How to Detect Keylogger on Android and iOS
Last Updated on April 18, 2023 by Angelos ChronisThe internet is one of the most important inventions of the 20th century; it opens a path to an entire universe of information, entertainment, and possibilities that is accessible to everyone wherever in the world they may be.
What is not as widely known is that this path that the internet opens is a two-way street. Every time you access a site from your phone, you agree to the site accessing some of your data as well. Usually, you’re given a choice to control what and how much data will be collected the moment you first enter a site.
However, this is not all. There are ways for someone to collect information about you and remain completely undetected. This can be done with the use of keyloggers a tool that records every keystroke on any device where it's been planted. This includes every keystroke, regardless of whether it is a message, an internet search or a password; so long as you tap it on your phone, it will be recorded. The most common targets of keyloggers are:
- people whose partners suspect them of infidelity.
- Businessmen.
- People in office, like politicians or diplomats.
- Police and military.
- Parents for their children.
So, if you belong to one of those groups, or are concerned about your privacy in general, you might be wondering whether it is possible to detect keyloggers on your device and how to protect yourself from them, in general,.
Read on and you will find out.
Note
This article may also come in handy for those of you who belong to the other side of this story; those who need to plant a keylogger on someone like their children or spouse. In this case, you can see all the ways in which your keylogger may be detected and eliminated.
6 Tips to detect keyloggers on phone
While keyloggers are built to be virtually undetectable, there are some traces that they leave in the way your phone operates. It is with the help of those traces that we will be able to confirm the existence of a keylogger on our phones.
Sign 1: Spikes in data usage
The first sign has to do with data usage. Keyloggers record whatever you tap on the phone's keyboard and then send the data they have collected to the person that is trying to spy on you.
If the keylogger happens to send all that info when your phone is on data, it will surely be noticeable, both on your data plan and your data log.
To check your data log, you just have to:
- Go to Settings - Connection & sharing.
- Then, go to Data usage.
- There, you will see the total amount of data you have used.
If you noticed that you have used much more data than you usually do, that's a good indication that you have a keylogger on your phone.
Sign 2: Increased phone temperature
Another sign of having a keylogger on your phone is temperature spikes. Keylogger apps use a lot of resources to collect data. This puts increased strain on your phone’s processing unit, which makes it run hotter.
If your phone is running hotter than usual, it could be a sign of a keylogger at work.
Sign 3: Slower phone performance
As we said before, keyloggers require resources to run. If your phone is on the lighter side, in terms of processing power, the added workload from the keylogger could cause it to run slower or even freeze. If you try to fix it and it still freezes or runs slow, you can start suspecting a keylogger.
Sign 4: Phone switched on and off randomly
Keyloggers could affect your phone in another way too. As they are considered malware, they might cause it to start behaving erratically.
Such behaviour could very well be also cause for concern. Especially if you tried to fix it and it still goes on shutting off randomly.
Sign 5: Received weird messages
There are many ways to install a keylogger on a target phone. The most common one is to send an email or message containing a link or the keylogger itself.
If you receive messages with random links from unverified sources, it could be an attempt to install a keylogger on your phone.
Sign 6: Running low on battery very quickly
Last, the keylogger could also deplete your battery. The reason for this is that with the keylogger on, you have an extra app running in the background. An app that needs to use your battery life to power itself.
How to protect yourself from keyloggers
So, what happens once you have confirmed that you do have a keylogger on your phone?
Throwing it out might seem like a good idea, but you don't have to go to such lengths just yet. Fortunately, there are ways to remove keyloggers and other such malware from your phone. What is more, you won't even have to erase your data to do that.
What we are talking about is ClevGuard, an all-in-one solution to all your privacy concerns.
With ClevGuad you get:
- 24/7 real-time protection against spyware.
- A one-click way to remove malicious apps and files from your device.
- Real time notifications about security breaches on your camera, microphone etc.
- A tool that will help you find out if your email passwords have been leaked online.
- A phone junk cleaner.
- The best tool to detect hidden and invisible apps, like keyloggers.
With ClevGuard, we will be able to get all the protection we need from keyloggers and other malware. What is more, we will also never have to worry again about such attacks on our privacy since ClevGuard will always be on the lookout for us.
How to use Clevguard to detect and remove keyloggers from your phone
- Download and instal ClevGuard by following the link below.
- Open the app and tap on Scan.
- After a bit, you will get to the Scan results menu, there you should tap on Fix all to let ClevGuard remove all suspicious software found on your phone.
- Alternatively, you will also see a list with all the suspected apps. You can chose to Fix or ignore them depending on whether you know them o not.
- If you are not sure about an app, you can press report to allow ClevGuard more time to collect data on the suspected app.
- ClevGuard, can also protect your privacy during various events by blocking apps that are known to cause data leaks, like Istagram. All you have to do, is add the apps you think might cause a breach to the blacklist from the Guard Event menu.
- Another way in which someone could be spying on you is your phone's own microphone. Thankfully, ClevGuard will notify you whenever an app is using your microphone to collect data. You can also check Microphone Usage in the relevant menu.
Conclusion
Keyloggers are some of the most common and most effective methods to spy one someone. They collect data from the things you type on your phone and send it over to the one who wants to spy on us. What is more, they are virtually undetectable. But we are not completely helpless in this. Here, we have a list of ways in which you can detect and eliminate keyloggers on your phone.