How to check for phone surveillance. Myths and reality

Statement: noises and interference are a sign of mobile device eavesdropping.

Expert comment: eavesdropping is a passive process without interfering with data transmission, noises and interference are most likely a sign of a faulty phone speaker. And yes, poor connection cannot be a sign: today data is transmitted digitally, it will either reach the recipient or not, and in this case, the recipient will only hear part of your words.

Conclusion: this is a misconception.

Statement: strange phone behavior, such as spontaneous screen activation, is a sign of spying on the owner.

Expert comment: indeed, when your phone is infected, its strange behavior is possible, caused by incomplete compatibility with your model or errors made by the developer. But a similar effect can also occur due to the use of any other program that is not optimized for your phone model, operating system, or contains errors.

Conclusion: this is not a sign of espionage.

Statement: phone overheating in the absence of activity is a sign of cyber espionage.

Expert comment: this is just a sign that some application is actively exploiting the phone, but it could also be perimeter eavesdropping using malicious software. In any case, this is a warning sign that should not be ignored.

Conclusion: this is a warning sign.

Statement: the phone started to discharge faster, which means someone is spying on me.

Expert comment: all phones start to discharge faster over time, but if this happened suddenly, it is most likely that energy is being relentlessly consumed for some tasks. There is a non-mythical possibility that this is spying on you. This, like the heating of the phone, is a cause for concern.

Conclusion: this is a cause for concern.

Statement: the phone refuses to update and constantly gives an error - this is a consequence of the presence of software for spying on me.

Expert comment: I have not encountered such behavior of the phone when it is infected with cyber espionage software, especially if we are talking about professional software; it is very likely that we are talking about some software failures or component incompatibility. I would like to note that timely updates are one of the most important elements of the comprehensive security of your mobile device, and the lack of the latest updates is a cause for concern.

Conclusion: this is a cause for concern, although it is unlikely to be the result of spying on you.

Statement: my phone started to consume too much internet traffic, which means the phone is spying on me and sending the collected data somewhere.

Expert comment: but this is indeed a very alarming sign; if we are talking about sizes from 100 MB of outgoing internet traffic per day, it is very likely that the phone is really collecting data about you. This is the worst symptom of all considered in this material. If your phone sends a large amount of data daily, this is not just a cause for concern, it is a cause for alarm. This is usually how you can detect cyber espionage software that collects data daily and sends it to the control server.

Conclusion: this is a very alarming sign.

How to prevent a mobile phone from being infected with spyware?

There is no single effective advice here, since the security of the device is a set of measures and habits. We often raise such topics in our Telegram channel. We will be glad if you visit :)

What to do if suspicious symptoms of surveillance from a mobile device appear?

Unfortunately, the only real method to get rid of a device infected with cyber espionage software is to change the phone. Such a radical measure is forced, since malicious software can penetrate the phone's firmware. Therefore, reinstalling the system and even more so resetting the settings may not give a result.