Topic: Smartphones aren't spywares attack proof (Read 1112 times)

the only truly secure wallet and the one on hardware wallets such as ledger and trezor the various wallets on PCs and smartphones are very comfortable but they are not 100% secure so you can keep above small amounts for fast transfers but our funds must be kept elsewhere

They never were! No electronic devices are spyware proof. All those applications like facebook, twitter, instagram can track you! They collect your location, information, your search result etc and send those data to their servers. So aren't they all spywares?
And about the operating system on rooted devices you are talking about are actually more safe. As far as I know they are all open source. If you are downloading one from a trusted developer, I think you are quite safe.

Root access don't just give full access to unlock the maximum potential of your smartphones but also give some good and bad apps the full access to work I'm your phone, inbuilt Android security are no more activated since you root your phone, I'm 100% against rooting, as good as it is it's also that bad

Is not when we do that there will be protection from the web browser and the system on our computer? something foreign will get more attention from the system. we are quite careful in carrying out everything.

Only if the hacker can access physical hardware wallet, if you want to be safer, do with a passphrase after seed.

Android or IOS?, are we need uninstal all software on phone before use it?,

it's washing your time backing up your file every three months, you need 2 PC, one for browsing and another one for wallet only.

Well, maybe you don't need to download zip and stuff from all sorts of garbage, hah? When was the last time you searched for something and downloaded it from an unknown site with chrome alerts?

But even with all of this - a basic level rules
- don't go to suspicious sites
- do not download from dubious sites
- don't install questionable software
-  have the simplest antivirus
and all this will reduce the probability of catching the infection to the maximum minimum

You have to unlock your smartphones bootloader before you can be able to root your phone and use custom ROMs and custom recovery boot menu, have you notice the kind of warning you get when trying to unlock?? Something like this



This warning says alot, every security patches that comes with the phone will be deactivated

Indeed the risk of leakage, if the smartphone is rooted, is very large, often when I get an incident someone can freely access someone's smartphone that has been rooted, and finally, their data is stolen. And this is very dangerous.

Good points but I also would like to add one that also people need to learn to check the authorisation they are giving to the new app. While going through instalation page, there are list of access requests just carefully check that before installing any apps from third party source.

Rooting your phone is not bad, it opens door to more nice things you can do on your phone, do you know you can get rid of ads with jumping out of nowhere when launching a app or surfing the web? This can only be done on a rooted device, if you are careful with your phone you won't have problem with your crypto wallet

One of the advantages of this forum is that we get to know more about everything. I'm sincerely wowed by this information. I use a fanciful keyboard and love the fact that it reminds me of my previously used words to make my typing experience better. But on going through the information on this thread, I may be shooting myself on the leg, if a keyboard like that is compromised. I've decided never to root my phone again and ensure that I don't keep my cryptocurrency on rooted devices.

this make sense  . i often changed sim card and on one site i cant login anymore because it ask my old phone . same thing can happen to me if its done on the phone  . not just its risky but its also hassel or takes time and effort just to unlock your phone or your apps/wallet  .

3fa is a new thing and although its cool but its a no no for me , maybe other people that are security savy will try it . when it come to phones , i think all brands are the same but its about your sim cards  .

I always prefer to use ios because of better security. but when we are crypto risk of hacking is always there. it's better to use trusted apps or use hardware wallet if you afford because they are an only secure way to store your assets. or if you are using android don't ROOT your device always update your smartphone software with official firmware. always install apps through play store. don't give unnecessary permissions to apps. these step may reduce the risk of spyware attack to your device

when you have a lot of security on a smartphone it is very good to keep the assets owned on a smartphone but I suggest not to make yourself difficult to access your wallet, at least you make a security key encrypted on your own will be safer because if you use too lots of authentic so when you lose one authentic will make it difficult for you to access your wallet.

Looking good but I have another more secured smartphone in mind, that's wings mobile, full of security features most especially built for crypto lovers, the first smartphone that has 3FA which is way better than 2FA security

Maybe the guy doesn't know much about chrome, well chrome can safe you from unsecured download source or websites and apps but sometimes they get through easily, some spyware are in zip or ear file and downloading trough chrome won't stop this, once you extract the zip file the game is on

You are 100% correct. Still, keep in mind that people will still tend to download cracks and other shady software and Chrome's "block" is very easy to go around. Some will always think they know better.
Also malware attacking directly the computer if it finds vulnerable/open ports is a reality, don't forget about those. If the OS is weak/unprotected it doesn't matter how safe your browser is.

