How To Tell If Your Smartphone Has Been Hacked | McAfee Blog (2024)

It takes a bit of effort, but iPhones can wind up with viruses and malware. And that can indeed lead to all kinds of snooping.

Whether through malware or a bad app, hackers can skim personal info while you browse, bank, and shop. They can also infect your phone with ransomware that locks up your personal info or that locks up the phone itself.

Those are some worst-case scenarios. However, good for you and unfortunate hackers is the way iPhones run apps. It makes it tough for viruses and malware to get a toehold. Apple designed the iOS operating system to run apps in what’s called a “virtual environment.” This limits the access apps have to other apps, which helps prevent viruses and malware from spreading.

Still, malware can end up on an iPhone in a couple of ways:

The owner “jailbreaks” the iPhone

This practice gives people more control over their iPhones. By jailbreaking, they gain “root control” of the phone. With that, they can do things like remove pre-installed apps and download third-party apps from places other than the App Store. And that’s where the trouble can start.

Jailbreaking removes several of those barriers that keep viruses and malware from spreading. Further, downloading apps outside of the App Store exposes the phone to viruses and malware. Apple doesn’t review the apps in those stores. That way, a hacker with malicious intent can post a bad app with relative ease.

A malicious app sneaks into the App Store

Apple has a strict review policy before apps are approved for posting in the App Store. Per Apple, “Apple’s App Review team of over 500 experts evaluates every single app submission — from developers around the world — before any app ever reaches users. On average, the team reviews approximately 132,500 apps a week.”

However, bad actors find ways to sneak malware into the store. Sometimes they upload an app that’s initially innocent and then push malware to users as part of an update. Other times, they’ll embed malicious code such that it only triggers after it’s run in certain countries. They will also encrypt malicious code in the app that they submit, which can make it difficult for reviewers to sniff out.  

So, barring a jailbroken phone, the chances of getting a virus or malware on your iPhone remain low. Still, it can happen.

How to know if your smartphone has been hacked

Because we spend so much time on our phones, it’s fairly easy to tell when something isn’t working quite like it is supposed to. While you can chalk up some strange behavior to technical issues, sometimes those issues are symptoms of an infection. Malware can eat up system resources or conflict with other apps on your phone, causing it to act in odd ways. 

Some possible signs that your device has been hacked include: 

Performance issues 

A slower device, webpages taking way too long to load, or a battery that never keeps a charge are all things that can be attributed to a device reaching its retirement. However, these things might also be signs that malware has compromised your phone. 

Your phone feels like it’s running hot

Malware running in the background of a device might burn extra computing power, causing your phone to feel hot and overheated. If your device is quick to heat up, it might be due to malicious activity. 

Mysterious calls, texts, or apps appear

If apps you haven’t downloaded suddenly appear on your screen, or if outgoing calls you don’t remember making pop up on your phone bill, that is a definite red flag and a potential sign that your device has been hacked. 

Changes or pop-ups crowd your screen 

Malware might also be the cause of odd or frequent pop-ups, as well as changes made to your home screen. If you are getting an influx of spammy ads or your app organization is suddenly out of order, there is a big possibility that your phone has been hacked. 

Three tips to prevent your phone from being hacked

To avoid the hassle of having a hacked phone in the first place, here are some tips that can help. 

1. Update your phone and its apps.

Promptly updating your phone and apps is a primary way to keep your device safer. Updates often fix bugs and vulnerabilities that hackers rely on to download malware for their attacks. 

2. Avoid downloading from third-party app stores.

Apple’s App Store has those protections in place that we mentioned before. That’s unlike those third-party sites, which might not have those same protections. Further, some purposely host malicious apps. Avoiding these sites altogether can prevent these apps from allowing hackers into your device. 

3. Don’t use a jailbroken phone.

As we’ve seen, jailbreaking a phone introduces all kinds of security issues. Your best bet as an everyday internet user is to rely on iOS and the protections that come with it.

Has my iPhone been hacked?

If you are worried that your device has been hacked, follow these steps:

Completely power down your phone. Powering down and then giving your phone a fresh start can put a halt to any malicious activity.

Remove any apps you didn’t download. From there, power down your phone and restart it as before.

If you still have issues, wiping and restoring your phone is an option. Provided you have your photos, contacts, and other vital info backed up in the cloud, it’s a relatively straightforward process. A quick search online can show how to wipe and restore your model of phone. 

Check your accounts and credit for any unauthorized purchases. Several features in our McAfee+ plans can help. Identity Monitoring can alert you if your info winds up on the dark web. Our Credit Monitoring along with our transaction monitoring can also alert you of unusual activity across your accounts.

Lastly, if you spot an issue, get some help from a pro. Our service offers $2 million that covers travel, losses, and legal fees associated with identity theft. It also offers the services of a licensed recovery pro who can repair your credit and your identity in the wake of an attack.

The last word: Does my iPhone need antivirus?

On a non-jailbroken phone, no. You don’t need antivirus. Yet your phone should certainly get extra protection. Phones face far more threats than viruses and malware alone.

Comprehensive online protection software like ours can keep you and your phone safer. It can:

• Block sketchy links in texts, emails, and messages.

• Block yet more sketchy links in search, while surfing, and on social media.

• Protect your identity in the ways mentioned above by keeping tabs on your credit and accounts.

• Protect your privacy by removing your personal info from shady data broker sites.

• Make you more private still by locking down your privacy settings on social media.

Those are only a handful of the many features that protect more than your phone. You’ll find yet more that protect you — namely, your identity and your privacy.

So while iPhones don’t need antivirus, they certainly benefit from extra online protection.