2023-05-05 19:55:00
Unexplained calls and lots of unusual bugs can be a sign of an infected phone.
They are real little spies hidden in our smartphones. Stalkeware, or tracking software in French, are small programs capable of monitoring the use of our smartphones and laptops. Originally, these software are often used to monitor the digital activities of children, or even to track their movements. In reality, their primary function is largely hijacked by spouses or ex-spouses, stalkers or hackers. According a report from Avast published last March, the risk of being a victim of stalkerware has increased by 239% worldwide in just three years.
Suddenly degraded performance, unusual slowdowns, error messages, new home page or suspicious applications can be signs that your phone is under surveillance. While stalkeware is generally designed not to be detected by the victim, there are however tricks to try to get rid of it.
Limit physical access
According to Avast, the first step is to make sure you are “sheltered‘ in case of suspicion. “Removing stalkerware from your phone might let the attacker know you found and deleted it, which might put your physical safety at risk”, explains the company.
Then restart your phone in safe mode. On most Androids, this consists of holding down the power button, to see the options “To extinguish” et “Restartsr”. By long pressing “To extinguish”, l’option “Restart in safe mode” should then appear. Then press “Ok”.
For iPhones, press and release the volume up button. Repeat with the decrease button and hold down the side button. When the Apple logo appears, release it.
Once the device restarts, you need to access your apps. You’ll usually find them in your phone’s settings. In the list presented to you, find the applications that you do not know and delete them by pressing “Uninstall”.
If in doubt regarding one of them, type its name on your search engine to find out what it is for. Malicious applications are generally reported as such by other Internet users on forums or by specialized companies.
You can add an extra layer of security by changing the passwords for your various accounts and especially for the home screen. Indeed, most stalkware is installed on devices through physical access.
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