About the torrent sites.. that's debatable. I remember that most versions of KMSpico download in background a lot of surprises.

It's been four good years that I've been using wallets on smartphones to store my coins, I haven't lost a penny on through hacks on smartphones before even after changing several phones, im a privacy kinda person, I don't share phone with any one and I always use 2Fa and finger scanner on my phone just in case.

True! Android system is an open system that is easily rooted by users. iOS is another story. I don't have the habit to root my phone because I always think about those consequences like this. However, a lot of people are lack of awareness about how dangerous it can be to root your phone. They consider giving our their personal information is not that serious!

The real fact about how dangerous rooting your phone can be is those dubious, spying apps that steal information on Android smartphones need root access to work undetectable in your phone, it's better not to root your phone at all unless you are a qualified personal who knows the does and don't to stay safe with a rooted device 

Everything that you listed is more general, not particular. Now to catch a virus on your PC you need to try very hard. Even the usual Chrome on win will not allow you to download something that may be a virus. Even with pirated content everyone knows the necessary and reliable sites with a long history where a miner in torrent is so rare find

Smartphones can get compromised real quick but not as fast as on computer, using desktops PC or Laptop to store coins are more risky than using your smartphones to store coins, I'm saying this through past experience, I always end up formatting my PC hard disk every two to three months because of unknown software that landed on my PC or trojan presence, that's even when I sense their presence on my PC.

now there are various ways from cybercrime to get the private key that we have so to anticipate that, the points you mentioned must be anticipated for every smartphone user in order to maintain the security of our wallet.

If you plan to buy smartphone you should definitely buy Librem 5 from Purism https://puri.sm/products/librem-5/   It is opensource project made from scratch. Hardware and software. Impossible to have any government or correlational back-doors.

But there are also great features when you have root access.
Somehow you could take off ads that could harm your phone. Some of them might also be the culprit for hacking.

I am using a rooted smartphone and I feel more secured doing so.
I think it depends on how you will use it and not just for tinkering your phone to look good in your eyes.

Smartphones are spyware tool themselves. So many ways of tracking

I trusted some apps like TouchPal when it comes to keyboards. I am not quite used to the default Android keyboard, and maybe that's just me.
I don't really flash anything in my phone, so I don't have to worry about the root access, plus it increases the risk of bricking my phone anyway.
And no it doesn't even smooth out my phone even by 10%.
It is up to people whether they hold their coins in mobile as I believe that you're vulnerable to plenty of Wifi networks that are hacked, assuming you're trying to get access to public Wifi.

I heard there's alot of app reviews that are fake, even with Google's algorithm filtering them out. If you people are installing apks scan the file first before you install the app.

If majority of us who uses mobile phones still afraid of this incident to occur at random times, never hesitate to install an authentication app. This will help you prevent any unauthorized access of your private log in, at different emails or confidential information that you wanted to control. With this idea, the provision of secure control can be done even if you felt the vulnerability your device of being attacked by spywares of any phisings.

Hardware wallets have no guarantee because they can still be hacked and again you still need to keep your private key off the hardware, these hardware wallet can get damaged too so still backing up your private key is certain

Also be careful what you install, even if it's from trusted source, like Play store. The app age and reviews may be of some help. (But even that is tricky). Try to install apps only if you really have to. Where possible check/research for the app you need with an older phone.

I think the way you describe is very meaningful because it can prevent criminal acts that can attack using your smartphone, I think that is enough but you should remain vigilant because I know the smartphone security is still not very safe even though many are currently developing security for smartphones.

