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Reboot your phone now.<\/p>\n
getty<\/p>\n
This month is unprecedented<\/a>. Spyware warnings from Apple<\/a> and Google<\/a>, affecting all Android, iPhone and Chrome users, were quickly followed by government agency alerts<\/a>. Emergency updates were released for billions of smartphones within just a few days.<\/p>\n Now here\u2019s another cyber agency warning for all those users. You must \u201creboot your device,” France\u2019s equivalent to CISA warns, in a set of new guidelines released in conjunction with the U.K. cyber agency. But, it says, you must reboot in a specific way.<\/p>\n ForbesNew WhatsApp Attack\u2014Hackers Gain \u2018Full Access\u2019 To AccountsBy Zak Doffman<\/a><\/p>\n CERT-FR<\/a> says \u201cthe complete shutdown of the device stops all processes and removes all software residing only in memory, such as a memory-based, non-persistent spyware.\u201d But clearly, \u201cdeletion of a spyware does not protect from reinfection\u201d after a restart.<\/p>\n The more surprising warning is on how to reboot. CERT-FR says you must turn off then turn on the device, “without using the reboot feature, as some spyware is able to simulate a reboot to deceive the user.\u201d And that would be especially devious.<\/p>\n The cyber agency urges users not to delay updating and rebooting devices. That means do it now. That happens anyway with a firmware update, such as iOS 26.2 on iPhone or December\u2019s security release on Android. It does raise a question over Apple\u2019s new background security fixes as and when they come, which may not require a reboot.<\/p>\n This reboot advice is not uncommon. America\u2019s NSA has long-standing advice<\/a> to \u201cturn phones off and on\u201d weekly, and that\u2019s exactly how the spy agency words it, rather than referring to a reboot or restart which would suggest a possible software process.<\/p>\n