How Does Cell Phone Spyware Work?

Millions of people take use a lot of their time and money trying to protect their personal computers at home from spyware. Yet when they turn on their smartphone or PDA, they cruise the Internet, entering in banking and other personal information, without ever thinking that there could be spyware on their cell phone. Spyware is prominent on cell phones, and it’s becoming increasingly more so. But just what is it? And How Does iPhone Spyware Work??

iPhone spyware works just like spyware on a PC. Hackers install the spyware on websites, email it to thousands of people, or install it right onto someone’s hard drive. When the spyware is installed on a website, it can be downloaded right onto the hard drive as soon as a person enters the site. When the spyware is sent as an email, the email needs to be opened up, and then the spyware can find its way onto the hard drive.

Advertisements

Once the spyware has been installed on a hard drive, it can wreak havoc. This spyware can track and save text messages, any information such as banking and account information, and send them back to the creator of the spyware. Essentially, anything that you enter through your phone is vulnerable to spyware. And it’s more than just what you text and type too. Cell phone spyware can destroy applications, disable prominent features, and disable the phone altogether. And because the spyware can track anything that’s on your phone, it can also run up costly bills through texting and buying applications and perhaps even shopping online! And, some particularly nasty spyware programs even have voice recording capabilities.

READ What's the First Thing to Do After Buying an iPod Touch?

So, what are you to do to make sure that you don’t have any spyware installed on your iPhone or cell phone? Firstly, buy a program or an iPhone app that you can install and that will scan your phone for you. This will tell you if it currently has any spyware on it. Next, protect your iPhone or cell phone just like you would your home computer. This means installing virus protection onto it and also making sure you have iPhone spyware detection running at all times. Smartphones are becoming just as popular as personal computers, if not more so. And it would be a shame to lose yours to malicious spyware!