To keep your smartphones safe from any harm or to avoid getting your smartphones hacked you need to

1. Always make your phone a privacy one, don't give out to even friends or strangers, I knew a Android app that can sniff on anything you are doing on your phone and download your messages to the other hackers phone

2. Don't open links sent to you through email, they are spamming mails that consists of phishing links, clicking on them is giving access to the hacker who build the links

3. Don't go through websites that aren't secured with https, I'm sure chrome browsers warns user when they are about to open links that aren't secure e.g Http

It depends on what OS one has - Linux is much safer than Windows - but since you said that they actually check their PCs, they probably have Windows.
It depends on what firewall they have - and nowadays even routers help on that.
It depends on what they install from the internet, just simply browsing (with a proper browser, not IE) usually won't harm.
And it depends on how they check their PCs, some viruses are pretty good at hiding themselves and afaik installing/running an antivirus when their are already there may not find them (however, booting from an antivirus CD should solve this too).

All in all, it's highly possible to have clean computer if one knows what he's doing.


Sure. Dream on.
Google play store had more than once malicious code on it. Install the bad app and your phone is set. And most probably you will not find that out.
Even manufacturers spy big time on the users, of course, whey may not look for passwords, but it's still spyware. (On the other hand, the most welcomed spyware is Windows 10).
Ah, and spyware is for spying you. One doesn't need that much speed for that. It's not botnet/mining.
However, feeling so safe about your smartphone is a mistake.

I do not know what you need to download from the network/what sites to go to in order to catch any Trojans or other viruses in 2020. I have a lot of friends who already using pc for 5-6 years without antivirus software (except for an annual check (just for peace of mind)) and there are no viruses. Maybe we surf different Internet?

I don't accept this, it's plain easy to get virus and Trojans  on your PC than when using your mobile, all those spyware anonymous softwares works faster on PC, to me mobile is still four steps safer than PC

Yes lol. I think that in 2020 people already have a basic understanding of such simple things - there is nothing new in this. It is no longer the time when people are led to the offer to subscribe to the sound of a call for "just" $ 10 / day or believe in "letters of happiness from African princes". Those who currently do not know at least the initial rules of digital safety and hygiene - how do they even get to the Internet?

Yes, there have been a recent study that found many popular apps like Tik Tok and Newyork times are uploading the clipboard data of users to their server. Imagine what would happen if someone misused that and obtained the private key that we generally copy paste. Just a day ago I needed to make a bitpay payment and needed an electrum wallet to scan a code. All I did was sent my private key through ethereum and copy pasted it to electrum mobile app. Just imagine how easy would be for the apps to know my private key.

At present cybercrime continues to increase along with the rapid development of technology, therefore we as cryptocurrency users must be extra careful in installing applications on our smartphones so that our cryptocurrency assets are safe and protected.

Get a better smartphone instead with high security functions like face recognition for your apps, you can use this to lock your crypto wallet, I use three on my phone

1. 2FA
2. Finger print
3. Strong password combination

Still don't click on links that use http instead of secured https.

I believe we should always be aware with our activities in the net, whether you are using your phone, laptop or desktop. The risk is everywhere but you can minimize or totally avoid it if you are being careful also with your activities. Avoid clicking unknown sites to you especially those offering rewards that suddenly pop out on your screen.

I know that computers are usually vulnerable to viruses but it's really convenient for work. High security phones like Black Berry or Iphone are great, but it doesn't work with many apps. Your job will take a lot of time. Why don't we buy a cheap laptop and just use it for work? I can buy a laptop for $ 300 and can use it for my work without worrying about getting a virus or anything. how do you think guys?

You just added two of the many personal network security tips here. This applies not only to coins but in principle to life on the Internet. As for me, the best way to store and communicate with your crypto savings is to have an encrypted VM with the necessary Linux distrib and not fall for phishing. This is enough to avoid losing everything because of a ridiculous digital hygiene error.

Using a smartphone, it’s very easy to follow us, easy to observe and control. It seems to be a harmless thing, but it can have an effect on us.

But the issue is that we are talking about cryptocurrencies here where you only have one chance to do things right, if for some reason you make a mistake then you are going to lose your coins and never get them back, when faced with two choices about how to store your coins one that is riskier and one that is safer always pick the safer alternative, there is no point to expose yourself and your coins to the risk of installing the wrong app, always take a look at the reviews and the permissions those apps ask from you before installing them.

It didn't know that rooting/jailbraking your phone can lead for someone stealing your wallet. which can be scary honestly. But before tweaking your phone you must always know the risk you are facing before doing it. But if you use an app for being your main wallet. well I can't recommend that especially if you have a large sum of money. So i recommend you buying a external wallet like a ledger.

