Finding apps running in the background – Track Dangerous app usage

Malicious apps in the background pose a dangerous new trend for smartphones. They target the most susceptible amongst us, the children and elderly who are not very tech-savvy.

Currently, experts have found a ton of malicious apps in official app stores. Even though they’re supposed to have stronger systems in place to prevent malicious apps from showing up, it has not been working well.

Malicious apps running in the background could cause your battery to drain extraordinarily fast, but there is a more dangerous threat lurking behind. Most malware apps don’t want to just sit on your phone; it either wants to use your phone to broadcast information to someplace else or use the data on your phone to publish ads. This activity causes not only noticeable spikes on your data plan bill, but also raises security concerns. It can also cause performance clogging, causing apps to crash frequently.

What malicious apps can do to your phone

• Collect your personal information, including contact list, photos, your location via GPS, email address, banking details, etc.
• Rack up unexpected charges, through unusual SMS charges.
• Rapid data deletion, or unauthorized app charges.
• Steal your private information and demand a ransom to release them.
• Take full control of your device through rooting.
• Subscribe phones to premium services without your knowledge.
• Send pop-up ads on your device even when your browser is closed.

Do you find your phone slowing down regularly or the battery running out faster than expected?

You could have a malicious app that runs in the background and potentially causes problems with the device and affects the information you store on the phone.

It’s up to you to be proactive and keep a lookout for symptoms that could indicate your device is infected. But don’t worry — it’s fairly easy to check your phone for malware. There are a few things you can do to take back control of your smartphone, and one of the simplest things to do is get information about all the apps running in the background.