Malware/Spyware Security

I presume you're talking about an iPhone. Restoring a phone doesn't download the same app as originally on the phone, it downloads a fresh (and possibly different version) copy from the App Store. If you're not sure what an app does, delete it.

For something to spy, an application has to be running. Backups don't store applications so restoring from backup can't put anything of that sort back. It would have to re-download from the App Store and you would have to intentionally re-start it. Frankly I don't know if you could install that kind of thing even if you wanted to. Apple has iOS so heavily sandboxed ( = regulates what things can and cannot do with other parts of the phone) that I don't know if you could have a package doing all you claim without messages popping up all the time about you sharing your location, etc. As Lawrence Finch said, you'd have to be using a jailbroken phone that would let things run hidden and also communicate secretly with other services on the phone.

Now there are many features on an iPhone that can do some of what you say but they are there with that purpose, such as sharing your location and other things with people you have deliberately set up to do that with. My wife can see where I am and I can see where she is because we have location sharing on.

The classic situation where things show up elsewhere is when two people use the same Apple ID.

What exactly showed up on the computer? Were you using the computer previously? Did you have iCloud turned on so it was syncing things with an account on the computer?

Data spikes -- probably the phone was backing up to iCloud when that happened.

Running warm -- unless the phone is turned off there can be background processes running and updating. If I leave my phone turned off the battery can last for days, but if I leave it in sleep mode it only lasts a day even if I never use it at all during that time.

Echos -- I don't know. I remember those from long ago and long distance calls. Hang up and call again.

If you are truly convinced something spooky is going on, set the phone to factory settings and start afresh with setup.

Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to factory settings - "A factory restore erases the information and settings on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod and installs the latest version of iOS or iPod software." - http://support.apple.com/HT201252

For something to spy, an application has to be running. Backups don't store applications so restoring from backup can't put anything of that sort back. It would have to re-download from the App Store and you would have to intentionally re-start it. Frankly I don't know if you could install that kind of thing even if you wanted to. Apple has iOS so heavily sandboxed ( = regulates what things can and cannot do with other parts of the phone) that I don't know if you could have a package doing all you claim without messages popping up all the time about you sharing your location, etc. As Lawrence Finch said, you'd have to be using a jailbroken phone that would let things run hidden and also communicate secretly with other services on the phone.

Now there are many features on an iPhone that can do some of what you say but they are there with that purpose, such as sharing your location and other things with people you have deliberately set up to do that with. My wife can see where I am and I can see where she is because we have location sharing on.

The classic situation where things show up elsewhere is when two people use the same Apple ID.

What exactly showed up on the computer? Were you using the computer previously? Did you have iCloud turned on so it was syncing things with an account on the computer?

Data spikes -- probably the phone was backing up to iCloud when that happened, or maybe you have it set to update automatically.

Running warm -- unless the phone is turned off there can be background processes running and updating. If I leave my phone turned off the battery can last for days, but if I leave it in sleep mode it only lasts a day even if I never use it at all during that time. The phone is keeping a bunch of apps running and updating the data (e.g. fetching my mail) and uses up the battery unless I have the things shut off completely. Even then it will still show slight drain because it uses the clock. My iPads which I use once per month are almost always dead when I next want to use them and they are turned off all the time.

Echos -- I don't know. I remember those from long ago and long distance calls. Hang up and call again.

If you are truly convinced something spooky is going on, set the phone to factory settings and start afresh with setup.

Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to factory settings - "A factory restore erases the information and settings on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod and installs the latest version of iOS or iPod software." - http://support.apple.com/HT201252

I don’t believe any of that.

You may want malwarebytes for your Mac. And because 'Malwarebytes for iOS currently can't be used to scan and remove malware from iOS devices, because of Apple's restrictions on our app.’ also means that unless an iPhone is jailbroken NO app can do what you describe.

Several years ago the FBI wanted to access a terrorists iPhone. Apple said they couldn’t help, so the FBI went to a professional hacking company. That company was able to access the contents of the phone, using a method that would not work today. The FBI paid $980,000 for that hack. Do you really think some kid in their room could hack your phone if the FBI couldn’t?

BTW, posting an ad for a bogus spyware product doesn’t prove anything.

I don't see it as much these days but I used to run into web sites all the time saying my computer was infected with malware. Of course the smart ones would use the information that any browser reports back to web sites about a user's configuration to try to make it as personalized as possible and include your system information. It was all bogus. If you're lucky they are just trying to sell you something you don't need by trying to scare you. The nasty ones might even have malware in their "cure" software.

Because of iOS sandboxing a malware app, even if you got one, couldn't get outside its zone of influences which is very limited (try to use the Music app to play a mp3 file you have downloaded -- it won't let you because it will only play things in its zone). Just delete the app and that's it. You'd also not exactly be the most careful judge of apps since reviewers would probably already have posted warnings about anything tricky.

A bit more on the FBI & the San Bernadino bomber, (not so much for Lawrence as for the casual reader who may not be aware of the following ...

It is not Apple's policy to protect terrorists. However, there was some user data that Apple simply could not access (by design). Nevertheless, Apple worked closely with the FBI on the San Bernardino case, and gave the agency all the information it possibly could that might be helpful in catching the bomber.

That was not enough for the FBI--it wanted the keys to kingdom. The FBI was demanding that Apple open the propriety iOS to them. ICYDK, that's akin to demanding a company donate its patents and go out of business.

It was an absurd demand only a die hard socialist would dare make. Laughable really, when made by a hawkish national intelligence agency in a country with a long-established capitalist economy.

That's what the court battle was about and ultimately why the FBI paid a hacker a million bucks to break into that iPhone. LOL! That was actually doing Apple a favor since Apple actively invites users to alert it to potential unique vulnerabilities in new features and products.

Hard Truth: As technology evolves, new ulnerabilities will always appear That's the nature of technology--each new cool device, feature, or function is imbued with equal opportunity to exploit it because that's the nature of humans--we will always look for ways to climb over, under, or around a fence. It's in our DNA. Identifying new risks ASAP is the only way to manage them.

So thank you, FBI, for your kind assistance. 😂

Thank you for that excellent analysis. Indeed, Apple fixed the vulnerability that allowed the FBI to get into that phone. It actually required a hardware hack.

I’ll add that the FBI found nothing useful on that phone (that they’ve admitted to).

earnest226,

Hard Truth: As technology evolves, new ulnerabilities will always appear. That's the nature of rapidly evolving technologies--each cool new device, feature, or function is imbued with an equal opportunity to exploit it, because it's the nature of humans to do so. We will always look for ways to climb over, under, or around a fence.

Identifying new risks ASAP is the only way to manage them. So I encourage you to stay sharp and keep questioning suspect activity or things that look risky. There are lots of unanticipated, unique ways that new features or functions can be exploited. Developers are not gods and their Apps are not always foolproof, especially when housed together with other unrelated apps by other unrelated developers on a common device that has not intensively studied the interoperability of extraneous links each different App brings into play. .

There is no malware that can infect an iPhone unless you jailbreak it. And your ex would have had to jailbreak it to install spyware on it.