How to check Xiaomi for wiretapping: the complete guide

Xiaomi’s current smartphones, which run MIUI shells or the new HyperOS, are among the most popular devices on the market, making them an attractive target for attackers. Users often wonder how to check the phone for wiretapping, fearing personal data leaks or surveillance by detractors. Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco devices need to understand that software bugs and hidden applications can consume the system’s resources, even if the device behaves normally.

Signs of compromise are not always obvious, but they cannot be ignored. The anomalous behavior of a gadget can be the first bell to indicate that spyware has settled in the system. Unlike hardware bugs, which are physically embedded, software Trojans and stylers often penetrate malicious links or fake applications.

In this article, we will take a closer look at how to detect hidden surveillance on Xiaomi Android smartphones, and we will look at both the built-in system tools and specialized diagnostic methods that will help you regain confidence in the digital security of your device.

Symptoms and signs of hidden surveillance on a smartphone

Before you go to technical methods of verification, you need to analyze the behavior of your Xiaomi. Often users ignore indirect signs, writing off them as battery wear or poor communication, but in aggregate they can indicate active spyware.

One of the main indicators is a sharp decline in autonomy. If your phone, which used to live quietly until the evening, now runs out in a few hours in standby mode, this is cause for alarm. Background wiretapping processes constantly transmit data to a remote server, which requires the operation of communication modules and the processor.

⚠️ Warning: Suddenly heating the body in the camera or processor area at rest (when you are not playing or shooting videos) may indicate the operation of hidden algorithms for recording or transmitting data.

Also worth paying attention to traffic: If you see in your settings that an unknown application or system process with an unknown name consumes gigabytes of mobile Internet, this is a critical signal: Spyware must transmit collected audio recordings, screenshots and geolocation, which creates noticeable network traffic.

• 📱 Spontaneously turning on the screen, keylighting or flashing in the absence of notifications.
• 🔊 Extraneous clicks, noises, or echoes during phone conversations.
• ⏳ Long system load, sudden reboots or interface freezes MIUI.
• 💬 The appearance of the strange SMS with codes or symbols that you have not sent.

Don’t panic when one symptom is detected, but combining two or more symptoms requires immediate diagnosis of the system. Xiaomi owners often face aggressive battery optimization, which can mask the malware, so visual signs may not be enough.

Use of hidden codes and engineering menus Xiaomi

Android operating system, including shell MIUI, It has built-in diagnostic tools available through specialised USSD-These commands allow you to access hidden settings where you can see information about call redirection and service activity.

To start, open the Phone app and enter the code ##4636##. This is the standard Android test mode. Here you can see phone usage statistics, Wi-Fi and running processes. If you see active connections in the Usage Statistics section when no one was using the phone, this could be a sign of remote access.

Another important code for checking redirects is *#21#. It shows the forwarding status of voice calls, data and faxes. In normal state, all parameters should be marked as "Not forwarded" or "Voice: Not forwarded." If you see a number that is being forwarded to and you haven't set it, that's a clear sign of wiretapping calls.

Also try the code ##4636## (similar to the former, but not all versions of MIUI). You can force the network type to be set in the Phone Information menu, but more importantly check the Usage tab here. This shows all the applications that have access to the network. Find suspicious names or high traffic-consumption system processes on the list.

• 🔍 Code *#06# - Checking IMI. Compare the number on the screen to the number on the box and under the battery (if it is removable.
• 📞 *#62# - Check for forwarding when the phone is unavailable.
• ⚙️ Code ##6484## - Entry to the CIT (Xiaomi's Customer Information Test, where you can test all sensors, microphones and speakers for hardware failures.

If the codes fail or return an error, it is possible that access to them is blocked by malware or a carrier.

Analysis of installed applications and access rights

The easiest way to check Xiaomi for wiretapping is to manually examine the list of installed applications. Spyware programs are often disguised as system processes or harmless utilities such as Calculator, Flashlight or System Update.

Go to Settings → Apps → All apps. Carefully review the list. Look for apps without an icon, with an empty name or with suspicious names. Pay special attention to applications that have device administrator rights.

To check who has administrator rights, go to Settings → Passwords & Security → Privacy → Special Permits → Device Administrators. There should only be known services, like Google’s Find Device or corporate profiles, if the phone is working. Any unknown application with such permissions can block its deletion and control the phone.

