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 How to
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One of the biggest reasons people hesitate when hackers
from your
it comes to buying an Android phone is the
phone
thought that they are more easily hacked than
iPhones. And for the most part, this is actually  Can your
true. Whilst that doesn’t mean Android can’t ever iCloud
be secure, it does mean that there are a few risks account be
Android users need to keep an eye out for. hacked in
2021?
In this article, we’ll help you to �nd out whether or
not your Android phone has been hacked by  How to tell
looking at nine different problems that you might if your
iPhone is
be experiencing. We’ll also give you some advice
Jailbroken
on how to solve them.

Want the quick �x? Just click here to download

the Certo Mobile Security App and �nd out if your
phone has been hacked.

How To Tell If Your Android Is

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Hacked SCAN
IPHONE
1. Battery draining too quickly or getting hot FOR
If you’ve noticed that your battery is not lasting as SPYWARE
long as it should do – or seems to be noticeably
less e�cient in the last weeks/months, then it
might be a sign of increased activity on your Subscribe to our
device. Newsletter

Stay up-to-date
Time and again it’s the case that an infected
with the latest
device can have processes running in the mobile security
background, often without being detected by the news from Certo
user.
Name
2. Your device is rooted (but you didn’t
knowingly do this yourself)
Rooting a device is a way of gaining access to
Email
deeper levels of authority over a device, not
usually allowed by the hardware or software
developers.
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Android rooting requires some basic technical
knowledge and whilst it is easy enough to do for
someone with the right ability, it’s not something
you can do to your own device by accident.

For a hacker to get easier access to certain

functions on your phone and to facilitate
advanced spyware-use, they will be looking to root
your device.

If your device is rooted and it wasn’t you or

someone you authorised that rooted it, your
device could very possibly be hacked.

3. Background noise / Electronic

Interference
A common report from people who have later
discovered spyware or malware on their device is
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background noise or electronic interference.

This symptom is most prevalent in phones, as the

interference is usually noticed by users when they
are using the device on a call.

Keep an eye out for clicks, static or echoing

noises as these can be direct signs that someone
is either interfering with your communications
and possibly other areas of your device.

4. Suspicious Activity
If you’ve been experiencing weird behaviour from
your phone, then this again can be a big sign that
something isn’t quite right with it.

Because malicious software like malware and

spyware can often affect your device at a root
level, they can sometimes cause it to misbehave
and act very strangely.

For example, it’s not uncommon for an infected

device to receive strange texts with garbled words
or text (a sign that the device is potentially
connecting or communicating remotely to a third-
party).

5. High data usage

If you’ve been experiencing exceptionally high
data usage, then this could be a sign that your
device has something running in the background
that is communicating via the network.

This could be something as innocent as an app

which is constantly updating or downloading
something (i.e. a podcast app downloading new
episodes). This is often the case and is
something that can be dealt with pretty easily.

However,
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settings and you’re still experiencing high data

usage, then it could well be the case that your
device is hacked and it is communicating data
back to a third-party.

6. Unwanted Ads and Apps

Noticed that you have some weird apps installed?
This can be a sign of something untoward
happening to your device. Oftentimes hackers will
install applications on the device in order to
activate certain functions – i.e. rooting a device
usually requires an app to facilitate the process.

It’s important to note; however, that phone

manufacturers and software developers will
include all sorts of software pre-installed onto the
device when you �rst receive it, so there are
normally a few apps present on any device that
the user did not install.

7. ‘Apps from unknown sources’ are allowed

(for devices running older than Android 8.0)
There is a setting in the Android preferences that
allows apps from unknown sources to be
installed on the device. Although this setting can
be enabled for innocent reasons (installing third-
party apps such as games, etc) it can also be
used to install malicious software such as
Spyware and Malware.

If you want to check if this setting is enabled on

your device (and this will be different depending
on your device) it will look something like this:

1. Navigate to Settings > Security.

2. Check the option “Unknown sources“
3. If this option is ticked, or set to
‘enabled’, then this means your phone is
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Google Play Store.

You can automatically check this and other

important security settings using the Certo
Mobile Security App for free.

8. Google Play Protect has been disabled

(for devices on Android 8.0 and above)
Google Play Protect is a built-in virus and
malware/spyware scanner for Android that will
scan apps whenever they are installed onto a
phone or tablet. Similar to the “Apps from
unknown sources” setting, a lot of the time a
hacker will need to turn this off to properly gain
access the phone.

You can check your Google Play Protect settings

by doing the following:

Important: Google Play Protect is on by default,

but you can turn it off. For security, we
recommend that you always keep Google Play
Protect on.

1. Open the Google Play Store app.

2. Tap Menu > Play Protect > Settings.
3. Turn Scan device for security threats on
or off.

Alternatively, the Certo Mobile Security App can

also check this setting for you. You can get the
app here.

If this setting is off (for most users, it should be

on) then this is a potential symptom that
someone has hacked your device and has turned
this setting off to help them achieve their goals.

9. Scan your phone with a security or

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antivirus app.
The quickest and easiest way to �nd out if you’ve
been hacked is to install a security or antivirus
app. This will allow you to perform scan on your
device and �nd out for sure if there is malicious
software installed onto your Android system.

Why do I need Certo Mobile

Security?
We created this software because we want to
give people a way to keep their mobile devices
protected.

DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID

DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID

Here’s why we think it’s important for you to use

Certo Mobile Security:

1. We depend on our phones. Most of us use

our phones constantly. We trust them to hold
all of our personal information such as bank
accounts, email accounts, shopping
accounts, etc. It’s crucial that we protect that
information from hackers.
2. Hackers can remotely access your device
from anywhere. If your Android phone has
been compromised, then the hacker can
track, monitor and listen to calls on your
device from wherever they are in the world.
3. Everything on your device is at risk. If an
Android device is hacked, the attacker will
have access to every piece of information on
it. All of your personal data can be used for
nefarious reasons, such as threatening to
release embarrassing data, usually to the
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�nancial gain of the hacker.

4. Software for hacking is inexpensive.
Hackers use software that is incredibly
cheap and accessible. For just $30, a hacker
can get all the spyware software they need
to exploit multiple devices and automatically
retrieve whatever personal information they
can �nd.
5. Hacking is relatively easy. If someone has
the knowledge and is inclined to do so,
hacking isn’t complicated. This means that
almost anyone can be a hacker if they want
to. What that means for you is there’s an
increased risk of people in your personal life
hacking your device, such as a jealous ex-
partner.
�. Certo keeps your Android device safe.
Certo’s spyware detection app can �nd
hidden spyware on any Android phone. Certo
not only checks for malicious software, but
also checks that the settings on your device
are optimised for highest security. Find out
more about the Certo Mobile Security App
here.

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