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Is it possible to hack a phone by Texting?
Hacking someone’s phone nowadays isn’t as rare and complex as it used to be in earlier days. Anyone with a piece of good knowledge can hack others’ devices or systems, and this has been a kind of hobby for today’s kids with technical backgrounds. There are various ways of hacking someone’s system or spying into someone’s device, but in today’s article, we will mainly see-through texting to the device which needs to be hacked. And you feel everything is fine and safe in your device until you get a text message from a hacker asking for that ransom.
By now, you would have realized that your cell phone is not at all a safe place to store all your sensitive data as there are so many ways to hack your phone and steal your information. Many apps are referred to as spy apps that, when installed on the device, can monitor you, and you will never even realize that your phone has such an app installed on it.
Now let’s come to the main topic of our article: Can someone hack your phone by texting you? The answer is "yes". But there is a twist in this answer. The phone cannot be hacked if you just receive a message and you do not respond or react to that message in any way. Even opening a text message won’t harm your device, but as soon as you click some link received or download any application, then you are in trouble.
Note − It is also crucial to note that rooted devices have high chances of getting hacked, so never use rooted devices.
The most common tactic that cyber attackers follow these days is to send a text message saying you won a lottery or pretending like some bank has sent you the SMS stating some of your cards have been expired or any such thing. At the end of such text messages, they attach one malware link, which on getting clicked downloads the malware application to your phone, it becomes easy for them to collect your data and spy on you.
Also, it may seem easy to get hacked, but opening a link would not directly lead to installation on a spy app if you are a little aware. You will have to provide few permissions, and when it would be downloading, it will be visible to you in your notification bar, so if you stay a little alert, you can save your device from getting hacked.
Also, you should be alert that if you find any noticeable changes in your phone, as mentioned below, you should understand that there is a high probability your device may have got hacked −
Some unusual behavior like shutting off your phone randomly when you didn’t or camera opening randomly, or apps getting closed by themselves, then there are chances that your phone may have got hacked.
If you see some new applications or files which you may not have installed and are suspicious of, then there are chances that your phone may have got hacked.
Suppose your phone is using too much data or lagging a bit, or draining more power. In that case, it means that there is some app in your device that is continuously running in the background, and that app may be a spy app that is monitoring every activity of yours.
Now that you know how your phone can be hacked, you should always avoid clicking any unknown links and never use a device that is rooted and also always have anti-virus and anti-malware applications installed on your device and in this way, you can save your device from getting hacked.
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