How To Remove Viruses From iPhone?

Due to strong sandboxing, code-signing, and system-level protections, experts say that iPhones have robust operating systems in terms of security. It is capable of preventing online cyber-attacks and virus infections appropriately. Traditional computer viruses cannot operate on an iPhone if it is not jailbroken. However, you can still face security threats, including phishing links, scam websites, rogue configurations, adware behavior, scam websites, and risky configurations.

So how can you protect your phones from these malicious programs and online cyberattacks? How can you recognize if your device is infected with viruses? This write-up provides answers to all these questions. Let’s discuss each question and find a solution!

Written by Waqar Khan
Published on September 18, 2024

Can iPhones get Viruses?

iPhones are one of the most secure and safe devices that traditional viruses cannot infect. However, if it is jailbroken, then it is highly likely that it can get a malware infection. Cybercriminals create and test new malicious programs on already-built systems to find new ways to exploit device vulnerabilities and unsafe user practices. Device vulnerabilities act as vents through which a virus can enter the device. Attackers can exploit the security gaps to inject malware into the system. Unsafe user practices provide leverage to cybercriminals to inject malware into the device’s operating system. Unsafe user practices can lead to malicious websites, calendar spam, adware-like behavior, account compromise, and phishing messages.

What Are The Signs Of a Virus In an iPhone?

Viruses are complex programs that use too many resources of a device. They sneakily run in the background and tamper with all the other processes in the device. Additionally, these programs use too much internet data to stay connected to the origins and root causes. These hectic activities slow down the overall system, and you experience intermittent freezes and get stuck while doing your normal tasks. Phone battery goes down in a short time, and your data usage increases unprecedentedly. You may get pop-up ads from unknown and unapproved resources. As a result, you may notice the following signs in your phone:

The battery drains unusually fast
iPhone overheats without heavy use
Apps crash or freeze often
Sudden pop-ups or unknown apps appear
Slower performance or frequent lag
Unusual data usage or settings changes
Random restarts or shutdowns

If you are also experiencing these issues on your phone, then you need to take immediate action. You should check your browsing history to find out what the latest links and websites you visited are. Find out what apps and software you downloaded from unknown links. Are they recognized and authorized links? Are they offering you the right material? Ensure that you are not using jailbreaking to install third-party apps.

How to Detect and Remove Malware From An iPhone?

Understanding the condition of your devices is necessary to address the issue at its root. When you are confirmed that your device is under attack from viruses and malware, then you must act immediately. It is important that you use effective methods to detect and eliminate viruses from your iPhone. If you are not fully aware of how to do this, then follow the simple steps discussed in this write-up. They are as follows:

Uninstall Suspicious Applications and Programs

The first and foremost thing you should do is to get rid of suspicious apps and software from your device. Inspect the apps you downloaded from third-party or open-source platforms. These files can be a potential medium for malicious code to enter your phone and damage your files. Getting rid of these applications will be helpful for you to delete viruses from your system. With the deleting processes, all the associated malware files also get deleted with them. To delete these programs, you have to follow simple steps:

Go to the homepage where all the apps are located
Press and hold the application icons you want to remove
A menu will appear on your screen
Select the remove button on it and confirm your decision
You have successfully deleted the suspicious application

Clear Browsing History and Website Data

The second most important thing you should do is to clear your browsing history and website data. Viruses can be sticky and reversible. They can hide in your browsing history and website data. Malicious links in browsing history can make you revisit the malicious platforms and download the malware again unintentionally. So it would be best to get rid of browsing history to prevent further infections.

How To Clear Browsing History On iPhone?

Open the Safari Browser

Tap on the book icon located at the bottom of the screen to access browsing history
The history option will appear at the top of the screen. Tap on it to view your browsing history
Tap the clear button at the right corner of the history to clear the browsing history
You can also choose the time range for the last hour, today, yesterday, or all time
If you want to clear the entire history you can select all the time and get everything cleaned

To Clear Website Data

Restart Your iPhone

Restart your phone to isolate the viruses and malware effectively. It will close all the running processes, including potentially malicious ones. This act cuts them off from continuous activities that provide a brief respite to your operating system from intensive usage.

Update Your iOS

You need to keep your device’s operating system updated. Delayed updates and old versions of operating systems develop security vulnerabilities that lead to virus infection in your phone. Hence, you must download all the latest updates as soon as they are released online. Updates fix the security patches and activate and upgrade features to conduct safe operations on your phone.

