IAF Warns Against Chinese Xiaomi Smartphone

Using Chinese made Xiaomi smartphones might not be safe as they send data such as carrier name, phone number, IMEI and numbers from the phone to China, warns Indian Air Force.

Based on information from Indian Computer Response Team, the IAF warned against using Xiaomi devices as it sends information and data of the user and the phones contain to an agency which further reports it to the information industry of China.

The IAF has also warned their officers and families from using the Chinese made devices.

A note by the Indian Air Force reads, “F-secure, a leading security solution company, recently carried out a test of Xiaomi Redmi 1s, the company’s budget smartphone, and found that the phone was forwarding carrier name, phone number, IMEI (the device identifier) plus numbers from address book and text messages back to Beijing.”

The note is said to have added, “According to the PhoneArena report, looking up the website of the company owning the IP address in the range 42.62.48.0-42.62.48.255 reveals that the website owner is www.cnnic.cn. CNNIC is the administrative agency responsible for Internet affairs under the Ministry of Information Industry of People’s Republic of China. It is based in the Zhongguancun high tech district of Beijing.”

This is not the first instance of Xiaomi facing allegations. As per reports, the Taiwanese government is said to have started investigating in August on concerns that Xiaomi is a cyber security threat and said it will make a decision within three months.