How to know if your Android phone is being spied on

July 11, 2022
|
Tech

If you suspect that your Android smartphone is being tracked, you can check if someone has installed a special spying app on it yourself. There are three ways to find out if your device has software tracking your conversations and messages.

Spyware is designed to track the activity of a device (computer, smartphone, tablet, etc.). It can be used to steal personal data or to view SMS messages, e-mails, web pages, or phone conversations.

Disable installation of apps from unknown sources

Spyware is often downloaded with apps that are not distributed through the official Android app store, the Google Play Store. Once on your smartphone, these apps ask your permission to install other apps from unknown sources. This type of request should make you suspicious.

To check if installation of apps from unknown sources is enabled on your device, follow these steps:

  • Open the Settings on your Android smartphone. Under Personal, click Security. Scroll down to the Unknown Sources section and make sure that authorization is deactivated.
  • If you still want to allow apps from unknown sources to be installed, Android will show a warning about your responsibility for the risk of stealing your data or damaging your phone. You can then click Cancel or confirm the activation of the download from unknown sources, at your own risk.

Check if your Android smartphone is broken

Spyware can also be installed during an unlock operation on your smartphone, also called root, which turns off the device's protection and restrictions on access to the operating system.

The app will show you if your device is not jailbroken (rooted). You can find it in the Google Play Store. Install the app on your phone and open it. After confirming the standard requests for permission to install the program, click Start. Then on the Root Check tab, tap the Root Check button.

In a matter of seconds the app will check if your phone is jailbroken. If the message Sorry! Root access is not properly installed on this device, your device has not been rooted.

Check the access rights of installed applications

If a spyware program did not appear on your smartphone during unlocking and was not downloaded from an "unknown source", it is much harder to detect it. Sometimes spyware looks like regular apps that you've installed and granted them access rights. To detect them, check the permissions you've given to mobile apps installed on your device.

Open your smartphone's Settings. Go to Apps. In the upper-right corner, tap the gear icon to access more settings. Then tap Permissions.

You'll get access to your camera, microphone and sound card, as well as your text messages, contacts, etc. Select the section you want to check (e.g. SMS). Check each of the applications that have access to your SMS.

Source: https://mrspyer.com/


Useful Resources:

https://www.4yo.us/blogs/post/22412

https://www.promorapid.com/read-blog/253452

https://profit.ly/user/unaflores21/blog/44653 

https://www.vsv7.com/read-blog/22091

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