Here Is How You Complete The Update:

Restore your iPhone To A Previous Backup Version

Restoring your phone to a previous backup is another good idea that you can use to deal with virus infections. But before you take this step, make sure you have a backup of your data that was taken at a time when your iPhone was operating normally or had no issues or virus-related problems in it. You can restore this clean and infection-free data to your phone. With this, you can get rid of new malicious programs that are creating issues in your devices. You can use two methods to restore your backup. They are as follows:

Factory Reset Your Phone

A factory reset is the last option you can use to eliminate viruses from your iPhone when all other methods fail. With a factory reset, you can erase all the data and settings on your iPhone. It permanently deletes all the apps, software, and files that you had installed and created. As a result of this, viruses and malicious programs hiding in the system files will also be deleted. Now you can start with your device afresh in the same way as when you first bought it from the shop. The operating system and software will be restored to their original and clean state, the way they were when you bought your phone.

How to Perform a Factory Reset

Open the “Settings” app on your device
Scroll down and tap on “General
Scroll to the bottom and select “Reset
Choose “Erase All Content and Settings
Enter your device’s passcode if prompted
Confirm the action

Download And Install Antivirus Software

Dealing with viruses, malware, and cyber attacks can be an exhaustive process if you do it on your own. It is highly recommended that you download and install a robust antivirus software to remove viruses from your iPhone. It is a reliable method to effectively deal with cybersecurity issues. Antivirus software provides you with real-time protection against potential virus threats. It will warn you about phishing websites, block malicious links, and give you an alert about data breaches. A security app can deliver robust security against virus infections while you browse the internet and make any downloads from open sources.

How Malware Enters Your iPhone?

iOS is a technically advanced and powerful operating system. It is almost impossible to breach and launch a virus attack. However, people using iPhones often get infected with the malware. Why is that so? It is so because they fail to follow Apple’s operating parameters. These parameters are laid down as per the system requirements and general rules regarding the usage of apps and internet browsing. But when these rules are broken, iOS becomes vulnerable, and the lurking malware finds its way to your phone. The following are some unsafe user practices that can lead to a virus infection in an iPhone:

Downloading And Installing Third-Party Apps

Apple has its own app store that provides its users with apps and software that are compatible with iOS. If you download your apps and programs from the Apple store, you will get neat and clean software that is compatible with your system. These applications are immune to online infections, malware, and hacking activities. But most people go to third-party apps and download apps from an open-source platform. When you download third-party applications, malicious programs also come bundled with them. These programs enter the operating system and start doing their work of data theft, system modifications, and stealing sensitive details.

Internet Browsing and Malicious Websites

The second reason that your iPhone gets viruses is through unsafe internet browsing practices. It can involve visiting unauthorized websites, clicking unknown links, downloading files from unsecure web portals, and connecting to public WiFi networks. During these unsafe practices, malware can easily enter your system and compromise your data. Public networks are often tampered with the spyware and ransomware that enter your phone to do illegal activities. These are common slips that can lead you to viral infections.

Jailbreaking the iOS

Jailbreaking is a popular term that is often used in the context of Apple devices. It is a practice of reaching the root of the operating system by removing the software restrictions built into the Apple operating system. People use jailbreaking to gain access to the devices` file system to install apps and software outside of the Apple App Store. This act enables users to use different SIMs, applications, and user IDs on their phone. It allows them to customize themes, icons, and settings to make it do things that are not included in its operating system. This interference makes the device vulnerable to malware and viruses.

Falling Prey to iMessages

iMessage is another big channel hackers use to introduce viruses into Apple devices. These messages carry malicious links with them, to lure the users with fake reward offers or a situation of urgency. As soon as you click on these links, you never know where they will take you or give you. Adware, spyware, or a Trojan horse, it could be anything that can enter your phone. These links can inject viruses and hack your devices to collect personal information, financial details, and account credentials.

Final Thoughts

If you are an iPhone user, then you must follow Apple`s built-in security model and safe browsing practices to prevent viruses from entering your phone. Even after that, if you still face any issues, then you can go to Apple support and ask for their recommendation. If all this is not working, then you can consider downloading antivirus software from a secure and trusted site and installing it on your phone. Make sure it is supported by Apple itself and allowed to download on your device without any manipulation, such as jailbreaking or any such activity that is not approved by Apple’s security policies regarding the iPhone.

Guard Your PC with Premium Antivirus

Keep your computer secure, smooth, and free of virus infections. Download 360 Antivirus Pro free.

How To Remove Viruses From iPhone?

Can iPhones get Viruses?

What Are The Signs Of a Virus In an iPhone?

How to Detect and Remove Malware From An iPhone?