In today’s digital world, the smartphone has become more than just a means of communication, but a storehouse of all personal life, financial information and confidential conversations. For owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO devices, the question of “is there wiretapping on the phone” is becoming increasingly relevant, given the popularity of the shell MIUI and HyperOS. Many users notice the strange behavior of the gadget: fast battery discharge, heating into simple or mysterious background sounds, which makes them suspect the presence of hidden software.
It can be difficult to identify spyware or system eavesdropping on your own, as modern Trojans have learned to masquerade as Android system processes. However, there are specific features and technical methods to detect unauthorized access to a microphone, camera or geolocation. In this article, we will discuss how to distinguish a real virus from a system failure and what steps need to be taken to clean the device.
It's important to understand that wiretapping can be not only the result of hackers, but also the result of the installation of malicious applications by the user. The security of your device depends on your attention to the details of the operating system. Let's analyze the main symptoms that should alert any Xiaomi owner.
The main signs of the presence of wiretaps on Xiaomi
The first bells that your phone is under surveillance often show up in malfunctioning hardware. If you notice that the device is heating up even in standby mode or when closed applications, this may indicate that a hidden process of recording or transmitting data is working. The battery is discharged abnormally quickly, although the mode of use has not changed, which is a classic symptom of spyware in the background.
Another alarming sign is the strange behavior of the screen and the MIUI interface. The phone can spontaneously turn on, the screen can light up without notification, and applications can close or open without your participation. System glitches, sudden reboots and the appearance of unknown icons on the desktop also indicate a compromise of the device. If you hear clicks, echoes or static interference during normal calls, the probability of listening is extremely high.
⚠️ Warning: If your phone makes sounds when the microphone is off or the camera activates itself, turn off the internet immediately and check the list of installed apps.
You should also pay attention to the amount of traffic you consume. Spyware regularly sends recorded data to remote servers, which leads to a sharp increase in mobile Internet or Wi-Fi consumption. Check the statistics in your settings to identify parasitic applications that consume traffic even though you did not use them. Often such processes have obscure names or are disguised as Android system services.
Analysis of installed applications and permissions
The first thing you need to do to find a wiretapping is to audit all installed programs. Attackers often hide malicious code in flashlight utilities, memory "optimizers" or low-rated games. Go to Settings → Apps → All applications and carefully study the list. Look for programs without an icon, with an empty name or those that you do not remember to install. Pay special attention to applications with device administrator rights.
Then you have to check the permissions that each application has. Spyware requires access to microphone, camera, contacts and location to work properly. If a simple calculator or solitaire game requests access to a microphone and SMS is a clear sign of malware. The MIUI shell has a handy "Protection" tool that allows you to see which applications have recently used a microphone or camera.
- 🔍 Open your privacy settings and check the microphone access log for the past 24 hours.
- 🚫 Displaying on top of other windows: disallow this one for all suspicious apps, as it is often used to intercept clicks.
- 📂 Check the reading rights SMS Call logs are critical data for fraudsters.
- 🛡️ Remove any applications whose installation source is unknown or in doubt.
Remember that some Xiaomi system applications (such as Mi Cloud or GetApps) have broad rights, but they are legitimate. However, if you see a process called System Service or Update, but its battery consumption is abnormally high, it’s worth checking out its name in the search engine. Viruses often disguise themselves as system processes, but can’t completely hide their presence in the task manager.
☑️ Checking application permissions
Use of hidden codes and engineering menu
Special diagnostics can be used for more thorough USSD-And it's built into Android, and it lets you know if your calls or messages are being forwarded to another number, and it's one of the easiest ways to know if there's a wiretapping through the operator or basic network settings. Enter the *#21# code in the Phone app and press the call – the forwarding status of all call types will appear on the screen.
If the status says that the forwarding is on to a number you don't know, that's a big concern. Also useful is the *#62# code, which shows where the calls are being redirected when your phone is off or out of reach. Your carrier's voicemail number is normal, but any other numbers should raise questions. You can use the universal ##002# code to reset all the forwardings.