Also critical is to check the microphone and camera permissions. MIUI 13/14 and HyperOS have a handy access log. Click on the lock or shield icon in the corner of the screen (or go to Settings → Privacy Protection).

If you find an app that requests access to a microphone but doesn’t have to, for example, a calculator, delete it immediately. On Android 12 and above, when using a microphone or camera in a status bar, an orange or green dot lights up. If you see that point when you’re not using a camera or voice recorder, check the notification center to see which app has activated the sensor.

Checking traffic consumption and background activity

Spyware cannot work without data transmission. Even if it only records audio, file transfers require an internet connection. Xiaomi provides powerful traffic monitoring tools to help detect hidden information transfers.

Go to Settings → Connection and Sharing → Data Transfer → Statistics. This shows the traffic consumption of each application for the current and previous month. Sort the list by descending. If you see an application that you rarely use, but it ate hundreds of megabytes or gigabytes in the background, this is a reason for detailed study.

Note system processes with names like Android System, Google Services, or MIUI System, which may consume traffic, but abnormally high values (like 1-2 GB per day on an empty phone) indicate a problem. Sometimes viruses disguise themselves as system processes, so look at the icon and the size of the data packet.

To do a deeper analysis, you can use flight mode. Turn on a few hours of flight mode when the phone is not in use. If the battery still sits down and the screen is on (check through Settings → Screen and Brightness → Time to Shutdown, setting a minimum), then some processes are running locally, possibly recording data for later sending.

• 📉 A sharp jump in traffic at night when the phone is lying idle.
• 📡 Constant activity 4G/5G indicator even if there is no user action.
• 💾 “Die” applications (e.g., “Battery”) that consume more than 50MB per day.

Xiaomi owners should also check their sync settings. Go to Settings → Accounts and sync. Make sure that only your personal accounts (Google, Mi Account) are synced. Having unknown accounts with active contact sync or calendar can mean that your data is being copied to someone else's server.

Use of antivirus and security scanners

While the built-in virus scanner from AV-Test in MIUI (Security app) does a good job of dealing with known threats, it is better to use specialized tools to test for spyware in depth.Spyware programs often have developer certificates or are disguised, allowing them to avoid detection by basic scanners.

It is recommended to use proven mobile antiviruses such as Kaspersky Internet Security, Dr.Web Light or Malwarebytes. These applications have signature databases that are updated in real time and are able to find Trojans that masquerade as Android system files.

⚠️ Warning: Never install multiple antiviruses at once, resulting in resource conflict, high heat and false positives. Choose one reliable product, do a full review, and remove it if it is not needed all the time.

When you install an antivirus, give it the necessary permissions to scan files. Run "Full Scanning." Pay special attention to the "Hidden Threats" or "Root Rights" section. If the antivirus detects that the phone has received Root rights without your knowledge, this means that attackers could have infiltrated the system at a deep level, gaining full control over the file system.

There are also online services like VirusTotal where you can download. APK-files of suspicious applications for verification by multiple engines. If you downloaded the application from a non-Google Play or GetApps, be sure to check the installation file before running.

Radical measures: Data resetting and protection

If you find clear signs of wiretapping but can’t find and remove the malicious app, or if the phone is behaving unstable after the virus is removed, the only reliable solution is a complete factory reset.

Before reset, be sure to save important data (photos, contacts) to a cloud service or computer, but do not save application backups and system settings, since the virus can be preserved in the backup and return after recovery.

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Tip: After resetting your phone when you first set up your phone, only log in to verified accounts and don't install apps from unknown sources. Turn on Google Play Protect for permanent protection.

Reset procedure on Xiaomi is performed through the recovery menu (Recovery) or through settings. For maximum efficiency, it is better to use Recovery: turn off the phone, then press Volume Up + Power before the Mi logo appears. Select the language (English), then Wipe Data → Wipe All Data.

After reset, immediately change the passwords from all important accounts (Google, Mi Account, social networks, banks), as there is a chance that old passwords were intercepted. Enable two-factor authentication (2FA) wherever possible. This will create an additional barrier for malicious users, even if they somehow gain access to your data again.

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Hard Reset is the only way to remove complex spyware hidden in the Android system partition with a 100% guarantee.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)