What Happens When My Phone is Infected with a Virus?

When some people think of a computer virus, they think of some evil software that attacks the hard drive, permanently running it. The media has fed this over-dramatization, but in reality, viruses rarely cause that much havoc. This is especially true for cell phone viruses. Cell phone viruses are almost unheard of.

Why are they so scarce? Well, for the most part, the technology to hack a mobile device hasn't been thoroughly developed yet. In fact, the first phone virus wasn't even created until 2004 – around 20 years after the public began using cell phones. The first phone virus was called Cabir, and it was created solely to prove that a cell phone virus could be created. Cabir could only travel by Bluetooth and didn't travel very far since users had to accept the download of the virus. It also didn't cause any damage to the phone. Though some anti-virus companies predicted a rash of mobile-phone viruses after Cabir was created, it didn't happen.

Cabir was followed by only a handful of phone viruses that were capable of ruining phones, but they were only able to infect a small number of phones. Why haven't hackers found a way to infect phones on a massive scale like they do with computers? Cell phones come in a wide array of operating systems such as Droid and iOS. Personal computers generally run on only one operating system – Windows. Viruses are only created to infect one type of operating system. To create a virus that would infect a large number of phones, hackers would need to come up with a virus that would infect dozens of operating systems, which is highly difficult if not practically impossible.

While the chance of your phone getting a virus isn't very likely, there are some ways to lessen the threat even more.

• Don't open files from companies and people you don't know. Phone viruses are spread through files opened on a mobile device.
• Don't click on ads that pop up while you're playing games or using apps on your phone. The website that the ad takes you to could silently download a phone virus on your mobile device.
• Download anti-virus software and install it on your phone. This security software will protect your phone from threats and will get rid of viruses that may already be on your phone. Only download software from a reputable dealer that you have researched. Some people have been tricked into downloading fake software that is actually a virus in disguise.
• Get insurance for your cell phone that covers phone virus attacks. You won't need to worry about a phone virus attacking your phone and destroying it if you can get a new one easily. Make sure to get your insurance through your phone provider to avoid scammers.

You shouldn't worry about a phone virus infecting your cell. As long as you take some precautions and install some security software, your cell phone should be safe.

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