Greetings to you all Steemians all over the world. Trust you all are safe and good.

It's your tech content creator @barnabie at it again.

Introduction

In my previous post which I published a day ago with the title Spyware: Signs and how to get rid of it, I discussed the what spyware is, signs to tell if your phone has Spyware, as well as how to check if your device has some spywares.
I promised you that in my next post I'll be focusing on ways in which you can remove spyware on your device and as such, I'm here to do just that. Continue reading.

Photo Source: Pixabay

Preamble:

It is without doubt that thousands upon thousands of individual's phones are victims of spywares. Unfortunately most of these people are unaware and many who are aware are ignorant of how to remove it.
With no much expectations that the this susceptibility will be fixed any time soon, this post of mine may help you remove some of these spyware from your Android device.

More enlightenment on spyware

Like consumer-grade spywares, these apps are sometimes sold under the cover of child tracking software. Not just that,
they are known as “stalkerware” this is because they can be able to track partners or spouses and monitor their consent.
These apps are mostly an APK file, they are available outside of the Google Play store .After downloading either knowingly or remotely, they are being planted on a phone without the victim's consent and can't be seen on the home page or screen so as to avoid being detected.

You may notice that your phone will acting weird. more details of how strange maybact have been discussed in my previous post, kindly click and check.

Before you start this guide,do have a safety plan in place. Spyware can be converted, but keep in mind that immediately you start removing the spyware from your device it will likely alert the perpetrator therefore creating and unsafe situation as the case may be.

• Note:
  This guideline may only remove the spyware app however, it doesn't erase the perpetrator's already collected data. And Also, your phone might have somehow different menu options, just understand and make use of this guide the better way if you don't mind, that's at your risk.

Check your Google Play Protect settings

^{Screenshot from my Android device A33}

Ensure that your Google Play Protect, (it is a security feature in Android phones devices) is enabled always.

It's among the best safeguards against malicious android applications. One cool this is that, it does not only works on apps in the playstore but also third party applications.

• Extra knowledge:
  Incase someone ask you to disable this feature before sharing an APK with you, or because it can work, most especially if it's not on playstore, know that the app contains malicious files.

Check available apps in your phone

Like I said earlier, this spyware apps does not appear on home screen but they may be among your app list. Go to settings then apps, view them and crosscheck. Look for a strange app name to you in your device like system service, Device health. Yes! Hackers aren't stupid, they'll rename the app that nice.
Kindly uninstall any fishy app in your phone.

Check your phone accessibility settings

Android spyware many times, abuses in-built accessibility features. When you no longer recognize a downloaded service in the Accessibility options, it is likely that you may want to remove it. Much of the stalkerware apps are disguised as plain apps called “Accessibility” or “Device Health.”

Check device admin

Just like accessibility, device admin options also have similar but even wide access to Android system. It is actually designed to be used purposely by companies to remotely manage their employees’ phones, also disable features and wipe data to prevent data loss. Now, they also allow stalkerware apps to easily record the victim's screen and snoop on the device owner.

Most people may not have this device admin app on their own personal phone, so it should be a sign of spyware when you suddenly start seeing any, uninstall it.

Secure your phone

Photo Source: Pixabay

Last but now the least is to secure your device.

If you've been a victim of spyware definitely your phone was either unlocked before installing it in or you have your phone to a random person.

Always use a very strong strong password and know the type of people to give your phone to and also, avoid downloading apps out of Google playstore
Consider protecting your device as a whole with 2-factor authentication.

That's much we can take for today. Ask me anything in the comment section. See y'all in the next post. Thanks.
#technology
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