So how can you protect your phones from these malicious programs and online cyberattacks? How can you recognize if your device is infected by viruses? What are the safety measures that you can take to keep yourself safe from malicious attacks? How does antivirus software protect iPhones? This write-up provides answers to all these questions. So let’s discuss each question and get a solution!
How To Detect And Remove Malware From An iPhone?
Understanding the condition of your devices is necessary to grab the issue from its root. When you are confirmed that your device is under attack from viruses and malware then you must act up immediately. It is important that you use effective methods to detect and eliminate viruses from your iPhone. If you are not fully aware of how to do this then follow the simple steps discussed in this write-up. They are as follows:
Uninstall Suspicious Applications and Programs
The first and foremost thing you should do is to get rid of suspicious apps and software from your device. Inspect the apps you downloaded from third-party or open-source platforms. These files can be potential mediums for malicious codes to enter your phone and damage your files. Getting rid of these applications will be helpful for you to delete viruses from your system. With the deleting processes, all the associated malware files also get deleted with them. To delete these programs you have to follow simple steps:
- Go to the homepage where all the apps are located
- Press and hold the application icons you want to remove
- A menu will appear on your screen
- Select the remove button on it and confirm your decision
- You have successfully deleted the suspicious application
Clear Browsing History and Website Data
The second most important thing you should do is to clear your browsing history and website data. Viruses can be sticky and reversible. They can hide in your browsing history and website data. Malicious links in browsing history can make you revisit the malicious platforms and download the malware again unintentionally. So it would be best to get rid of it to prevent further infections.
How To Clear Browsing History On iPhone?
Open the Safari Browser
- Tap on the book icon located at the bottom of the screen to access browsing history
- The history option will appear at the top of the screen. Tap on it to view your browsing history
- Tap the clear button at the right corner of the history to clear the browsing history
- You can also choose the time range for the last hour, today, yesterday, or all time
- If you want to clear the entire history you can select all the time and get everything cleaned
To Clear Website Data
- Go to the settings
- Then Open Safari
- Clear history and website data
- Confirm the action
Restart Your iPhone
Restart your phone to isolate the viruses and malware effectively. It will close all the running processes, including potentially malicious ones. This act cuts them from continuous activities that provide a brief respite to your operating system from hectic usage. It will take you some time to take more measures to keep your data safe from damage.
Meanwhile, you can take a backup of your files and restore your devices to their normal conditions. Some people may use airplane mode or shut down the phone for a while to achieve the same results. But this can be useful only for a short time. It will be applicable for a short duration. You cannot rely on it for the complete solutions.
Update Your iOS
Delayed updates and obsolete versions of operating systems invite viruses to your phones. Make sure that you download all the latest updates as soon as they are available online. It will cover all the security patches and enable the latest security features to conduct safety operations on your phone.
Here Is How You Complete The Update:
- Open the Settings app
- Click General
- Click Software Updat
- Click Download and Install
- After that follow the prompt and fulfill the criteria to finish the job
Restore your iPhone To A Previous Backup Version
Restoring your phone to a previous backup plan is another good idea that you can use to deal with virus threats. It is important that you have a backup of your data that is created from a time before you notice any issues or virus-related problems on your device. You can restore this clean and infection-free data in your phone. It will eliminate all the new malicious programs that are creating havoc on your devices. You can use two methods to restore your backup. They are as follows:
- The first method is to use a backup that is saved on your system or on iCloud. Data stored on your computer is created by iTunes.
- The second method is to use iCloud backup. You can use it to restore your data to the previous state. Make sure that you have enabled it to take the backup on your phone.
Factory Reset Your Phone
This can be the last resort that you can use to eliminate viruses from your phone that you can use to deal with malware infection. Factory resetting erases all the data and settings on your iPhone. All the apps, software, and files will be deleted that you had installed and created. Along with this all the viruses and malicious programs will be deleted. It will start the entire device afresh that you can use in whatever way you like. The operating system and software will be restored to their original and clean state the way they were when you bought it new from the company.
