In an interview with RT Russian, head of the T.Hunter investigation department and cybersecurity expert Igor Bederov shared tips on protecting smartphones from surveillance and hacking.

Bederov emphasized that the level of threat depends on the method of introducing malicious or spyware software. According to him, these can be ordinary methods accessible to any user, such as downloading infected applications from app stores, receiving various certificates from websites, through emails, documents, and so on.

“Or they can be methods available only to special services, such as intercepting traffic from a local mobile operator or internet provider. This is much more dangerous,” Bederov explained.

He also pointed out that protecting against the first methods is simple. It is enough not to download or open suspicious files and not to install applications from unverified sources.

However, in the case of the second scenario, protection becomes difficult or even impossible, as malicious software can be embedded at the hardware level.

“A Trojan operating at the hardware level blocks all system updates and the possibility of detection,” Bederov explained.

He emphasized that detecting such spyware is only possible through analyzing the traffic that the device transmits.