Three Ways to Unmask a Mobile Spy

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When it comes to spy apps, it may seem like something from another reality - one where they play for high stakes: politics, serious business, and so on. But in reality, you don’t have to be Jeff Bezos for someone to want to spy on you. Your employer may be very interested in what you do outside the office, and your significant other - where and with whom you are.

Do you suspect that someone might be spying on you via your smartphone? We'll tell you how to check.

How to find a mobile spy yourself
Mobile spies try to operate unnoticed by the user, but most of them show themselves one way or another. Is your mobile Internet package running out earlier than expected, and is your battery draining faster than usual? This is a reason to be wary and check which applications are using the phone's resources especially actively. The settings you need may be called differently on different devices, but usually it's something about "mobile traffic" (or, say, "data usage") and "battery" (or "accumulator"), respectively.

Wi-Fi, mobile Internet or geolocation suddenly turn on, although Cell Phone Number Database you definitely remember that you turned all of this off? Again, look at which programs consume traffic and also use access to your location. We have a separate post about checking the granted permissions in Android . You can read about permissions in iOS in this article .

Didn't find anything, but still suspect surveillance? If you have an Android phone, check which apps have access to "Accessibility" (Settings -> Accessibility). They give apps the right to "spy" on other programs, set settings at their discretion and do many other things as if on behalf of the user, so spies love them. In general, "Accessibility" is one of the most dangerous permissions in Android , and it is good to give it only to an antivirus.



How to Find a Mobile Spy with Kaspersky for Android
Too lazy to dig into the settings and look for a spy yourself? Owners of Android devices can use a mobile security solution. For example, Kaspersky for Android will detect an enemy agent, even if you have a free version .

Due to the controversial legal status of some mobile spyware applications ( stalkerware ), many security programs call them not-a-virus , but they still warn about them, so read your antivirus messages carefully.

There is one drawback to this method, though: some spy apps alert their owners that an antivirus has appeared on the device. If you are worried that, say, a jealous spouse is spying on you, perhaps they should not know about your suspicions. To help users identify a spy without giving themselves away, we created TinyCheck, a stealth spy app detection system that doesn’t care whether you have Android or iOS.

How to Find a Mobile Spy Using TinyCheck
What is TinyCheck? It is a software solution that we initially developed to help victims of domestic violence, but then realized that in the modern world it can be useful to anyone. True, in the current version it requires certain technical knowledge and a willingness to tinker with hardware.

The thing is that TinyCheck is not installed on a smartphone, but on a separate device, for example, on a Raspberry Pi microcomputer - that's why a spy app on the phone won't be able to notice it. This separate device needs to be configured so that it acts as an intermediary between the router and the gadget connected to Wi-Fi.

After that, all your internet traffic will go through TinyCheck, and it will be able to analyze it in real time. If your smartphone sends a lot of data, say, to known spyware servers, TinyCheck will notice and warn you. Here's what it looks like in practice.