Android malware is becoming
harder to detect for the average smartphone user who pays little, if any,
attention to security. Fortunately, most malware creators are not rocket
scientists, and a user does not have to be a computer scientist to combat them.
Adding the following clues
together could reveal the presence of malware on Your Andriod Smartphone:
1. Bad Battery Life
Android users who don’t
perform a lot of battery straining activities have a good idea of how long
their battery should last. Malware gives itself away when batteries
mysteriously drain quicker than usual. That’s usually due to adware, spam-like
malware that shows app users an inordinate amount of ads. Continuously
displaying aggressive adware will impact heavily on battery life.
Whether the malware is hiding
in plain sight by pretending to be a regular application or trying to stay
hidden from the user, abnormal battery drainage can often give away the
presence of an Android infection.
2. Dropped Calls And
Disruptions
Mobile malware can affect
ongoing or incoming calls. Dropped calls or strange disruptions during a
conversation could indicate the existence of mobile malware that is
interfering. But most at times our various service providers here in nigeria
may be the cause, but if not then some strand of mobile malware could be the
culprit. It is possible that someone or something is trying to eavesdrop on
conversations or perform other suspicious activities.
3. Inordinately Large Phone
Bills
Android malware often infects
devices and starts sending SMS (text) messages to premium-rated numbers. While
these effects are easily seen in your phone bill, not all malware programs are
obviously greedy. They may send an SMS message just once a month to avoid
suspicions, or they may uninstall themselves after punching a serious hole in
your budget. Whether you use a monthly plan or a pay-as-you-go subscription,
checking your bill should make it easy to figure out such message-sending
malware has found its way onto a device.
4. Data Plan Spikes
Malware that smuggles data
from your device to a third-party can often be detected by an examination of
your data plan bill. Significant changes in your download or upload patterns
could be a sign that someone or something has control over your device. Setting
up data meter quotas might help figure out if a device has been compromised by
data broadcasting malware. It will also help dodge high phone bills.
5. Clogged Performance
Depending on device hardware
specifications, malware infestation may cause serious performance problems as
it tries to read, write or broadcast data from your smartphone. Anybody that
has ever had a PC infected with malware should be familiar with this. Imagine
rebooting a device several times a day because background-running malware
consumes too much processing power to let apps work properly. Performance
clogging is yet another sign that malware might be present on your device.
Checking RAM (Random Access Memory) use or CPU load could reveal the presence
of malware that’s actively running on the device.
Stay Safe And Be Mindful
The Android versions most
targeted by malware are the common ones – Gingerbread 2.3, Ice Cream Sandwich
4.0, Jelly Bean 4.1. Kitkat 4.2 Android users with these builds have an 88%
chance of having their mobile phone infected with malware according to the
Android Developer Dashboard.
In the event that you do find
yourself with malware on your Android, there are a couple of options.
First, delete the offending
app. Even if the app is deleted, malware may still linger. You may have to
completely reset your smartphone by going into the settings menu and peforming
a “factory reset,” which will clear the memory of the device.
A variety of paid and free
security apps are available in the Google Play Android app store to help
prevent apps from doing bad things. If you use your Android smartphone for
business, your IT department likely has security solutions to help you purge
any malware.
In general, it is wise to
scrutinize each and every permission an Android app asks for – many apps ask
for invasive permissions when they don’t need them. Even apps packed with
aggressive adware have a knack for collecting more data than they would
ordinarily need to perform adequately. Be sure to read your permissions before
clicking “accept.”
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