Considering how difficult this is to do nowadays, we're assuming that isn't the case—someone else would need to be tech-savvy and borrow your phone for an extended period of time to jailbreak it. The easiest way to check is to look for apps called Cydia and SBSettings on the home screen.
How to Know if Your Phone Has Spyware | Detect Spyware on Your Phone
If you do find yourself with a jailbroken iPhone, a full factory reset should fix it and wipe everything else, so make sure your important stuff is backed up somewhere. This is best done through a connected Mac or Windows computer, and Apple has a full guide to the process that you can work through here. Getting sneaky surveillance apps onto Android devices is somewhat easier, though officially speaking they're not allowed: Google will remove apps from the Play Store if it finds evidence of stalkerware-like behavior.
Apps do slip through the net, but someone will need to access your phone or have to have set up your phone initially to install one. That's actually one of the most telling warning signs to look out for: If you set up your own Android phone and no one else has ever had it for more than a few seconds, it should be stalkerware free. If your phone has been compromised, you might notice it gets hot or the battery drains quickly while you're not using it. You might also see notifications that you're not expecting, or shutdown or startup times that are longer than they should be.
It's not an exact science—stalking apps are designed to be hard to spot—but any sort of unusual phone behavior could be telling. Monitoring apps will very often hide their app icons but they might show up in the main apps list, albeit under an innocuous, alternative name: From Settings on Android, tap Apps and notifications then See all apps to check.
Stalkerware can also be tucked away in the actual Settings menu in Android often in sections related to security —look for menu items that don't look right, or that you haven't noticed before, or that don't match the official documentation.
For extra peace of mind, you can enlist the help of a third-party tool: Incognito , Certo , and Kaspersky Antivirus are three phone-scanning apps that come well recommended by their users, and they should tell you if you have anything to worry about. It's encouraging to note that the issue of secret surveillance apps is now more high profile than ever, and both Google and Apple take a very dim view of any app that attempts anything of the sort.
Someone else needs access to your computer for a start, or to trick you into installing something yourself—not difficult for an IT manager who is supplying you with a work laptop, but a bit trickier for someone in your household. As always, keep your laptop or desktop well protected with your own user account and a password, and pay attention to its physical security, like who has access to it and when. Both Microsoft and Apple are very conscious of the stalkerware problem, and Windows and macOS will detect and block some hidden tools without any extra help.
How to detect spyware to safeguard your privacy?
As with any other kind of malware, stalkerware can usually be spotted by a third-party security suite: We don't have room for a full guide here, but the likes of Norton , Bitdefender and Malwarebytes have both Windows and Mac options. Bear in mind that spyware won't typically list itself under its real name, and may well try and pass itself off as a system app or use a short name that you're likely to overlook.
Check through all the tabs that come up in the dialog on screen. Should you see anything that you don't recognize, or anything that doesn't match up to the programs you know you have installed, or that just seems suspicious in its behavior excessive disk usage maybe , then a quick web search for the app or process name is usually enough to reveal what you're dealing with. You should also check for applications and processes that are starting up at the same time as your operating system, as most surveillance tools will need to do this.
Again, run a web search for any application that you're not sure about. Check the entries for Input Monitoring and Full Disk Access , as spying software will often need these permissions. Windows doesn't have exactly the same setup, but you can see the permissions that apps have including location, camera access and so on by choosing Privacy from the Settings menu and scrolling down to App permissions. As we've said, if your employer is keeping tabs on your working day then the tools should be visible and running with your knowledge.
But if you're really worried, a complete system reset for Windows or macOS should clear the majority of hidden monitoring tools, if you suspect one has taken root just make sure you back up your files first. For someone who wants to invade someone's privacy, it's often easier just to gain access to their online accounts rather than try to get access to their devices. With just about everything accessible on the web, from social media to email, it's far more effective. With that in mind, as well as checking for unauthorized access to your devices, you should also check for unauthorized access to your accounts.
This obviously starts with protecting your usernames and passwords: Make sure they're known only to you, difficult to guess, not used across multiple accounts, and not written down anywhere. Consider using a password manager to keep those passwords strong, randomized, and different for every account you have. On accounts where it's available, turn two-factor authentication on.
It has a bunch of features, including the ability to hide itself from basically everywhere. It also comes with remote control support, SMS spoofing, and all kinds of other admittedly shady behavior. Carrier Family Locators are family location services by mobile carriers like T-Mobile and others.
These services work about as expected. You can keep track of the phone location of any phone on your plan.
How to remove spyware from your phone
They usually feature things like on-demand location, alerts of various types, and it works on most devices. Several phone manufacturers have phone finding services as part of their software experience. One notable example is Samsung. You log in with your Samsung account and you can find your device with its service. You can lock or unlock your phone, find it on a map, and there are other features as well. XNSPY is a bit of a weird case. It has all of those frightening features like monitoring call logs, GPS tracking, monitoring web browsing, access chats, and all kinds of other tracking stuff.
However, it goes for less than most of its bigger competitors like FlexiSpy and Spyera. The basic version lets you look at some stuff while the premium version lets you look at everything. This is a good option for businesses or families with some money to spend, but families may want to try Google Family Link or Kiddie Parental Controls before something more powerful like this. Of course, some of these apps may be on your device without your knowledge and you may want to find out.
However, there are a few ways to see if something may be spying on you. Find the best new apps. By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.