The tabloids just came after the spoon, but criminals could use the same technique to cause more damage. “If validated successfully, the attacker convinces the telephone carrier to transfer the victim’s phone number to the device they own, called Sim exchange,“Call, text and access codes (such as the second factor authentication code your bank or financial provider sends to your phone via SMS), now go to the attacker instead of you,” said Adam Kohnke, information security manager at Infosec Institute.
Get physical access to your phone
Once you gain physical access to your device, one of the most obvious (but overlooked) ways to install malware on someone’s phone is to do it manually. This is especially important in domestic violence or stalking scenarios, but is also used in corporate espionage.
“Tools like FlexiSPY, mSpy, or Xnspy can be installed quickly and run silently, capturing text messages, call logs, GPS location, and even activate microphones or cameras without user awareness. For corporate espionage, malicious configuration profiles (especially on iOS) or sideloaded APKs (on Android) can be deployed to reroute data, manipulate The network traffic, or introduce persistent also has hardware-based threats on the back: malicious charging cables, key loggers, or implanted devices can strip data or inject malware.