In my opinion, smartphone has their own security method that is contained in the operating system. Especially iOS system of Apple, it's a closed system that only allow authorized applications to be installed! It helps protect the phone from outside threats. Once you jaibreak your phone, you just unlock the door and believe that you can yourself defend the outside threats without need a dog to warn you!

Clicking on bad links can get your phone compromised as well, I call this trick Phishing, might happen through mails or just a website that isn't secured, but it's true that mobile phones are less likely to get compromised unlike PC

yeah this is why my phone has not been root yet  . i do look for way to root it but i have failed and give up already but let say if its rooted now i think i will still not proceed  knowing that rooting can be dangerous to my coins because i do store passwords and private keys on my phone too aside from my laptop  but i am not a fan of those typing apps or keyboard apps  . i only love to download anything with being careless of my security but that was before too when im not yet busy on my blockchain/crypto carreer   .

Most new smartphones comes with strong CPU like latest Qualcomm and even the generic MTK devices with 8.0 or 9.0 came with very tough recovery mode to jailbreak, they are hard to root now and I don't see why anyone will go through the stress, it's not worth it, better get a separate phone with 4.0 or 5.0 to do some ROM installations on

I don't think it not, it's all depend how you secure it. If you don't use any security measure it's like living your wallet open to others. My wallet has 2fa security and finger print scanner security even your phone does break and they fixed it they cannot access the app without any password.

Im aware of rooting your phone can be vulnerable if your trying to installed apps with a roots access . But it my first time knowing there are also keylogger not only on computers but in mobile phones via downloading keyboards. BTW im using downloaded keyboards.

That is right. One time, I had this smartphone, not a known brand but I was wondering why suddenly there is a particular app appearing even if I haven't installed that app. Also, I experienced on the same phone that another camera app was suddenly running on the background and not my official camera app. So we don't know what the developers programmed in your phone so be careful in installing wallet apps in your phone. I prefer using my computer and configure my firewalls instead.

Phones are prone to Spyware. That's why about $50,000,000 of a cryptocurrency project was stolen through Hacking of the CTO's phone.

There are so many apps that run on your smartphone even you know about it, that´s why every expert recommends avoiding all mobile wallet apps. More to that we do not even know about mobile security as much as we know about the computer´s security.

I wrote about tampered hardware wallet such as Ledger, and trezor that has been sold commercially in online shopping store like Amazon and Aliexpress. There have been cases where funds in hardware wallets are missing unexpectedly, it is true that there might be some altered stuffs in it to contain the fake address, malicious software, or they know the private keys.
More likely a 2nd phone, it might be good but it is better if you have a secured hardware wallet bought from legit producer  so you can be sure of your cryptocurrencies.

Facial recognition can be easily fooled. It measures your face and focuses on the size and location of your eyes. There were many instances when phones unlocked for different people because their faces had the same measurements.

Fingerprint can also become a disadvantage if you disable all other ways of unlocking your phone. A few times my phone was unable to recognize my fingerprints and I had to unlock it with a code.

with the root, smartphones can access a whole series of applications that would otherwise be impossible to run on normal phones, obviously they are not safe and I would never keep on them crypto wallets apps

Installing any apps which needs access of our mobile feature is risky and it is available on official marketplace as well so don't think you are safe if you are not installing any random keyboard apps or rooting your mobile.Smartphone means no privacy no matter it is android or Ios platfrom so keep in mind that never store sensitive information on mobile anymore.

There is always a risk in installing applications not only in smartphones but all devices.  So we should be careful in installing application in our devices especially when it is about rooting our phone.  We should only install verified applications from app store to avoid this malware and spyware.

I installed a keyboard last 3 weeks on my new phone,  it keeps telling me it will be saving all my words that I would be typing and storing them, I quickly uninstalled the key boards. I don't even know the Android that is very strong in security.

I like installing new ROMs on my Android phone and doing tweaking with CPU Speed but for crypto I use other separate phone, it's dangerous to keep coins on a rooted phone, if you are like me I suggest you buy other phone for storing coins

Make sense, for as long as you know what applications to use then you are not prone to any possible attacks,
your knowledge always serve as tools to protect your assets.
Never use anything that you are not comfortable to be safe for your device.
It's better to be safe than be sorry if you lose your money, if you have spare money then buying additional cheap phone
to serve as your storing wallet is also  a good option.

