Viruses circulating worldwide aren't humanity's only concern. Those that insidiously infect smartphones and can effectively cut off their owners from data can also be dangerous. Learn how to remove a virus from your phone.
The list of tasks we use our smartphones for is as long as a Viking's beard. Currency exchange? Certainly. Sending funny cat pictures to a friend? No problem. Arranging dates, trading cryptocurrencies, calling your aunt on her name day? All on one device. Until a virus sneaks onto it. Then the idyll ends, and access to the device becomes impossible or at least limited. However, let the living not lose hope. A virus on your phone isn't the end of the world.
How to protect your smartphone from viruses?
So far, there's no definitive answer as to whether the virus that caused so much disruption globally in recent years originated in a medical lab or a food market. Similarly, a virus on your phone can have many sources. One of them can be applications. The Android system allows installing programs from unverified sources. Therefore, it's better to be safe than sorry, and before a .apk file lands on your phone, it's worth checking its origin and security guarantees. Before downloading an app, read its permissions. If it turns out that it wants access to functions on your smartphone that are not necessary for its proper operation, it's better to refrain from installing it. Reading permissions won't take much time and can save you from a lot of trouble.
To eliminate the possibility of downloading problems onto your phone along with an application, it's best to use platforms branded by manufacturers or the Google Play store. Unfortunately, this doesn't provide a 100% guarantee that a virus won't end up on your phone. There are many good people in the world, but there are also plenty of bad ones, and they can write malicious code and attach it to program updates. All it takes is a lack of attention, and the troubles begin. Therefore, before you download anything, it's better to double-check how many positive user reviews the app has and its download count.
How can a virus get onto your smartphone?
Besides downloading an infected application, a virus can get onto your phone through email or websites. Many cybercriminals impersonate well-known service providers and send emails with fake invoices. Running the attachment immediately infects the device. To prevent this, before you click on a link, first check the address from which the e-invoice was sent. All mobile operators and utility providers provide the sender's address on their websites from which authentic emails are sent. The format in which the e-invoice is saved is also important. The document should be in PDF format, not ZIP or EXE.
A deceptive message can be "Your device has been infected," which appears when you visit less secure websites. Clicking on the banner can cause trouble, launching malicious software or leading to data phishing. Under no circumstances should you do this. The threats online are increasing daily, including viruses designed to steal your passwords, data, or online identity. Worms, ransomware, and Trojan horses are just waiting for an opportunity. You need to exercise a lot of caution not to be fooled. You can lose not only money but also your dignity and respect.
How to check if your phone has a virus and how to remove it?
A virus has a way of working unnoticed and in secret, but there are certain symptoms that can alert you that your device has been infected. The first of these might be a slowdown in your phone's performance, which will surely be noticeable if you have high-end hardware with powerful components. Another source of information about a virus can be friends from your messenger contact list, if the virus, without your knowledge, sends them messages asking to click a link (and infect more devices). If your phone has been taken over by ransomware, the hardware will be blocked, files encrypted, and you will receive a ransom demand (probably in cryptocurrency).
What now? How to scan your phone and clean it of viruses? By Odin! You can't lose the will to fight. If your phone is still working, you should install antivirus software from a reliable source. It's available in the App Store and Android (Play) stores. After installation, you should scan your phone's contents. The application should find and remove viruses, and your phone's performance should return to normal. If, however, this operation fails, it will be necessary to reset your phone to factory settings, which involves the loss of all data. Therefore, you should have previously backed up your data to the cloud or an external storage device. Note! Before using this data again, it's worth scanning it with antivirus software.
What to do if your phone is blocked? In that case, all that's left is to restore it to factory settings. Android devices can be started in "recovery" mode by pressing a key combination (for details, depending on the device model, it's best to ask Google). When the interface appears on the screen, you should select the "wipe data" command, which will start the factory reset process. The operation is similar for an iPhone. You switch the phone to safe mode, erase the data, and download the backup from iCloud.
Virus on your phone – what next?
The fight with the virus isn't over yet. After removing it, it's a good idea to reinstall important apps. For example, those that give you access to your money. Re-authenticating the apps will ensure they are not fake files. It will also be necessary to change passwords in applications and services available on your phone. Just in case.
Good advice at the end is to avoid suspicious websites, ignore such links, and not open attachments from sources you're unsure of. And perhaps it's worth considering investing in a good antivirus? It costs a few bucks, but at least you'll sleep peacefully and dream Viking dreams of power.