How to Perform a Factory Reset
- Open the “Settings” app on your device
- Scroll down and tap on “General
- Scroll to the bottom and select “Reset
- Choose “Erase All Content and Settings
- Enter your device’s passcode if prompted
- Confirm the action
Download And Install Antivirus Software
Dealing with online threats, viruses, malware, and cyber attacks can be an exhaustive process if you do it on your own. One day or the other you will skip the process due to any reason. It is highly recommended that you download and install antivirus software to remove viruses from the iPhone. This is one of the most trusted and reliable methods that you can use to deal with cybersecurity problems without any failure.
Antivirus software comes with real-time protection and powerful virus-scanning tools that can detect and eliminate any malware from your Apple device. It provides comprehensive cybersecurity while you are browsing the internet and downloading apps and software from open sources. It generates alerts when you visit any malicious website. Additionally, you will be fully secure from iMessages which carry suspicious links to your devices. It will protect you from all the online threats effectively. Using an antimalware solution will help you keep all the threats away from your devices.
Additional Measures
Antivirus alone will not be enough for you to protect your Apple devices from malware. You have to follow Apple’s prescribed security measures along with it. It may include downloading apps from the Apple store and authorized resources. Avoid public WIFI connections to browse internet services. It will protect your devices from hackers and online black hats accessing your iPhone. Be cautious when getting suspicious links. Do not visit any links that come from unknown resources. These resources may be injected with viruses that can be stored on your devices when you are visiting such websites.
How Malware Enters Your iPhone?
iOS is a technically advanced and most powerful operating system. It is almost impossible to breach and launch a virus attack. However, people using iPhones often get infected with the malware. Why is that so? It is so because they fail to follow Apple’s operating parameters. These parameters are laid down as per the system requirements and general rules regarding the usage of apps and internet browsing. But when these rules are broken iOS becomes vulnerable and the lurking malware finds its way to your phone. What are the practices that make it possible? They are as follows:
Downloading And Installing Third-Party Apps
Apple has its own app store that provides its users with apps and software that are compatible with iOS. If you download your apps and programs from the Apple store you will get neat and clean software that is compatible with your system. These applications are immune to online infections, malware, and hacking activities. But most people go to third-party apps and download these apps from an open-source platform. When downloaded these applications are bundled with malicious programs. These programs enter the operating system and start doing their work of data theft, encryption, and smuggling sensitive details.
Internet Browsing and Malicious Websites
The second reason that your iPhone gets viruses is through visiting unauthorized websites, clicking unknown links, unsafe internet browsing, and downloading files from unsecure web portals. These media files and documents are attached with the worms and complex software programs interfere with the processes to hijack all the activities. If you are connected to the public WiFi then you are connecting to an unsafe network. Public networks are often tampered with the spyware and ransomware that enter your phone to do illegal activities.
Jailbreaking the iOS
Jailbreaking is a popular term that is often used in the context of Apple devices. It is a practice of reaching the root of the operating system by removing the software restrictions built by the Apple operating system. People use jailbreaking to gain access to the devices` file system to install apps and software outside of the Apple Store. This act enables users to use different SIMs, applications, and user IDs and customize themes, icons, and settings to make it do things that are not included in its operating system. This interference makes the device vulnerable to malware and viruses.
Falling Prey to iMessages
iMessage is another big channel that is used by hackers to introduce viruses into Apple devices. These messages carry malicious links with them which create a situation of urgency or offer a fake reward to the users. As soon as you click on these links you never know where you will land. It could be any adware, spyware, or Trojan horse. These links spread viruses and hack your devices to do their dirty work such as collecting personal information and stealing your precious data, financial details, and medical files. Once they are inside the machine you are all at the mercy of black hats.
What Are The Signs Of Virus In iPhone?
Viruses are complex programs that use too many resources of a device. They sneakily run in the background and tamper with all the other processes in the device. Additionally, these programs use too much internet data to stay connected to the origins and root causes. These hectic activities slow down the overall system, and you experience intermittent freezes and get stuck while doing your normal tasks. Phone battery goes down in a short time and your data usage increases unprecedentedly. You may get pop-up ads from unknown and unapproved resources. These signs and abnormal activities are strong indications that your device has a virus in it.
If you are also experiencing these abnormal activities then you need to become alert as soon as possible. You should go and check your browsing history to find out what are the latest links and websites you visited. Find out what apps and software you downloaded from unknown links. Are they recognized and authorized links? Are they offering you the right material? Make sure that you are not using jailbreaking to get third-party apps. Now when you have gone through this process it is time to act.
