220-1102 · Question #674
A customer reports high data usage on a smartphone that reaches its monthly data limit within the first week of each billing cycle. The customer uses the phone primarily for calls and SMS messages…
The correct answer is B. Malicious applications. The combination of developer mode being enabled and 'install from unknown sources' being turned on strongly suggests that applications were sideloaded from outside the official app store. Unofficial apps are a common vector for malware that runs silently in the background…
Question
A customer reports high data usage on a smartphone that reaches its monthly data limit within the first week of each billing cycle. The customer uses the phone primarily for calls and SMS messages with minimal content streaming. A technician troubleshoots the phone and notices that both developer mode and installs from unknown sources are enabled. Which of the following should the technician check next?
Options
- AStorage cache
- BMalicious applications
- CPrivacy settings
- DPermissions
How the community answered
(55 responses)- A4% (2)
- B73% (40)
- C15% (8)
- D9% (5)
Explanation
The combination of developer mode being enabled and 'install from unknown sources' being turned on strongly suggests that applications were sideloaded from outside the official app store. Unofficial apps are a common vector for malware that runs silently in the background, consuming large amounts of data by transmitting information to remote servers or performing other covert network activity. This perfectly explains extreme data usage on a phone used only for calls and SMS. Storage cache, privacy settings, and permissions could be relevant in other contexts but are secondary concerns here - the security configuration of the device points directly to malicious app activity as the most likely cause.
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