##002#Xiaomi owners can also use the engineering menu, although access to it is often limited in new versions of HyperOS. Try entering code ##4636#. If the menu opens, select Phone Information. Here you can see detailed connection statistics and run hardware tests.
⚠️ Warning: Do not change the settings in the engineering menu unless you know exactly what the parameter is responsible for. Resetting important values can lead to loss of communication or improper operation of the modem.
Monitoring of network traffic and connections
Modern spyware can't work without sending data to an attacker's server. So monitoring network activity is one of the most effective methods of detecting wiretapping. On Xiaomi, the built-in traffic monitor shows how many megabytes each application has spent. If an unknown process eats up gigabytes of traffic while the phone is lying on the table, this is a clear sign of a data leak.
For more advanced users, it is recommended to install a network analyzer, such as NetGuard or GlassWire. These applications allow you to see not only the volume of traffic, but also the amount of traffic. IP-If you see connections to servers in suspicious jurisdictions or domains that look like random character sets, that's an alarm.
| Type of activity | Normal behavior | Suspicious behaviour |
|---|---|---|
| Transfer of data | Only when you open applications | Constant background: traffic in sleep mode |
| Use of GPS | When navigating or mapping | Activity without running cards |
| Microphone | Only in a recorder or a call. | Background recording |
| Networking requests | Known service domains | Unknown IP and strange domains |
It's also worth checking the list of Wi-Fi networks your phone has been connecting to. If there are unfamiliar networks your phone has been automatically connecting to, someone may have tried to infiltrate your network to intercept traffic (Man-in-the-Middle attack), delete any stored networks you're not using, and turn off the automatic connection to open access points in the MIUI settings.
How can hidden Wi-Fi be dangerous?
Checking through a computer and antivirus scanners
Mobile antiviruses are not always effective against complex Trojans that may have root rights or masquerading as system services. A more reliable method is to check the phone through your computer using antivirus software like Kaspersky, Dr.Web or ESET. Connect the phone in debugging mode via USB (you need to turn on Settings → About Phone → 7 times click on the build number, then activate Debugging over USB in advanced settings).
Once connected, the PC will be able to scan the phone's file system for known virus signatures. The good thing about this method is that a virus running in an Android environment can't always escape the desktop scanner. It's also easier to analyze the process list and boot on the computer. Make sure that the computer also has fresh virus detection databases.
If you don't want to connect your phone to your PC, use specialized Android scanners like Malwarebytes or Bitdefender. Run a deep system scan. Even if Xiaomi's built-in security scanner (from Avast or AVL) found nothing, third-party software can detect the threat. Remember, no antivirus is 100% guaranteed, so the combination of methods gives the best result.
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Comprehensive verification with PCs and specialized scanners increases the chances of detecting hidden threats that standard MIUI protections miss.
Radical measures: data dumping and protection
If you have detected confirmed signs of wiretapping and can not remove the malicious application in the usual way, the only reliable option is a full reset to the factory settings (Hard Reset).Be sure to save important data (photos, contacts) to an external medium or to the cloud, but do not restore it from the backup of applications, since the virus can be preserved in the backup.
To perform the reset, go to Settings → About Phone → Reset. Select “Erase All Data.” After this procedure, the phone will return to the “out of the box” state and all spyware will be removed. However, if the virus penetrated deep into the system (rootkit), even a reset may not help, and you will need to flash the device through the Mi Flash Tool with cleaning of all partitions.
After cleaning the device, it is critical to change all passwords from Google accounts, Mi Account, social networks and banking applications. PIN-Set a strong password or biometric security on the lock screen. In the future, avoid installing applications from unknown sources and regularly update the system. MIUI, Because updates often contain security patches.
⚠️ Warning: When you reset your settings, all data will be destroyed. Make sure you have an up-to-date backup of important files on an external medium that is not permanently connected to your phone.