Yes, but you should be extra careful on what you are installing as an app as a malware can disguise as a trusted app or even be bundled with a popular app and get installed with administrative privilege taking your data and passwords. If you have rooted your phone, download from the official source as much as possible and never download the app which you are 100% sure are safe.

Well, rooting your smartphone to give its root access is completely normal in my view. As long as you don't give the root access to unknow or unofficial app that not coming from google play store, you will be fine.

I will agree with you. As long as there are no changes on the default set up then you will be likely safe from such breach. I know the safety is always got compromised but as user have responsible routine on his movement them there is really nothing to worry about.

But OP so your saying that phone are much safe than laptop and desktop? Based on your explanation.

As long as you do not install strange applications, I believe you will always be safe with root. I have rooted my phone for many years and have used it smoothly, no one can attack my phone and steal my information.

I'd widen the op's advice to - pay attention to how you root your device and what apps do you install on it
pay 2x attention before installing any crypto wallet app on it and especially fill in your seed

Rooting your device gives you deep access to the system, and it also puts your phone at risk of being attacked by unauthorized applications. When you use your phone, it's best to leave it in its original state and never try to root it

It should not be rooted and it should remain company default, once you root your computer it, it is now vulnerable to attacks from third party untrusted, application and software, I guess you should understand what you are installing in your phone to avoid getting compromised.

Very informative warning, I bet many don't know about these, especially newbies who are getting into crypto for the first time, thanks for sharing, I will like to add one more

If you are from a country where electricity blackout always happens from time to time be very careful where you go and charge your phone, make sure you lock your phone with a hard password

You shouldn't store your recovery seed on your phone, copy it somewhere else, if my smartphone get damaged there is no way the repairer can get asses to my coins because

1. I use finger print scanner
2. My phone is always locked with facial recognition to access my crypto wallets

I know about those fancy keyboards that stores your words in the cloud, this is the most easiest way to throw away your recovery seeds, you will be more safer using the default keyboards that come pre installed on your smartphone.

Rooting your phone is like jailbreaking it's factory security settings, your phone won't do better when it comes to security and it will be more vunerable to attacks, all those attractive unofficial ROM for your crypto safety? I bet it's not worth it.

In my opinion, it's better to have a seperate phone specifically for storing such values. You just make sure the phone is very secured in different ways, have few apps (secured/trusted ones specifically), I'd uninstal/disable lots of apps I don't trust, and use the phone for accessing just the values(no browsing, chatting, etc). This is a fair and inexpensive way to keep things safe for storing values, I think.
Smart phones aren't that expensive these days.

Now even a hardware wallet does not give any guarantees because there are some cases of hacking start to appear or some kind of inside replacement of address. I think in order to safely store cryptocurrency, you can use some kind of smartphone that will never connect to the Internet. it will be harder to hack it.

Rooting Android phones can be fun, you can easily change the speed of your phone and make it more snappier, you can change the whole look but in terms of using crypto wallet on a rooted phones is not safe

When you are connected to internet you have to be very careful no matter what device we are using,IOS,Android or windows or any other operating system because even reputed softares in the pasts were found that they are tracking user's privacy information.Best solution is hardware wallet.

Mobile phones are more susceptible to spywares attack than PC. people need to understand that for them to be truly successful in this space they need to learn how best to secure their wallet most and the best we have so far is the hard wallet why not just get one

You are very correct. Due to the massive increase in the amount of people using smartphones, hackers have modified their tools and bugs to target users of smartphones since it offers them more opportunities. Recently, there have been multiple cases of spywares and malware implantations on mobile devices through apps, web pages and even third party access. One has to be extremely careful as to how they use their mobile devices.

Yeah, Unofficial keyboards are not really safe and good to use, just use the default one. Even Grammarly keyboard on android I am not comfortable using it. It feels like your keystroke and every word you type are being analyze and recorded. About rooted phones, if you really want to explore things and want to install an app that requires root access, buy a new and separate phone for it and that solves the problem.

For me smartphones are one of the worst things you can use to store your crypto.

