Smartphones are pretty well-defended against viruses, but there are a few ways to abuse them that avoid detection. One of the ways that iPhones get hijacked is through “Profiles”.

The Profiles part of the iOS is typically only used by employers or schools on iPhones that they assign to their staff. For some companies, there is a legitimate purpose for installing Profiles on iPhones. iPhone Profiles might help them monitor the phones and how they are used.

But on a personal or store-bought iPhone, you should never see any Profiles in the Settings panel. The presence of Profile on your personal iPhone is a sign of spyware. Some apps or websites may sneak a Profile onto an iPhone, for the purpose of collecting or sending info from your phone without you knowing. An unknown Profile can turn your iPhone into a keystroke collector or spam relay!

The good news is that Profiles are easy to check for and remove, if any are present. For most iPhones, you may open your Settings icon and tap on General. Scroll up and down, looking for Profiles. If you cannot find Profiles on the General menu, then none are present on the phone and you are clean! But if you do see Profiles, tap on it and remove anything listed inside.