A field technician is asked whether receiving a "data-usage limit reached" warning on a smartphone automatically proves the device is infected with malware. Which of the following statements BEST describes what that notification actually indicates?
It proves that a malicious application is exfiltrating data in the background.
It may simply be triggered by reaching a user- or carrier-defined data threshold; malicious activity is only one possible cause.
It is always generated by the carrier when the device is roaming internationally.
It results only when developer mode is enabled, because debugging traffic is logged.
A data-usage limit alert simply means the phone has reached a threshold set by the user, the operating system, or the mobile carrier. Legitimate, bandwidth-heavy activities (streaming video, background app updates, roaming, etc.) frequently trigger the message. Although unusually high usage can be a red flag for malicious or unauthorized applications, the notification by itself is not conclusive evidence of a security compromise; further investigation of app-by-app data consumption is required. [Hongkiat - Detect Malicious Activity on Android] [WIRED - Carrier data-limit alerts]
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What are some common legitimate activities that might trigger a data-usage limit warning?
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How can a user investigate whether high data usage is caused by malware?
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What steps can be taken to prevent excessive data usage on a smartphone?