like 0000 or 1234. Use an extended passcode if available, like those with 6 characters. Dont ever reuse a password in more than one place.
Dont store passwords on your device. Remembering unique passwords for every account can be difficult. So use a secure password manager instead, like Kaspersky Password Manager. These services allow you to store all your secure credentials in a digital vault giving you easy access and the security you need.
Related articles:
Some Signs When Your iPhone Hacked
When your iPhone is hacked or someone using it remotely then you can see a noticeable decrease in your battery life. When some malware app is installed inside your iPhone and they are stealing your data and transmit the info to their server.
2. Performance decrease
Do you find that some applications are crashing inside your phone and your phone is hanging more than before? This could be due to malware installed inside your phone and running in background.
You will experience this behaviour even after you close some of the apps or even you restart the phone.
3. High Data usage than ever
At the end of the month if your mobile bill is higher which you didnt expect which can come because of spy apps running in background and they are sending your private data to its servers.
4. Some Text messages and calls which you havent send but its their in your history
If you are seeing lots of outgoing calls in your recent call list and many messages inside your message app to unknown numbers which you dont know then probably your device is hacked.
5. Disturbing pop-ups
6. Some unusual activities on your iCloud account which linked to any of your other apple devices
If your iPhone is hacked then hackers surely have all the access to your every accounts like social media accounts, mails or any other apps in which you signed in. If they do some activities on your phone like resetting password, marking any emails then it must be a hacker.
Read Also: How To Play 8 Ball Pool On iPhone Message
How To Remove iPhone Malware
While it can be difficult to determine if your iPhone is compromised, if you have any inclination that it is, here are some recommendations of how you can resolve the issue.
1. Keep Your Apps and iOS Updated
When vulnerabilities are found within the iPhones iOS or specific applications, developers for said platforms work quickly to resolve the issues. After the security flaw is fixed, developers distribute mass updates across their user-base. Because of this, its important to ensure both your iPhone and its installed applications remain regularly updated to resolve both known and unknown security risks.
At the time of this articles writing, current generation iPhone devices should be running iOS 14.2. To check if your iPhone is up-to-date, head to your devices settings, tap General, and select Software Update. While youre there, you can also set your iPhone to automatically install updates when they become available.
2. Change Your Passwords
On many occasions, app developers will notify the public if their platform has been hacked, and request that users create new passwords to secure their accounts. If that is the case, heed the warning and change the associated password immediately. Additionally, although Rocket IT strongly suggests using different passwords for each of your accounts and storing them in a password manager, should you be using the same password across multiple applications, its important to change those too.
4. Delete Recently Installed Apps
Is There An App To See If Your Phone Has Been Hacked
There are security apps that notify you of unusual activity and ensure youre making use of basic security features like Screen Lock, Face/Touch ID and 2FA. They also offer you tips and tricks to boost your phone security, like periodically rebooting your phone.
Specialized spyware apps are also available these programs can trawl your phone for hidden malware and help you identify hacks early. But the truth is, proactive prevention is better than trying to counter an attack after its occurred. Always update your phone and apps to the latest version, ensuring that you get new security patches in real-time. Use an encrypted password manager to generate strong login credentials, and lock apps individually in case someone cracks your phones passcode. Above all, do your own research regularly, so you can choose the most reputable and trustworthy security apps available.
You May Like: How To Pull Up Old Messages On iPhone
Your iPhone Is Acting Weird
If youve been experiencing some unusual behaviour from your phone, or youve received some strange text messages, then thats a sign that something untoward is happening with your phone. That said, it can be normal to sometimes experience weird behaviour with apps that take a lot of processing power. Either way, its one to look out for!
What To Do If Your iPhone Got Hacked
Hello
can an iPhone be hacked? The iPhone has a great reputation for being safe But, like anything that runs on software, it is still vulnerable to attacks.
what are the steps we can take if we found your iPhone has been hacked ?
- ROM
Steps I would take is reset the phone to factory settings then reload my back- up. Way to prevent your phone being hacked is avoid opening dodgy emails, update and back-up regularly.
I have not looked into this since I do not use a IPhone. I know with my smart phone I use Malwarebytes for my smart phone and I have not had any issues, knock on wood, but maybe there is some malware program that can be acquired to install on the IPhone to help in protecting it?
iPhones, like everything else, can be hacked.
And generally it is a person that gets hacked allowing access to the device.
Had that just last week with a company owned device that had a spouse of a staff member install a spyware on . We reset the phone to factory.
Keep your IOS up-to-date as well to get any security fixes. Don’t jailbreak it and only install software from the App Store
iPhones tend to be a little more secure due to the locked down apps in the app store, but nothing is really “Safe”. Wipe the phone, educate the users.
Think you were hacked? Reset to factory settings.
Keep a passcode on it always.
Read Also: How To Play 8ball On iPhone
Ways To Protect Yourself From An iPhone Hack
iPhones can absolutely be hacked, but they’re safer than most Android phones.
