With the growing number of hacking cases over mobile phones, it’s become a massive concern whether our phone is or isn’t safe from getting hacked. In July alone, about 3 million Chinese phones were affected by a cyberattack. Having a potential threat against your data and privacy can make you want to scream “What can I do to stay secure?”

If you would like to know if your Xiaomi phone is hacked or not, read on, please.

In a recent study by British tech watchdog Which? it was found that the majority of Android mobiles are vulnerable to hacking. Things like buffer overflow attacks, exploits, and vulnerabilities come out more frequently than before.

Xiaomi smartphones are popular because they offer high-end components at mid-range prices, good looks, and decent build quality. But as more and cheaper Chinese phones have flooded the market, they have become a lucrative target of hackers. They hope to appease their greed by exploiting small loopholes to steal valuable user data. Here are five ways to know if your Xiaomi phone got hacked or not and what you can do if it is.

1. Look at what apps are draining your battery

Even if there is no obvious evidence of criminal activity, something unlawful could be happening behind the scenes. Checking your battery use is one of the surest ways to discover if your phone has gotten hijacked.

Apps running in the background heat up your phone, especially when there’s some kind of spyware on it. However, even the most sophisticated spyware can leave traces on your phone or tablet, check the battery use option first.

Look for an unexpected program or anything unusual in Settings > Battery > Battery Usage.

Since Google has a comprehensive Google Play Protect mechanism incorporated into Android, this doesn’t happen as frequently as it used to, but we strongly recommend checking. Your system is likely infected by hidden malware. So look out for anything suspicious and not just apps having weird names. If your phone battery needs to get recharged much more frequently, it could mean infiltration. Or it could just be the overall battery life of your phone becoming shorter due to degradation. But it’s better to be safe than sorry. Force stop the app you find suspicious and restart your device. Check if any difference occurred. If it did, then you have your culprit. Otherwise, you will have to check for other apps in question.

But some apps like remote monitoring apps can remain hidden even by searching in the app drawer or running a virus scan. Various apps to spy on Xiaomi cell phones already do exist, so you can look for these apps to ensure your safety. These apps, on the other hand, are utilized for employee and child monitoring.

Xiaomi phones come preloaded with several unnecessary apps that run in the background. These consume battery and slow down Xiaomi devices. It is better to uninstall the bloatware if you aren’t going to use them.

2. Look for high data usage

Most individuals don’t glance at the Data Usage section in settings because they have unlimited data subscriptions. However, if your Xiaomi device is behaving up and you want to see if it’s been hacked, there’s another simple way to do so.

If you have a virus, it may be transferring your personal information to a third party via an app that’s always on and talking with malicious actors.

To see if this is the case, go to Settings > Connections & WiFi > Data Usage and dig about. For Xiaomi devices you can do the following:

• Go to the settings of your Xiaomi device, usually symbolized by a cogwheel
• Press on connections option
• Go to Use of data
• Then press Wi-Fi data usage
• You will be shown data consumption by Wi-Fi over a set time for example a month.
• Further down you will be shown applications and the data they consumed during this period.
• By clicking on an app, for example, Facebook, you will be shown the data consumed in both foreground and background. The background is the one we are concerned with for every app. Background data should always be below 1 GB.

Netflix, HBO MAX, Disney, Twitch, YouTube, Spotify, and other streaming services consume a lot of data regularly. However, if another program consumes far too much data, something isn’t right. Look for anything out of place here. No non-streaming app should consume data above 3 GB while it is running in the background.

XNSPY, one of the remote monitoring apps, has a built-in Wi-Fi usage checker. The app can help monitor what apps are using your Internet data so you can set a limit on its usage from within the app. XNSPY’s advantage is that it can bypass security checks of other app data checkers since it operates in stealth mode. So it does not color the results.

XNSPY’s Wi-Fi limiter can be used to set limits on kids’ Internet browsing habits so they do not spend too much time surfing the web. Therefore it is an app to monitor browsing history on Android or iOS devices.

3. You are receiving suspicious popup ads on your phone

Popups appear in different sizes and shapes, at odd times, and on a variety of websites. We’ve learned to deal with them. These apps are just annoying more than anything. They are just an ad covering up content.

They can, however, be malevolent and lead to data theft or privacy intrusion. Keep an eye out for strange pop-ups or adverts that appear odd or out of place. Never ever click on them.

Google has made several adjustments to protect users from such ads. Google Chrome for Android devices automatically blocks popup ads. These can be annoying to deal with as they are often hard to close, and some are loud and obnoxious.

But it’s all a ruse: don’t press the “delete” button. Reboot your smartphone instead of closing your browser. Do not enter personal information into a field with which you are unfamiliar. Never give out your credit card or password information.

4. Use codes to check if you were hacked

Calls, messages, and other data might get transmitted to another person in case your phone gets hacked or tapped. But do not get too worked up. If you think your phone has been hacked, use a dialer pad to clear up any doubts. The codes to see if your phone got hacked are listed below.

Check your phone number for diversion: *#21#

Some hackers go a step further and forward all of your calls and messages, regardless of your availability. Unconditional data forwarding or diversion is the term for this type of attack.

This type of behavior is more difficult to detect. Without allowing your phone to ring, a diversion cancels and redirects calls to another line. As a result, your phone bill will never display it (unlike conditional forwarding when your phone number technically receives the call).

Find out if your phone got hacked by dialing *#21#. Simply dial ##21# to clear the settings.

Show if someone is listening in on my unanswered calls: *#61#

Scammers can intercept your calls and divert them to a different number. Conditional call forwarding is the term for this. When your phone rings once and there are no other traces of incoming calls, you should start to smell a rat. You might not even notice the call forwarding if you miss the call. Hackers can also use such an attack to forward messages to a different phone number.

5. You suspect unusual activity on any of the device’s accounts

If a hacker gains access to your phone, they gain access to all of your accounts. They can control your social media, email, and a variety of lifestyle and productivity apps. It could manifest itself in several ways. These could be resetting a password, sending emails, marking unread emails that you don’t recall reading, or signing up for new accounts that send you verification emails.

In this instance, you may be vulnerable to identity fraud. These occur when crooks use information stolen from your hacked accounts to open new accounts or lines of credit in your name. Before performing a security scan on your phone, you should change your passwords without updating them on your phone.

XNSPY’s social media monitoring features help protect kids against these identity thefts, fake news, and phishing scams. It can help safeguard a kid’s online presence and protect phones against various apps to spy on Xiaomi cell phones.

Smartphones are much more unsecured than computers. Their popularity and ease of use attract nefarious actors who want to exploit their vulnerabilities. Even powerful governments across the globe have dived into the dark side of phone monitoring. News stations all over the world covered Pegasus, an Israeli spyware tool. Hackers would contact users over WhatsApp and install Pegasus on their phones. Even if the phone owner did not answer the anonymous phone call, hackers had access to their data. So it is not entirely Xiaomi’s fault.

By following these steps and remaining vigilant, you can protect your Xiaomi phone from hackers. Do not leave your smartphone unchecked for prolonged periods. You can also buy a subscription to a reliable app to monitor browsing history. XNSPY in our case.

Read more:

Has your smartphone been hacked? Here are nine tell-tale signs