Husband has smartphone for first time.

[AC Question]

My husband has a brand new smart phone for the first time. He knows very VERY little about computers in general. He has been watching his operating system files (on marshmallow) and he thinks he has been hacked or has a virus. Folders are yellow right? He clicks his folders down to a single file (white box right?) And it may be named with some odd random set of numbers and he says THAT is a virus/hacker. He has not downloaded a single app but he got on the internet just a few minutes. Do the white boxes (or files) only open when your phone is connected to a computer? Can ANYONE EXPLAIN HOW THE FILES WORK ON ANDROID MARSHMALLOW SAMSUNG SKY PHONE? Because I can't explain it to him. PLEASE HELP ME!!! Also, he busted his other brand new phone,on purpose, that he downloaded a slot machine game and pool game. He uninstalled the games but still thought it was compromised.

 

[Rukbat]

And it may be named with some odd random set of numbers and he says THAT is a virus/hacker.

Or it may just be a file with what looks like a random set of characters. For instance, mmcblkop6 (in the /dev/block folder) may look pretty random - but it's not.

Do the white boxes (or files) only open when your phone is connected to a computer?

No, they "open" when some app opens them.

Can ANYONE EXPLAIN HOW THE FILES WORK ON ANDROID MARSHMALLOW SAMSUNG SKY PHONE?

It's like paper files in paper folders in a file cabinet. Nothing "looks" at the papers unless you open the drawer (computer), open the folder, then look at the paper.

Canthe phone be compromised? Sure. But names of files that don't seem to make sense to you (or him) aren't one of the signs of hacking or a virus. (A full explanation requires at least the knowledge you gain from 6 months of a good college-level computer course.)