Feature or bug? Criminals’ iPhones are rebooting on their own when seized by the cops, and it’s all tied to a recent iOS 18 security update. Law enforcement is calling it a nightmare when it comes to retrieving evidence. Here’s the issue: When the phone reboots, it defaults to a “Before First Unlock” state. Even if police use third-party tools to try to access the data, they can only get limited information. No word yet on a fix.
True or false: You need antivirus protection for your phone
Ah, the wide world of tech myths. I’ve heard ‘em all:
Macs are immune to viruses. Stick a wet phone in rice and it’ll be as good as new. Always run your battery down to 0% before you charge.
Another that persists? You can’t get a virus on your phone.
You’re reading this on my website, so I hope by now you realize your phone is a huge target. Think about it — it’s just a mini computer.
Let’s dig deeper into what this stuff looks like and where it comes from.
Red flags your phone is infected
The signs vary depending on what your device is infected with, of course. But all these symptoms spell trouble:
- You see a big spike in data usage.
- Your phone is slower than usual and your apps are crashing.
- Pop-ups appear out of nowhere, in one app or across all of them.
- Your battery is draining faster than usual.
- Your phone is hot more often or even overheats.
- You see odd charges on your phone bill you don’t remember signing up for.
OK, how’d that happen?
Malware, adware, spyware and all the other types of malicious software generally come from a few places.
🔗 You clicked on a malicious link that arrived through a phishing email, text, messaging or social media app, or spoofed website. Security 101: Never click on links or open attachments in unsolicited messages.
📲 You downloaded a bad app. Scammers are good at creating fraudulent apps that look like the real thing. While these can end up in the Google Play Store or Apple App Store, they’re most often distributed through third-party app sites. Only download apps from official app stores, please and thank you!
How to know if you’re being stalked or are just paranoid
I’ve heard it all on my national radio show. There was the guy totally freaked out because too many strangers in public knew his name for it to be a coincidence. (His name was Buddy.)
There was a woman who swore one of Metallica’s band members hacked her iPhone to stalk her after she rejected him online. And another who bought and sold three cars because she thought they all had hidden trackers.
$125,000 in 'baguettes'
Hackers are demanding ransom from France’s Schneider Electric. If they don’t get it, they’ll spill 40GB of stolen data, including company projects, employee details and customer info. Talk about handing over the dough.
Job scam warning: Retailers and shipping companies are hiring in droves ahead of the holidays. UPS, Amazon, FedEx, Target and all the rest are looking for folks, but they won’t make initial contact with you via email or text. Go to a potential employer’s website and find the “Careers” section to apply directly.
😡 WTH? Black people in over 20 states are receiving racist text messages ordering them to report to plantations for slave labor. These hate-filled messages, which target kids and adults alike, are sent from unknown numbers, many of which are through the anonymous TextNow app.
Console yourself; it’s game over: Malware called Winos4.0 is targeting Windows gamers. It sneaks in through infected third-party game mods. Once it’s on your system, cybercriminals play their own games, looking for crypto and taking screenshots of what you do so they can blackmail you. PSA: Skip the mods.
📩 Email espionage: Hackers are using compromised government emails to steal business info. Here’s how it works: You get an email about an emergency data request from the “federal government,” and the email address looks legit. It’s not. If you open the attachment or click a link, you’ve just landed a one-way ticket to malware. This kind of request will never come in the form of an email, folks.
🗳️ Did you vote? In many states, that’s public information, but you have to file a request or pay a fee to obtain it. A new website, VoteRef, allows anyone to look up your name, address, age, party affiliation and whether you voted. Not all state info is there … yet. This feels like harassment just waiting to happen.
Not exactly brag-worthy: The federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is tooting its own horn for no successful hacks during the U.S. election. That doesn’t mean there wasn’t interference. Russia ramped up its disinformation campaigns on social media, and several bogus bomb threats made at polling stations were traced back to them. And don’t forget China hacked phones belonging to President-elect Trump and JD Vance.
👨💻 North Korea strikes again: I’ve told you about this before. Now, we’re hearing reports EV maker Fisker hired a remote employee who funneled money back to North Korea’s missile program. The spy used an Arizona address tied to a woman hired to run a laptop farm for IT workers who needed a U.S. address. In total, she moved $6.8 million to North Korea. Isn’t it nuts that a 6-foot overweight man with a goofy haircut scares the heck out of everyone?
🚨 Hackers never sleep: The Communist Chinese hackers who breached U.S. telecom companies recently did far more damage than first reported. Initially, we heard “Salt Typhoon” only accessed call logs and SMS messages of diplomats and government officials. Really, they were poking around for at least eight months and may have captured data from who knows how many people.
Dating app nightmare: A Utah woman matched with a “serial killer in the making” on Tinder. They chatted for months, and she met his parents. For their second date, he brought her to a secluded park for a picnic and stabbed her multiple times. Miraculously, she escaped. When detectives asked him if he would do anything differently, he said, “I’d get a sharper knife.”
🚨 China’s powering up: Hackers working for the Communist Chinese government have taken over thousands of TP-Link routers, plus cameras and other connected devices. They’re using all that computing power to attack Microsoft’s Azure cloud service. Most malware can’t survive a reboot, so it certainly won’t hurt to restart your router, whether it’s from TP-Link or another manufacturer.
🚨 FBI alert: Fake videos are all over social media! One video claims the FBI busted three groups for “ballot fraud,” while another drags in Kamala Harris’ husband. There’s even a phony clip with people supposedly from Haiti claiming to vote illegally in Georgia counties. These are designed to mess with our trust in elections, so keep an eye out and don’t fall for it!
Attn., small-business owners: Watch out for an email that claims you’ve violated someone’s copyright. The “legal notice” document attached is malware. A real legal letter will be in the body of the email itself, saved as a PDF, and also delivered via USPS or another service. If you see a RAR or EXE file, that’s a scam — delete it.
Security camera warning: Hackers found two security flaws in PTZOptics’ livestreaming cameras, used primarily in business, industrial and health care settings. Once inside, hackers can fully control the cameras, install malware, interrupt the feeds or use a camera as a gateway to other devices on the network. Have one? Contact your vendor to confirm its firmware is up to date.
👁️ Coming to a store near you: Facial recognition that spots suspicious friendliness. “Sweethearting” is when employees slip discounts or freebies to people they know. The system monitors how closely customers stand to staff and whether they always choose the same employee. If something seems off, store security gets alerted.
WTH? The Colorado Department of State posted a spreadsheet with partial passwords to its voting machines on its website. No biggie, they say, since each machine has two unique passwords, needs physical access and is stored in an ID-only area. Someone needs to get fired — now.