There are a number of different ways to remove spyware from your iPhone, but the first step that you need to take is to identify whether your iPhone is being monitored or infected with spyware.
This depends on the type of spyware you suspect. There are many definitions of what spyware is and it can be confusing – all these different terms people use!
For the purpose of this article and in the context of this website I will cover two types of spyware that covers all.
Spy apps or spying software is often referred to as spyware (rightly or wrongly!). These are apps usually installed physically on the phone to be monitored.
True spyware – these are similar to viruses but are usually designed to gather information from the phone or device (keeping it simple). These are usually distibuted in large scale attacks or by hijacking legitimate apps.
The important distinction is that spy apps target you personally whereas true spyware is more broadcast in nature. Anyway let’s look at how to identify and remove both!
Finding Spyware on Your Phone
I have several guides on AcisNI to help you detect spy apps and how to find if your iPhone has been hacked – have a good read there and come back. These cover spy software apps in particular. Anothe guide added recently is how to detect WebWatcher – another iPhone spy app.
For spyware detection you need to rely on the tools available. There are quite a few of those available nowadays and you can run a full scan of your device to determine whether your device has spyware installed or not.
These spyware detection tools are not reliable at finding spy apps! They are programmed to avoid detection from these tools.
Have a read at my article on how to detect spyware on an iPhone for a more detailed look at this.
Once the spyware has been identified and detected, what can you do?
Spyware is dangerous, and can easily keep track of what you are doing on your device. From the websites that you visit to the emails that you send and the calls that you make, someone could be remotely monitoring everything that you do.
However you should know that removing spyware is not as simple as deleting an application on your device. Sophisticated spyware usually hides itself deep in the file system so you can’t just uninstall it like a conventional application.
But, you should know that there are a few ways to get rid of the spyware with straightforward precision, and you don’t even need any serious technical expertise to do so. Here are a few ways to do it.
Update Your Device To Remove Spyware
One of the best ways to remove spyware from your iPhone is to update the operating system. If you take a look at the vast number of spy applications on the market, you will realize that a significant number of those require an iPhone to be jailbroken to work.
Simply put, jailbreaking allows you to install third-party applications on your device that haven’t been approved by Apple and are not commercially available from the App Store. So, when you update your iOS, it automatically removes the jailbroken software from your device, rendering the spyware moot.
Perform a Full Factory Reset
The factory reset allows you to get rid of all the spyware on your device, and it is a great way to get rid of all the spyware that might be installed on your device. However, you should know that running a factory reset on your iPhone also removes all of your data, applications, and everything else.
Simply put, your device will be returned to its original state, with the latest iOS installed. Before you carry out a factory reset, you might want to consider backing up all of the data on your device using iTunes and putting it on your iCloud account.
This way, you will be able to restore all of your personal data once the factory reset has been completed.
Once you are done carrying out these steps, you need to make sure that you use an anti-spyware tool again and check your device again. This will give you a better idea about whether your device is still infected, and if you need to take some remedial action.
However, a full factory reset is widely regarded as an all-in-one method of getting rid of everything harmful or good from your device. It’s going to completely clean out the file system and remove everything.
Now that you have cleaned your device, it is important that you remain vigilant and try to avoid any kind of spyware from entering your phone.
If you really have problems and need expert help to identify and remove spy apps – have a look at my Premium Security Guide. Find all the details below:
Staying Safe
There are a series of different steps that you can take to avoid major problems with your device and prevent such spyware from accessing your phone again.
For instance, it always pays to be vigilant; you need to make sure that you avoid accessing websites that don’t have a SSL certificate or avoid visiting those that seem shady.
Many browsers even provide warnings when you are about to access a malicious website, so just steer clear of those.
As long as you remain vigilant and avoid visiting harmful websites or downloading applications that are not authorized on the App Store, you won’t have much to worry about.
Remember, many iPhone spyware tools usually infect your mobile device without even giving so much as a warning, so you need to be a bit careful.
These are just a few ways to remove spyware and prevent it from accessing your iPhone. Have a good look around this website for more online security information – lots to learn!
