A terrifying new smartphone virus is doing the rounds—and it could be spying on you right now. The so-called Android 'trojan' SpyNote can access everything from your text messages and saved files to your phone camera and microphone, meaning it can effectively eavesdrop on you and record audio and video.
According to cybersecurity experts, SpyNote is predominantly circulated through dodgy text messages in a practice known as 'smishing'. It's capable of downloading and installing spyware onto your device and then hiding itself from the App launcher menu in order to avoid detection.
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You can only find out if you have it by going to the Settings app then opening the 'Apps' menu—but this isn't a surefire way of finding out.
Worst of all, it even has the ability to relaunch itself if you shut it down, meaning it's very difficult to get rid of. One analyst believes that the only effective way of getting rid of the spyware is to perform a factory reset, which essentially wipes your device clean.
Cybersecurity firm F-Secure's Amit Tambe said: "The SpyNote sample is spyware that logs and steals a variety of information, including key strokes, call logs, information on installed applications and so on. It stays hidden on the victim's device making it challenging to notice. It also makes uninstallation extremely tricky.
"The only option that the victim is left with is performing factory reset to remove the malware."
However, this doesn't necessarily have to be your first resort. MalwareBytes, an anti-malware software for Android, does have detection and removal capabilities for SpyNote. You can install this via the official Google Play Store and then run a full system scan.
If the app picks up anything, it will notify you and attempt to delete it.
Besides that, the best form of protection is prevention, and that means being wary of any dodgy-looking texts. According to Italian cybersecurity researchers, the virus has been spread in Italy via fake texts warning of a volcanic eruption—which just goes to show that these texts can take many different forms.