We have moved from the era of owning a non-smartphone to a sophisticated smartphone where users can do much more than just communicating over phone. However we are also living in a dangerous digital age where cybercriminals take control over your phone to perform malicious activities. So you might be asking what kind of signs that your smartphone has been hacked.  Here are some warning signs that you might want to watch out. Signs that your smartphone has been hacked Your smartphone’s battery life seems problematic Cybercriminals who injected malware into your phone have motives such as getting your personal data. Highly skilled cybercriminals will not let you detect that there’s anything wrong with your phone but badly coded malware may have an impact on your battery life. You will find your battery keep draining faster than usual despite charging it full. Abnormal data access usage The apps that we are using might be running in the background without your knowledge but if you look at the data access usage, you can tell whether a particular app is behaving weirdly. Free and useful apps seem too good to be true; it probably is when these apps are consuming large amount of data. Such scenarios are likely to be the works of some malware running in the apps. Weird texts appearing in your SMS Did you receive any SMS that contains weird and funny characters such as a square icon or strange-looking texts? If answer is yes then most likely cybercriminals are attempting to hack into your phone to force you download malware or viruses. The ways in which someone can hack into your smartphone So we have talked about the signs of how your smartphone has been hacked, now let’s analyse the ways in which hackers penetrate into your smartphone. Bogus mobile phone charging booths You are just about to close a deal with your client over your phone but realized battery is draining out and proceeds to a mobile phone charging booth. Yes! Your phone is charging alright and you continue to talk to your client but unknowingly the charger itself is a malicious device to extract out all your personal data and/or injecting it with malware. So here we see a good example of how hackers don’t need to be ‘physically present’ to hack into your phone, similar technique compared to ATM skimming.   Rooting or jail breaking your smartphone So you think you are smart chap by rooting your smartphone to surpass limitations implemented on the device? Rooting is a process where users attained privileged control/administrative permissions over your phone. Think again because this places your phone more vulnerable to being hacked. With a rooted phone, one will be running more applications with root level privilege whereas an unrooted phone will have a better protection against malicious apps. So unless you know what you are doing otherwise do not jailbreak your phone as this leaves hackers more opportunities to enter into your phone.   How to prevent your smartphone from being hacked Now the big question is how does one prevent your smartphone from being hacked? First and foremost is to make use of our common sense, yes this may sound very harsh but many a time users don’t pay careful attention and this leads to their phone being compromised. Just remember the follow rules and chances of your phone being hacked will be significantly reduced. Rule #1: Lock your phone and change password regularly. It might be a hassle to keep keying in password each time to check your message or Facebook feeds but this is one important rule to remember to prevent hackers to access your phone easily. Rule #2: Updating your phone’s firmware and apps software. Always update both your phone’s firmware and apps software to the most updated version. Firmware and software makers release updates regularly to resolve security issues. Rule #3: Never connect to unknown wireless networks Saving on your data usage by connecting to any available wireless networks seems to be a wise choice or is it? Always connect to trusted wireless network zone such as Wireless@SG or hotels’ own official wireless network. Hackers will trick users to connect to their wireless device with the aim to steal your personal data or planting of malware. Rule #4: Do not click on malicious links on your text messages You received a sms which look like it’s from your bank to update your details. Be careful as the sms may contain links to steal your credentials. In summary, it’s always better to play safe to keep yourself and your smartphone protected. Hackers are getting more creative in their techniques to steal your personal data. No doubt smartphones bring about convenience to our daily lives connecting us with our friends and loved ones but it shouldn’t be the device that harms us.   Article contributed by SG Cyber Security Singapore Leading Cyber Security Portal where Cyber Security Professionals Gather www.sgcybersecurity.com