How to Secure Your iPhone from Hackers? Effective Measures

Have you recently noticed many pop-up ads, unknown apps appearing on your iPhone, or a significant drop in battery life and performance? This could be because hackers have implanted a virus on your iPhone. Don’t worry, this article will teach you how to secure your iPhone from hackers.

How Likely Is It for an iPhone to Be Hacked?

First, you should know that the native system of the iPhone is not completely closed, as it needs to access external information and resources for your use. These external resources (e.g., phishing messages and sites) may carry risks, tempting you to fall into traps. Also, don’t assume that everything in the app store is completely safe, as some resources might disguise themselves or hide threats.

Since every iPhone user has different usage habits and identities, the likelihood of a phone being hacked varies. For users who are not attentive to network security, the chances of their phone being hacked are naturally higher than those who are more cautious about online risks. So, your iPhone could still be hacked if you are unaware of your own actions.

How to Tell If Your iPhone Is Hacked?

Most hacking activities are silent and unnoticed, but you can refer to the following information to tell if your phone has been hacked and take further steps to prevent hacker intrusions.

Abnormal iPhone Battery Consumption: If your phone is infected with a virus or malware, it will significantly consume your phone’s system resources in the background, leading to continuous battery drain. You can check if there’s an unfamiliar app causing this.

Excessive Data Consumption: If a hacker controls your phone, he will immediately steal your data from your iPhone while inputting malicious resources into it. In the data transmission process, more data will be consumed than your usual usage.

Strange Messages: If your contacts tell you they received some weird messages from you, e.g., unknown links, your account might be hacked.

Unfamiliar Apps: If you find that some apps appear on your phone, but you haven’t downloaded them before, they might be planted by hackers.

Locked Apple Account: If your Apple account is hacked, it will be locked. In such a case, you can reset your password to a more secure one.

Pop-ups: If your iPhone has many pop-up ads, it might be infected by viruses.

What to Do If Your iPhone Is Hacked?

If your iPhone has any of the above signs, it is likely to be hacked. You can try the below methods to remove the hacker from your iPhone.

Disconnect Your iPhone from the Internet

Hackers will constantly input malicious code or sources into your iPhone to control it. This process requires the Internet. Thus, to prevent further communication with the attacker, turn off your Wi-Fi and cellular data.

Change Passwords

If your iPhone seems to have been hacked, change your Apple ID password and other important passwords (e.g., email, and banking) from a secure device. You can create a strong password (long, unique, and complex) so hackers can’t easily break it. To change your Apple ID password, follow these steps:

• Go to Settings.
• Tap your username.
• Tap Sign-In & Security > Change Password.
• Enter your current password.
• Enter a new password and confirm it.
• Tap Change.

Delete Malicious Files and Uninstall Malware

If you find that some unknown resources (e.g., downloaded apps and files) appear on your iPhone, permanently delete them to secure your iPhone from hackers.

To uninstall malware, long-tap on it and choose “Remove App” > “Delete app” > “Delete”. To delete the malicious files, navigate to your file folder, find the strange files, and delete them.

Related: How to Get Rid of Malware [Beginner-friendly Guide]

Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)

Two-factor authentication can add an extra layer of security to your iPhone, preventing hackers from easily logging into your Apple account. Even if someone obtains your password, they cannot log in directly; instead, they will need additional verification, such as an SMS code or Face ID, which can only be accessed on your device.

You can find “Two-Factor Authentication” or similar options in the settings and enable it.

Use “Find My iPhone” to Lock the Data

When hackers want to steal your data from the iPhone, enable Lost Mode through Find My iPhone. This feature can trigger the data protection mode and stop anyone from accessing the data on the iPhone. Enable this mode to secure your iPhone from hackers:

• Sign into iCloud on another secure device.
• Go to Find My iPhone.
• Select your iPhone.
• Choose Lost Mode.

Factory Reset Your iPhone

If you still can’t remove hackers from the iPhone, try factory resetting your iPhone to force delete all the malware and malicious activities from your phone. However, before doing this, you should back up all your important data (e.g., password) into a USB drive. Here’s how to factory reset your iPhone.

• Go to Settings > General > Reset.
• Select Erase All Content and Settings.
• Set up your iPhone as a new device.

However, don’t directly restore from a backup because it might be compromised. You can send the USB drive to the professionals and let them get rid of the virus.

Contact Apple Support

If none of the above solutions works, you can contact Apple Support for assistance. They can help you investigate and secure your iPhone from hackers.

Several Measures to Secure Your iPhone from Hackers

To prevent your iPhone from being accessed by hackers, you should be aware of your using habit. Here are several tips for securing your iPhone from hackers.

Don’t click unknown resources: Viruses often disguised as attractive apps, links, and emails, alluring you to click on them. You can first search for their information online to see if they are trustworthy.

Use a VPN: It is good to use a VPN when you are browsing the web, streaming videos, or playing games online. A VPN will encrypt your data and privacy using the strong VPN protocol and algorithm. However, it’s better to use a robust VPN, e.g., LightningX VPN.

Update your iPhone: If your iPhone system software is outdated, it might be easily attacked because of bugs and loopholes.

Scan for viruses regularly: It is late when you realize that the virus has intruded into your iPhone. To prevent any virus from stealthily invading your iPhone, use an anti-virus software to scan for viruses regularly.

Don’t give strangers your iPhone: In recent years, some criminals have pretended to borrow a phone to gain access to your device and then inserted a virus-infected USB drive to take control of it. Besides this, there are many other methods they may use. Do not let strangers have access to your phone.