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VIDEO — 9 Apr 2025

Updates, password managers and a weekly restart as protection against spyware

A Boje jutra interview on TV Vijesti on three tactics for installing spyware and the simple habits that make a phone harder to infect.

TV Vijesti
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TV Vijesti
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On Boje jutra on TV Vijesti we talked about protecting yourself from spyware: how widespread the problem is, the three tactics used to install it and the simple habits that make it harder.

A global problem that more people in Montenegro now notice

Unfortunately, I know a great many people whose devices were targeted with spyware, and some of them were monitored for a while. Corporate environments have perhaps seen the most attempts at mass surveillance of employees, through corporate espionage and competition. It is a global problem, because cybercrime has no borders, and in Montenegro awareness is growing, so more people notice it.

Three tactics, depending on the device and the attacker’s budget

Some spyware is very expensive, so the tactic depends on the attackers’ budget as well as the victim’s device.

  • —The first is physical access, where the phone is connected to a computer by USB cable and the software installed directly.
  • —The second is a one-click attack, where a malicious link sent through WhatsApp, Viber or iMessage downloads an infected file or exploits a vulnerability in an app such as WhatsApp to take over the device.
  • —The third is a zero-click attack, which needs no action from the user and can plant spyware through a single missed call, using vulnerabilities in the operating system and apps. It is the most dangerous and the rarest, because it is very hard and very expensive to carry out.

Sometimes the screen just switches on and off, which may be the only symptom, so if you miss it, the spyware may already be on your device.

Updates are the first rule of digital hygiene

In our profession we call the most common mistakes poor digital hygiene, which comes down to a lack of awareness of very accessible things we can all do. The first is updating the operating system and apps, and I think we underestimate how important that is. Every update for iOS, Android or your apps brings new features, such as AI features, and also security patches, so spyware that exploited a known vulnerability in an older version can no longer abuse the app.

Password managers, a weekly restart and a free portal

We also need to finally stop reusing the same passwords. Password managers are now built into iOS, Android and browsers and generate very complex passwords for you, so you only need to remember one master password while every service has its own.

The old advice was to change passwords every 60 or 90 days or once a year, and with this approach you only change one when you suspect it has been exposed. That is when you know someone has access to your account or computer, or an email warns you that an unfamiliar device tried to log in to your Instagram or email, or did log in. Then reset the password immediately and change your two-factor authentication.

Surprisingly, even a simple restart can completely remove certain spyware or stop it from working. The NSA, a security agency, advises its agents to do this at least once a week as a precaution, and I advise everyone to do it, because it is easy.

We have also built a free portal with detailed instructions for iPhone, Android, Windows laptops and MacBooks, listing every setting you can apply today, for free, to tighten up your operating system.

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