You'll see a small teardrop symbol in your phone's notification bar when an app is using your device location. If you see this appear when you're not using apps allowed to access location data, this could indicate spyware is running and tracking your location.
Here is the list of some common spyware file names you should be aware of. XNSPY, Cocospy, FlexiSpy, PhoneSpector, Auto Forward, Highster Mobile, Daddy's Eye, iSpyoo, Spyzie, SpyEra, Spyier, Spyine, Hoverwatch, Qustodio, mSpy, Spy Video Recorder, Ino spy, and HelloSpy.
To delete apps from your home screen, you start by pressing and holding onto the app icon. However, for hidden apps, there is no app icon visible. In order to delete hidden apps, you have two options. You can find the app through the App Library and delete it from there, or you can delete the app in Settings.
The hidden app also won't appear in the launcher's search results. Even if someone tries to search for the app directly, they won't be able to find it. They will need to dig through the installed apps list in the Settings menu or browse the internal storage to find the data folders.
Spyware disguises itself by changing its icon to Google Play, Youtube, Google, or Botim to make it invisible to the victim.
Spyware example: Pegasus (NSO Group)
The Pegasus spyware is a well-known spyware program by the NSO Group, a technology company based in Israel. The Pegasus spyware targets mobile devices running both on the iOS and Android operating systems. It has infected devices globally since its development in 2011.
Fake Android apps are programs designed to look legitimate but are actually malware. They are generally available on unofficial app stores or websites but can also be found on the official Google Play Store. Cybercriminals design and name them in such a way that they appear to be pretty useful.
Signs that spyware is on your phone
You may experience unexpected handset battery drain, overheating, and strange behavior from the device's operating system or apps. Settings such as GPS and location functions may unexpectedly turn on or you may see random reboots.
It's possible to find spy software on an Android by looking inside the files on the phone. Go to Settings – Applications – Manage Applications or Running Services, and you may be able to spot suspicious looking files.
Swipe up from the bottom, hold, then let go. If you're on Android Go with 3-button navigation, tap Recent apps .
As stated before, an APK is basically a zip file. So we can just use any unzip tool or file browser with support for zip files to look into an APK's contents. This, however, has a very limited use case: We can extract resources and assets that are not processed or are just optimized during the build process.
To do this, go to Settings, tap Home screen, and select Hide apps. Samsung's built-in Secure Folder is another great way to hide apps that you don't want anyone to see, or that contain sensitive information, such as banking or trading apps.
Separated Apps isolates third-party apps in sandboxed folder. The third-party apps cannot intercommunicate with work apps or access confidential work data.
Fake apps may display an icon that looks similar to the icon of a real app it is copying. This is often the case with game imitators that mimic popular games. Look closely and don't be deceived by distorted, lower-quality versions of the real icons.