How can I tell if my iPhone has been hacked?

The only way your iPhone could be been hacked is if it’s no longer with you.

If you are referring to your Apple ID being compromised, refer here ⇢ If you think your Apple ID has been compromised - Apple Support

-Zachyy ✌️

Your phone has not been hacked, but if there are some things that you do not understand happening on your phone, one or more of your accounts may have been compromised.

Run Safety Check

How Safety Check on iPhone works to keep you safeApple SupportOfficial Apple Support › guide › personal-safety › web

ernst157 wrote:

In order for someone to hack your phone, they need to install a software on your phone.. this can be done through several means, installing an app through dodgy website for example.. (now you can do it on iOS)

Nope! To be clear, only in the EU can you install apps from a third party App Store and that has to be notarized by Apple. It is a huge leap to tell a person that you don't even know if they live in the EU that they can download apps through a dodgy website. You cannot go to some dodgy website, even in the EU, and download an app. As of August there were only 5 third party App Stores.

Of course we are only talking about a phone that has not been jailbroken. It you are talking about a jailbroken phone, then you can expect to be hacked if you download any app from an alt marketplace. Jailbreaking defeats the security measures on your device, so that is on you.

What makes you think that your phone is "hacked"?

A common claim of messages and pop-ups presented by scammers is that your phone or computer has "viruses", or "Trojan viruses", or is "damaged" and will be "permanently damaged" if you do not contact the scammers within two minutes. Or that your iCloud is "hacked".

These messages are packs of lies, intended to frighten you and get you to deliver yourself into the criminals' hands. Many scammers find it easier to "hack" the owner of a phone or a computer than the phone or computer itself …

KhadijahP wrote:

Checking for hacker on my phone.

Do you want a comfortable answer?

Or do you want a difficult, expensive, and very hard to accept answer?

The difficult answer? Nobody knows if you’re hacked. Nobody can know.

You’re asking an impossible, unanswerable, proving-a-negative question.

Can somebody that has compromised your device make that compromise clear? Sure. There are vqriousmways to do that, both directly and indirectly.

But the folks with these exploits don't have to expose the presence or use of their exploits, and there are big financial incentives not to expose the use of their exploits, and incentives to not use these exploits widely.

All of which makes differentiating a perfectly normal iPhone, and a compromised iPhone exceedingly difficult.

If you would prefer a more comfortable answer? You’re likely not hacked. Hacks are targeted at specific people, based on available information. And there are lots of false claims of hacking. False claims arising from spammers, pop-ups, fraudsters, and from those profiting from advertising revenues and “hits” and “engagement”.

But then, we also don’t know if you're worth targeting. And you probably shouldn’t tell us about that here, anyway.

Here’s some background on how recent exploits can work, and the paths can be quite subtle. This video a year ago, from one of the people working at Citizen Lab:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZZbh67c6qc

From the notes for that video: ”For more than a decade, journalism around the world has been under increasing threat from mercenary spyware. Governments and other well-resourced attackers continue to acquire ever more sophisticated hacking tools. These tools allow powerful interests to invisibly subvert accountability by peering inside journalists' computers and phones as their reporting unfolds, sometimes from thousands of miles away. However, there is good news! It is often possible to defend against this spying, or mitigate harm when it does occur. In this talk, Bill Marczak will draw from real-world examples to explain how this type of spying actually works today, how it might work tomorrow, and what you can do to protect yourself and your community.”

It's not so much a matter of your iPhone being "hacked" (which even the FBI could not do), it is a matter of your account being compromised. That's the only way somebody could get into your iPhone unless they have possession of it, and even then it's more likely to be your account that is compromised than the iPhone software.

Read this document if you think your Apple ID has been compromised. --> If you think your Apple ID has been compromised - Apple Support

For iOS 15 or earlier, if you want to see if anyone else has access to your device or accounts, click here --> Limit access to your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

For iOS 16 or later see how Safety Check on iPhone works to keep you safe. How Safety Check on iPhone works to keep you safe - Apple Support

Use the information in this document to check your Apple ID device list to find where you're signed in --> Check your Apple ID device list to find where you're signed in - Apple Support

Related materials:

Personal Safety User Guide

Personal Safety User Guide - Apple Support

> open the Table of Contents and review the articles

A document with general information about security and your Apple ID --> Security and your Apple ID - Apple Support

Contact Apple for help with Apple ID account security. This page provides country-specific Apple Support contact information ➞ Contact Apple for support and service - Apple Support

Keep in mind that Apple reviews and evaluates every single app onto on the App Store. These apps are securely distributed to users with cryptographic guarantees that prevent any modifications, ensuring that malware and viruses are kept out of the App Store. Consequently, the chances of downloading an app from the App Store with malware or viruses are extremely low.

Though from the web, downloading malware and viruses are very possible.

Learn more ⇢ About App Store security - Apple Support

First of all, have you ever installed a dodgy application? If no, then you’re not hacked.

In order for someone to hack your phone, they need to install a software on your phone.. this can be done through several means, installing an app through dodgy website for example.. (now you can do it on iOS)

but if you just visited some nasty websites and suspected that it may steal your cookies, then just perform a clear cookies on your browser..

next level step if you’re worried is to change all your passwords after clearing your cookies.. that should suffice.