If you think otherwise, I have one question for you. If anything breaks in your phione will you be able to fix it by yourself or will you leave it at a shop for repairs? If you have the knowledge be my guest but the moment you'll give it away the risk of you losing everything goes up exponentially.

I know how to fix my computer but can't repair any phone damage so for me the choice is obvious.

Root access and install applications, this often happens our smartphone is inserted with malware / spyware that can access the smartphone, even record all activities. actually this is an easy case if you want your smartphone to be safe from viruses and your crypto assets are safe, that is, use the IOS operating system and install a trusted wallet, back up seed / privkey elsewhere, don't connect to the internet unless you will access the crypto wallet.

Actually I prefer to save crypto assets on a PC / laptop, with several procedures so that our PC is safe from virus attacks. My suggestion is to use Linux / IOS OS.

I have found smartphones and their operating systems more secure atleast when compared to the traditional desktop computers those had trouble often due to viruses, malware and spyware but smartphones are relatively safe. The only problem with smartphones is that there are many fake apps in their store and many that are spammy and full of ads that cause terrible user experience and some fake apps can steal your private data which can be very dangerous so we have to be very careful with what app we install and use.

Hackers with enough time will for the most part always find a way to get into a system, I do not know why you seem to have a dislike for PC wallets and yet somehow think that mobile wallets are better, the easiest ways to get your coins compromised are the same on both devices, installing dubious software and by losing your information by phishing, anyone holding a considerable amount of coins should either use a hardware wallet or a paper wallet since they bring a level of protection far above what you can find in software wallets regardless of the device such wallet is installed.

Default keyboards are way better that fancy keyboards on playstore but I've seen many people that prefers those fancy keyboards instead, they aren't safe at all, some months ago i noticed an hidden app in my phone and I was unable to uninstall this app, the uninstall button is not available, after many tries I was forced to format my phone back to factory reset

Huh, this is the first time I see someone said that wallet client on PC is less secure than a mobile wallet on the phone. Are you sure you get it right and understand the mobile wallet and the ecosystem of a smartphone, which typical between ios and android os? I know that smartphones need your permission for each app, su and root but just one click to allow data storage access could lead to a string bad things. And you know, PC is not just windows but linux/unix based distro too and they could be very secure if you want.

for unofficial keyboard I just know this can be used as spywares but fortunately I am a person who does not care about keyboard on my smartphone and always uses the default keyboard from Android, btw good information.

The only way to stay clean using PC to store your coins is never to use that PC for browsing and downloading stuff online, this is the easiest way to get your PC infected, it's always through connecting online to browse the web

Good information for those people that don't want to trust desktop wallets for their safe keeping. Honestly, it's more convenient to use desktop wallets be it multi-coins or single crypto wallet. The two things that op has mentioned are true, they can easily be used by hackers to steal your wallet details or at least put a copy-paste malware.

A desktop or laptop that you don't use can be your cold storage, installing the appropriate wallet and have it there not connected to the internet. Your worries will be gone in that process.

OP has a better point here, with root access those apps will work undetectable, not just in the background, they will be able to monitor everything you have in your phone, contact, videos, bank details etc, I hope people will listen to this very important advice

That is very important to realize that root phones are not to be trusted, you never know who has access to your phone, but also there are some apps that require to be launched in the background and these apps also can watch your activities.

I personally don't like using laptops or desktops to store my coins or tokens because I know how fast PC can get compromised compare to using mobile wallet but are mobile wallet 100% proof to attacks? Nope, today i will like to share few ways that your smartphones can easily get compromised and lost your recovery seed in the process

1. Root Access

Yes I know many like tweaking their smartphones, installing new ROMs on your phone to change the looks and have better butter smooth OS but what you don't know is that there bad apps out there that can take control of your phone through root access that you have installed, root access gives access to some spyware apps that will stay hidden in your OS.

2. Unofficial Keyboard Apps

Are you the type that loves fancy keyboards? Well this is for you, there are few keyboard applications on playstore that keeps every single words you type through these keyboards and store into cloud for the keyboard app developer, that moment that you are busy typing in your recovery seed these keyboards are busing storing into cloud.

Be wise, till date some people don't know how their recover seed get compromised, all they see is someone sent out some Bitcoin from their wallets and they start crying of loss, be very careful with your smartphones and whatever apps you got running on them.