Owning an advanced high-end smartphone may be the trend of today. However, did you know that there are certain spyware and malware that without your permission or knowledge can infect your smartphone, sometimes stealing your precious data too?

Mark Wood, technology correspondent, BBC News, recently experimented with creating a software that seems like a game to the user, but has malicious code within, which can spy on the owner of the mobile phone and also steal data. Developing the app was "straightforward" according to BBC. Wood said, "The end result was a program that does not look great but gets the job done."

Many hackers use already existing code of popular apps on the internet and other online application stores and fit their malicious piece into it. Since the malicious piece use the same functions as a legitimate piece of code, it is difficult to differentiate between them. Hackers use the same set of tools that are being used by legitimate developers for creating apps.

How to protect your smartphone from spyware and malware?

Ilya Laurs, founder of GetJar, an independent app site, advises users to ask which developer an app is coming from, before downloading and to check whether the developer is trustworthy. However, this might not always help find out if the app being downloaded is completely safe.

Nigel Stanley, security analyst at Bloor Research, mentions that a sudden drain of the mobile phone battery is a sign that there might be something malicious in it.

He also asks users to keep an eye on their mobile phone bills. If unusual numbers that you're not familiar with, are being listed, then there might be an app which might be dialling them without your knowledge. And you might be getting charged for some service that you have not activated.

Via BBC News

Image courtesy - Earthlink.net