How to Remove Virus from Android and iOS Mobile Phone?

Remove Virus from Android and iOS Mobile Phone, What is Malware? And how does it differ from software bugs? Any definition of Malware must contain two aspects- intentional and damage. So malware is a program intentionally designed to cause damage to computers, mobile phones, servers, clients, computer networks, etc.

By contrast, software or program that causes unintentional damage due to some deficiency is typically defined as software bugs.

Malware is a very broad term so much so that any program built to cause harm or damage to computing systems can be called malware. For example, Spyware is a type of malware that is built to gather and steal information off the target’s system. Another example is Ransomware, which is used to steal a person’s highly sensitive data and ask for ransom from the said target. Other types of malware are Logic Bomb, Rootkit, Trojan Horse, Computer Worms, and Virus.

In this article, we are going to discuss your mobile phone(Android & iOS) being infected with malware, how to detect and remove them.

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Remove Virus from Android and iOS Mobile Phone

Is there Malware on your Phone? How do you detect them?

Yes, malware can infect your mobile phones although not in the traditional way. Jailbreaking your Apple devices or installing apps from unknown sources is a typical case in which your mobile phones can be infected.

You can also infer the fact that your mobile phone is infected with malware through passive observations of some of the classical situations:

• You need to recharge your device battery more frequently.
• Unknown apps that pop up on your phone without your knowledge of ever being downloaded.
• Apps are taking longer to launch.
• Unexplained data usage.
• Increase in the appearance of pop-up ads.

How to Remove Malware from your Mobile Phone?

Method 1- Using Anti-Malware Software

Since there are illegal hackers who design and build destructive malware. There are also their counterparts who built software that can protect a user’s system from damage caused by malware. There are tons of Anti-Malware software available on the internet. But selecting a suitable one for your system is very complicated as different software provides different features.

F-Secure SAFE

F-Secure is an award-winning best security software for any device. SAFE has won the AV-TEST Best Protection Award in 2020. It is available for PC, Mac, Android, and iOS. F-Secure SAFE is an easy-to-use anti-malware software and it protects against all kinds of malware even advanced cases like phishing and ransomware. Some other features of F-Secure SAFE are:

• AntiVirus Protection- Protection against viruses, trojans, ransomware, spyware, etc.
• Banking Protection- Automatic security measures for your secure online banking and payments.
• Browsing Protection- Prevent harms caused by some harmful websites.
• Parental Control- Keeping the children from harmful content and managing their screen time.
• Gaming Mode- This mode helps you optimize your system settings and provides security for an uninterrupted experience during online game and video streaming.

You can buy the F-Secure SAFE service starting with the basic package of 3 devices/1 year @ £59.99.

Malware Fox Anti-Malware

The huge user base of Android has made it a great hunting ground for hackers. Malware Fox Anti-Malware is a good choice to install on your Android device and keep your mobile phone protected. This app acts as a malware scanner for your Android which detects all kinds of malicious files including but not limited to viruses, trojans, adware, spyware, backdoors, keyloggers, etc.

Features:

• It can scan your files and apps 250% faster.
• Protect your Android from advanced attacks such as phishing and ransomware.
• Keep your data safe from keyloggers by catching malicious applications like password managers, SMS applications and keyboard applications.
• Frequent update of the virus database.

Also Read: How to Fix Whatsapp not Showing the Send Option on iPhone

Malwarebytes

This software is available for both iOS and Android devices. You can experience the free trial version for 30 days and you can avail of the premium version with a minimum of $3.33/month for 1 device.

Features of the Free version:

• Can your device anytime.
• Remove infected files or apps.
• Conducts privacy audits on all the applications of your device.

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Features of the Premium version:

• Protection against online threats such as ransomware, malware, and scams.
• Detects and blocks Phishing URLs when browsing on your Google Chrome.

Method 2- Manually removing malware

Android Mobile Phone

Step 1- Restart your Android device in Safe Mode.

• Long-press the Power button, tap on Restart and select the “Reboot to Safe Mode” button.
• If your Android does not have the “Reboot to Safe Mode” option then switch off your device by long-pressing the Power off button.
• Then long-press the volume down button until the screen of your Android device comes up.
• You will find the “Safe Mode” option in the lower-left corner of the screen.

Step 2- Uninstall any suspected malware apps. Go to Settings-> Apps and select the suspected malware app and tap on the Uninstall option.

Doing this may not completely remove the malware but it can stop further damage to your device or stop it from further transmitting it to other devices.

iOS Mobile Phone

Manually removing malware from your iOS devices is complicated as shown in the previous Android section. Apple has the most stringent security protocol imposed on all of its devices. So there is little chance for malware to infect your device.

But it is not the case for an iOS device that is jailbroken and has downloaded apps from unknown sources. Below is a list of some security measures that you can undertake to manually remove malware from your iOS devices.

1. You can restart your iOS device and usually, it will fix the problem.
2. Clear your Safari browsing history and data.
3. Restore your device to a previous iCloud backup.

• If any of the above two methods don’t work then you can try restoring previously backed up iCloud data. Navigate to settings-> general-> Reset-> Erase all contents and settings-> Erase Now.
• After the reset is complete, restore data from your iCloud account.

Also Read: Best Phones or Tablets Repair Software for Your Android and iOS

Perform a Factory reset.

It is the final method to remove malware from your device. A factory reset wipes all of the content, apps, settings, and configurations of your iOS device. The factory reset should be performed when your device is incurably afflicted with malware and any of the previous methods don’t work on your device.

Conclusion-

It is necessary to know about malware and its countermeasures as cyber threats are a major concern for any user. Using anti-malware software you can keep all-around protection against viruses, trojans, ransomware, worms, adware, and phishing. Protect your privacy and data being stolen by hackers.