Is someone using software to secretly tracking your phone? Here’s how to spot the signs.
Hackers can take control of your car – How to protect yourself
The right software can turn your smartphone into a spy device that watches everything you do. Scary, I know. Here’s how to check if your phone is infected. While at it, check your computer. These are the signs that stalkerware is hard at work tracking your web activity, searches and even the passwords you type in.
Shockingly, your car isn’t immune. With the proper electronics and software techniques, a determined hacker can intercept or block your key fob signal, infiltrate your car’s software and even remotely control your vehicle.
So, is your connected car hackable? Most likely, yes. Here’s how.
Software hacks
Compromised car apps
Does your car have a smartphone app that allows you to unlock and start it remotely? Almost every car manufacturer offers this convenience in some makes and models.
Account usernames and passwords protect these apps. If hackers can break into your account or exploit a bug in the car’s software, they can compromise your entire vehicle.
My advice: To protect your remote start app, change the default password, use strong and unique credentials and never reuse passwords from other services. Enable two-factor authentication if you can, and keep that software current.
Telematics exploits
Telematics is the term describing a connected system remotely monitoring your vehicle’s behavior. This data may include your car’s location, speed, mileage, tire pressure, fuel use, braking, engine/battery status and driver behavior.
By now, you know anything connected to the internet is vulnerable to exploitation. Hackers that intercept your connection can track and even control your vehicle remotely. Now that’s scary.
My advice: Before you get a car with built-in telematics, consult with your car dealer about cybersecurity measures they’re utilizing on connected vehicles. If you have a connected car, ensure its onboard software is always up-to-date.
Cellphone and tech clues that your partner is cheating on you
People underestimate intuition. If your gut tells you something is off, don’t ignore it.
Stalkerware is surprisingly easy to plant on someone’s phone, and trackers follow you online and offline. Tap or click for signs whether you’re being watched or just paranoid.
How to know if hackers are in your phone
The iPhone has a reputation for being secure. Apple has a closed operating system (as opposed to Android’s open-source) and more closely monitors and vets apps in the App Store. And with just one phone model, the iPhone, Apple can more easily push out updates and pressure its users to download them.
Security alert: 9 apps caught stealing personal data
Smartphones are so intertwined into our daily lives that if you misplace yours or it gets stolen, it will be more than just an inconvenience. Tap or click here to find your phone when it’s lost (even if the battery is dead).
7 ways someone can hack your phone
Any American without a mobile device is in the minority. Only 3% of Americans don’t own a cellphone, the Pew Research Center says. Mobile devices play a central role in our daily tasks, as conduits for alarms, messaging, navigation and even grocery shopping.
Security alert: Devices most commonly used to spy on spouses and partners [List]
When securing your tech devices, the big news and advice usually point towards protecting yourself from scammers and hackers. While this is important, threats can also come from somewhere closer to home.
Your phone can be used by strangers as well as people you know to track your movements. One man found a flaw in Google Maps that allowed him to follow his wife’s movements from his phone. Tap or click here for instructions on how to stop others from tracking you through Google Maps.
Google stands behind feature that allows someone to track your every move
Imagine you lend your smartphone to a friend. They sign in to their Google account on your device. A few weeks later, he or she realizes that through the Google Maps Timeline feature, they can track your every movement — even though they signed out of your device.
FTC just banned a spyware app with 1M downloads - How to know if it's on your phone
Have you ever thought that someone knows just a little too much about your private life? Your mobile phone could be infected with stalkerware, and it’s as bad as it sounds. The technology is sold to people who want to track others, often without their knowledge.
Stalkerware software: Here's what happens when someone snoops on your phone
As a parent, the security of your children is of utmost importance. If you have teenagers, you might have been tempted to install software on their mobile phones so that you can keep track of them. There are several legitimate apps available for both iOS and Android.
This app pays people to spy on their neighbors
Ever wish you could be in two places at once? It’s hard enough keeping track of our kids and pets, let alone the wait at the corner store or our favorite restaurants. An extra set of eyes would make it much easier to manage our busy schedules.
5 mistakes you’re making with your phone that’re killing it
One hot summer day when I was about 10, I sat on my aunt’s couch in Queens, New York, after a swim and couldn’t get up. The hard plastic protective covering on the couch took hold of my legs like an octopus devouring its prey. Fortunately, protecting your phone is easier than a velvet couch.
Beware: Stalkerware apps could be watching your every move
Ever feel like somebody’s watching you? Does someone in your life seem to know just a little too much about where you’ve been and what you’re up to? Believe it or not, it’s possible you may have “stalkerware” installed on your phone.
App designed to keep families safe is secretly leaking your private info
Kids are experts at getting into trouble, which is why more parents are relying on tech-based solutions to keep an eye on them. A popular option involves the use of tracking apps, which are installed on kids’ phones so you can spy on their activities. But this software also goes by another, more sinister name: stalkerware.