The security expert, who goes by the pseudonym 4n6strider, focused on analysing the phone when it is not in active use. And he came up with some pretty interesting results:In the six hours the phone was put away overnight by its owner, it made 160 connections. A bit scary, isn’t it?
In this particular case, it was an Android phone, but given that this activity was done with apps installed, the result would have been similar with any other phone operating system. It is important to note that there were no attacks or other suspicious activity, so there is no reason to worry.
4n6strider stated that since all applications were closed and nothing appeared to be running in the background, the user would expect that the only activity that may be happening is that associated with the alarm clock application and processes that are required to run the system.
So what’s behind the fact that the phone never sleeps? Some of the most common causes include backup data, updates and owner data that allow marketers to target various personalized ads. Operating system vendors themselves try to limit all these applications by saying that you have to separately allow access to your camera, microphone or even your storage. And it’s definitely worth having antivirus on your phone.
And now you’ll be wondering how to block all these nightly actions. It’s fairly simple – when you don’t need your phone, cut it off from the internet. If that’s not a viable solution for you, then rely on a good antivirus program and avoid downloading apps from unofficial sources.
If you’d like advice on choosing the right security for your phone or computer, be sure to contact us, we’re happy to help :-).