Why are there no iPhone virus scanners?

In a world where more and more parts of your life are going digital, it’s almost scary to think about something as elusive as hacking. For example, these days your cell phone is not just for calling and texting, but is actually a mini computer that fits in your pocket. Internet banking, DigiD, Whatsapp, years of photos, all things you’d probably rather not have out for everyone to see.

Fortunately, the iPhone’s operating system is very well protected, so there are not really separate virus scanners for iOS. The scanners that do exist are more applicable to securing your Internet connection and your mail and text message traffic.

So Apple itself has built hefty security into the operating system and keeps it well protected. If you do now feel that your iPhone has been hacked, in this blog we describe the following tips to regain control and better secure your accounts.

• Check your activity and collect evidence
• Check your calendar app
• Remove suspicious apps
• Update iOS and apps
• Change passwords
• Enable two-factor authentication
• Restore iPhone

Check your activity and collect evidence

If you suspect your iPhone has been hacked, it is important to remain calm and determine as quickly as possible what has changed in your device. Note if suspicious apps were suddenly installed, unusual login attempts were made, calls/messages were received from unknown numbers or excessive data was consumed. These may be signs of nefarious activity. That way, at least you have documented what is going on, and you can refer back to it later. The moment you feel there are accounts that have been hacked, involve the relevant authority as soon as possible.

Check your calendar app

Sometimes you get some strange notifications on your iPhone. When these come off the calendar app, fortunately, it is often not that difficult to fix. To do so, open the app and tap the unwanted activity. Then press “Cancel subscription to this calendar,” which is at the bottom of the options menu. Then click unsubscribe, and the problems are solved!

Remove suspicious apps from your hacked iPhone

If you have found apps that you don’t know about or that you don’t know what they do, you can delete them. These apps are not only on your home screen, but also when you scroll all the way to the right. You will then see a list of all the apps that are on your iPhone. To delete an app, long press and hold the icon. A pop-up menu then appears, here you can delete the app. This removes all data from that app and thus any possible malware or spyware.

Update iOS and apps

To ensure the latest security updates for your phone, it is always a good idea to perform updates. That way, you make it as difficult as possible for any hackers to get into your device or accounts.

To update your iPhone’s operating system, go through Settings to General and click on Software Update. Your device will reboot a few times and show a progress bar. Once you see your own home screen again, the update was successful.

Updating apps is easiest through the App Store. Open the app and click on your profile icon, then scroll down a bit until you see “Update all. This way, all apps on your device are provided with the latest (security) updates.

Change passwords

The moment you think there are accounts that have been compromised, it is very important to change the passwords of these as soon as possible. This way you make sure that any intruders are immediately locked out again. When setting a new password, avoid using simple or easy-to-guess passwords. So don’t use things like birthplaces or dates. Fortunately, most accounts already require several conditions to be met before setting a new password.

Enable two-step verification

Also, enabling two-step verification is very important in keeping your accounts secure. Fortunately, this is already possible with many accounts, and even mandatory with some. Thus, you need not only a password but also a code or confirmation via a trusted device to enter the account.

Restore iPhone

To ensure that all potentially harmful files and connections are removed from your hacked iPhone, it might be necessary to restore your device to the factory settings.. Important here is that you don’t use a backup, but really start over. In fact, it is quite possible that it has already been compromised and so you are using this backup to put any virus back on your device.

Stop by the store

If you still feel that there is something wrong with your device, or you weren’t able to reset your iPhone, feel free to stop by the store.