How To Install A Virus On A Phone

Virus alert on Android phone

Smartphones are still shrouded past diverse myths. Reports say that long telephone conversations may crusade tumors, your signal may weaken if you move too apace, and stiff signals from base stations could kill people. Whether or not these things are true remains a mystery, merely one thing that we practice know is real is the threat of mobile malware.

Malicious programs are able to steal funds from your banking concern business relationship, extract personal information, lock your phone screen, and render a smartphone useless, amid other things. According to Statista, as of March 2022, "the full number of Android malware detections amounted to over 26.6 million programs." All of this got me wondering about how piece of cake it is to infect the phone with a virus, and then I decided to endeavour it out and document my journeying.

For this exam, I tried to infect a smartphone, having previously removed the antivirus software and all security features. My victim was a relatively sometime Moto G3 with Android 6.

In this post, I'll explain my procedure and results. I'll also describe how viruses penetrate smartphones and how to prevent this happening to you.

Unsuccessful attempts to infect my smartphone

I tried diverse methods to infect my smartphone, the outset of which were unsuccessful. Here are the various methods I attempted:

Googled "Watch Annabelle movie on Android free" and clicked external links on getandroidstu**.com -- No luck as no viruses were found.
Downloaded jokes from freeso**.ru/prikoly/download -- jokes are there but no viruses.
Went to the site watchmygirlfriend.gfpornb**.com and followed the links -- no viruses here either.
Looked for free games on suspicious websites -- all proposed options were official games.
Googled "Nude celeb photos" -- no malware was found or downloaded.
Found a dubious lottery website, answered all questions, and won. A letter confirming the prize should take arrived at the address indicated by me -- the message never arrived.

After a couple of days of searching for malware, I received a strange message with a tempting offer to exchange free games for paid games, free of accuse. I followed the link just failed over again and got the message "Server not found."

Without giving up hope of infecting my device, I decided to install the hacked root-obtaining software, KingRoot. Past installing this app on Android, you lot gain admission to admin rights that are inaccessible to the average user. These open upwards numerous possibilities for controlling the device.

I read that infected KingRoot contains malicious code that steals user data. Again a surprise was waiting for me. Unfortunately, this utility cannot exist installed on a Moto G3.

How I eventually infected my smartphone

In despair, I asked friends and colleagues to send all questionable instant messages, text letters, and emails with suspicious links to my telephone number. Afterward clicking ane of the links, I saw a pop-up window suggesting to install Doctor Make clean. The link directed me to the official Google Play Store. Physician Clean promised to speed up the arrangement, remove unnecessary files, and save battery life. Just user reviews indicated that something was wrong with it.

Physician Clean requested access to all available phone features. After giving such permissions, it installed two more applications needed for "telephone acceleration" and "sleep mode." In plow, one of these apps installed two more applications. In all, I wound up installing five apps instead of ane.

The adjacent day, I saw an advertizing that covered the entire screen. In fact, every time I unlocked the screen, I saw a new colorful full-screen banner. In society to respond an incoming telephone call, I had to expect for a small cantankerous hiding the ad. Along with this, the smartphone started to work slower. Periodically, the lock screen stopped responding to my touches.

After that, I decided to install Bitdefender Mobile Security and browse the device. Bitdefender found nothing. I and then installed Malwarebytes Anti-Malware. Malwarebytes found all five unwanted\unsafe apps and removed all of them successfully.

What I learned from this exercise

From my personal experience, it turned out that installing malware on a phone is not a trivial job. Presumably, Android OS and security applications successfully recognize threats and protected the device. To infect the phone, you have to completely ignore all system warnings and disable security features in advance.

Yes, Google Play does not have a bully record of properly vetting apps, and there take been numerous cases where apps have been removed subsequently malware was discovered on them. But yet, it was easier to download malicious applications in the past. Now all applications in the Google Play Shop are getting audited better than several years ago. In order to install an unofficial application, yous will need to detect and disable the corresponding function in the settings.

How viruses may penetrate your smartphone and how to stay rubber

Just considering I had a tough time infecting my smartphone doesn't mean yous should assume your phone is e'er rubber. Viruses tin can and do penetrate these systems. Hither are some of the methods by which viruses may be installed and how to prevent against them.

Emails and letters with malicious links. These may be disguised as chore offers, letters from the constabulary, antivirus alerts, coupons, discounts, and more. You oftentimes see a curt bulletin and have to click a link to find out the "details."

PROTECTION: Never click on suspicious links. If y'all're unsure, call the alleged sender (using details from their legitimate website) to ask if they sent you annihilation.

Downloading unlicensed and questionable applications from unknown sources. These apps are often bundled with malware.

PROTECTION: Only install apps from Google Play or Apple App Shop and do not jailbreak or root your device.

Connecting to public Wi-Fi. Through unprotected Wi-Fi access points, hackers intercept sensitive information. They may later take over accounts, steal money, and infect the smartphone.

PROTECTION: Employ VPN services when y'all have to connect to public Wi-Fi networks. Those will encrypt all traffic and hide your IP.

Websites with numerous popular-ups and banner ads. They offer to download anything very quickly, without registration and payment, and all you have to exercise is click the link. Some banners imitate alerts and messages from the FBI or NSA. Their goal is to make you panic and button you lot to follow the link.

PROTECTION: Again, do not click whatever suspicious ads or links.

Infected memory cards. Sometimes malware bearded as an application is saved to a memory card and when you lot insert it into a smartphone, you may get infected. Malware yet needs to become your approving and may ask you, for example, to concord to update the Chrome browser, which you may have never fifty-fifty installed.

PROTECTION: Do not insert retention cards given to you by strangers or that you establish.

Torrenting sites. Exist wary of torrenting sites as these are reported to be the source of millions of malware infections.

PROTECTION: If you must visit torrenting sites, accept a solid antivirus software installed and use a VPN suitable for torrenting.

How to find out if your telephone has been infected

In most cases, there are ane or more than telltale signs that your phone has been infected. Here are some things to await out for:

A prepaid telephone business relationship chop-chop runs out of money.
Your phone history shows messages that you didn't send and calls y'all didn't brand.
Your data gets used up past unknown applications.
The overall functioning speed of the smartphone decreases.
Your smartphone heats up and battery life shortens quickly.
Some applications are "buggy" and exercise not open.
Excessive ads appear in apps and on the screen.

Where to look for malware and how to distinguish information technology from a legitimate awarding

Nearly ofttimes, viruses are disguised as ordinary applications. They have the .apk extension and are saved to the "Download" folder.

You should lookout man out for anything odd during the installation of an application. If information technology requests access to paid features or rights to any of the following, that should be a red flag:

View and send SMS.
View and make calls.
Access to attached bank cards.

If the awarding is not downloaded from the official shop and asks to access personal information, you can be almost certain it'southward a virus.

Epitome credit: Georgejmclittle / Shutterstock

Dominique René is a young writer inspired past the present-24-hour interval groundbreaking technological progress. Dominique'due south overwhelming enthusiasm for tech matters stems from her current enquiry in higher and innate aspiration to expand her academic outlook. She'south committed to staying on top of innovative trends in computer security, online privacy, threat intelligence, cryptocurrencies, and deject solutions.