Some budget Android smartphones may never receive an update, whereas Apple supports older iPhone models with software updates for years, maintaining their security. That’s why it’s important to update your iPhone.
Apps on the App Store are also vetted for malware .
However, if you’re considering “jailbreaking” your iPhone removing the software restrictions imposed on iOS you’re opening yourself up to potential vulnerabilities in the software because you’ve eliminated some of Apple’s existing security measures. It is possible to download incompatible spyware or malware apps on a jailbroken phone, and this is also how remote takeovers can occur with iPhones. A jailbroken phone should be avoided as it can dangerously allow malicious apps to go undetected.
If you backup your phone in iCloud, make sure to have a strong password. If someone gets ahold of your password, they don’t even need to hack your phone because they can download a backup from the cloud.
Turning on Apple’s two factor authentication is another good way to stay safe and can prevent your iCloud account from being hacked by requiring another step of verification.
Vyas Sekar, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, said staying safe is all about “good digital hygiene.”
Ss7 Global Phone Network Vulnerability
A communication protocol for mobile networks across the world, Signaling System No 7 , has a vulnerability that lets hackers spy on text messages, phone calls and locations, armed only with someones mobile phone number.
The security issues have been well-known for years, and hackers have been exploiting this hole to intercept two-factor authentication codes sent via SMS from banks, with cybercriminals in Germany draining victims bank accounts. The UKs Metro Bank fell prey to a similar attack.
This method could also be used to hack other online accounts, from email to social media, wrecking financial and personal havoc.
According to security researcher Karsten Nohl, law enforcement and intelligence agencies use the exploit to intercept cell phone data, and hence dont necessarily have great incentive to seeing that it gets patched.
Likelihood
The likelihood is growing, as the minimal resources needed to exploit this vulnerability have made it available to cybercriminals with a much smaller profile who are seeking to steal 2FA codes for online accounts rather than tap the phones of political leaders, CEO or other people whose communications could hold high worth in underground marketplaces.
How to protect yourself
Also Check: Side By Side Photo On iPhone
How To Recover Your Data After You’ve Been Hacked
If you’ve lost your data following a hack, there are a number of things you can try to get it back.
Data encrypted with some older ransomware software can be unlocked for free thanks to the efforts of law enforcement and the anti-virus industry. There is a list of tools at noransom.kaspersky.com. Be warned that some criminals sell supposed “unlocking” tools for a fee, or will offer a free tool that will just re-infect your computer, so only download software from a reputable source.
If the ransomware is not one for which there is an unlocking tool then you don’t really have many options. If you have a backup of your data then the best option is usually to wipe your computer and restore from the backup.
Alternatively, if you have the System Restore or Time Machine options active, you can try to recover the encrypted data with a restore. On Windows, you can also try to retrieve your data using ShadowExplorer which is a tool that searches for shadow copies of your files and allows you to save them. This doesn’t always work as newer ransomware will also seek out and delete the shadow copy backups as part of the infection process.
Whatever you end up doing, always make sure you have removed the malicious software by using an anti-virus program. If you try to remove the crypto-locker ransomware, you may lose all your encrypted data.
And remember…
Clicked On A Malicious Link
If you receive an email or text from a sender you dont know, avoid clicking any included links or downloading any attachments. Theres a chance they may include malware.
If youre browsing the web and come across a link you think may be suspicious, plug it into a site scanner like Norton Safe Web before clicking on it.
Read Also: Screen Mirroring Not Working iPhone To Samsung Tv
For More Information About Apples Icloud Keychain:
If you use iCloud Keychain, you dont have to worry about remembering your passwords, or about duplicate passwords. But there is a downside: anyone who gets into your iCloud account will have access to all your passwords! You have to make your Apple ID really, truly, secure. Use two-factor authentication, Apples latest failsafe. When two-factor authentication is enabled, you have to use a trusted device to log in to a new device. For example, say you got a new iPad. When you go to sign in with your Apple ID for the first time, your other trusted devices like your iPhone will receive a notification asking for approval. If allowed, your iPhone will display a verification code. Once you enter the verification code on your iPad, the device is approved. This feature works so well because anytime someone tries to log in to your Apple ID account, youll get a notification and have the ability to approve or deny the attempt. This feature requires iOS 9 or later and has been the default since iOS 11. To turn on two-factor authentication:
Use The Right Kind Of Two
Fixing your passwords is just the start youll also want to add another layer of protection. Thats where two-factor authentication comes in.
The most common form of two-factor authentication or 2FA relies on text messages. If youve ever been prompted to punch in a code that gets texted to your phone when logging into a website or service, you already have some experience with 2FA.
This kind of authentication is better than nothing at all, but it isnt unbreakable if someone was able to access your account with your wireless carrier, they could perform whats known as a SIM-swap attack. Once that happens, every text message that would normally be delivered to your phone would instead be directed to the hackers, security code included. If at all possible, use an app like Authy or instead. Rather than relying on text messages, these apps can generate single-use codes to help you securely log into your accounts.
Also Check: How To Play 8 Ball On Game Pigeon