Saturday, December 16, 2023
Harry Hacking: Payout in Phone-Hacking Case Against Mirror Publisher
High Court ruling found evidence of "widespread and habitual" use of phone hacking at the Mirror newspapers... He was awarded £140,600 in damages... more
Thursday, December 14, 2023
Fake Cell Towers Spy On Phones
The fake tower can intercept this IMSI number and collect other data, such as the mobile device’s location, call records, text messages, and even the content of phone calls. This information can then be used for various purposes, including surveillance, identity theft, and corporate espionage. more
Thursday, July 20, 2023
Privacy Risks: Phones Purchased at Police Auctions
People looking for a bargain can bid on cellphones in bulk, snatching up dozens at rock bottom prices for parts or other uses. This ultimately provides revenue for the police agencies, making for a good deal for everyone involved. Or is it?
A recent study by University of Maryland security experts found that many of the phones sold at police property auction houses are not properly wiped of personal data. The study, conducted over two years with cellphones bought from the largest police auction house in the U.S., uncovered troves of personal information from previous owners that was easily accessible. more
Saturday, June 24, 2023
Spybuster Tip #712 - Stop Smartphone Eavesdropping - Cap The App
Here’s how to do it on iPhone:
- Open the Settings app
- Scroll to Privacy & Security
- Tap Microphone
- Review the apps that have access to your microphone and toggle them on or off
- Open the Settings app
- Tap Privacy
- Tap Permission Manager
- Tap on Microphone
- Review the apps that have access to your microphone and toggle them on or off | more
Monday, June 12, 2023
Eavesdropping: Advanced Aliens Could Detect life on Earth...
Only aliens with more advanced technology would be able to ‘eavesdrop’ on the signals transmitted on Earth – but apparently that’s more likely than you’d think.
While we work hard to search for extra-terrestrial life beyond our planet, radiation leaked from Earth’s mobile towers could be helping aliens find us. Put your tinfoil hat away: this isn’t anything to do with 5G. And the radiation being leaked isn’t the cancer-causing kind – it's the same type of energy used in radio and TV signals.
New research shows that this radio leakage from mobile towers is not currently strong enough on its own to be detectable by alien civilisations – assuming they are using the same technology as we are to find them. But if aliens have more advanced systems and are looking at radiation from more sources – such as Wi-Fi networks – we could soon be discovered by extra-terrestrials living on nearby stars. more
Thursday, March 30, 2023
Prosecutors: Veteran Deputy was Listening in on Jury Deliberations
According to Assistant District Attorney Kelly Wolford, the jury was deliberating a felony case when Broadwell listened in on the conversation. The eavesdropping charges brought against Broadwell relate to his use of a device to enhance the sound of people talking in his area.
Wednesday, January 18, 2023
Cautionary Tale: Secreted Cell Phones
Friday, December 30, 2022
EarSpy Attack Can Use Motion Sensors Data to Pry on Android Devices
The attack method, named EarSpy, is described in a paper published just before Christmas by researchers from Texas A&M University, Temple University, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Rutgers University, and the University of Dayton.
EarSpy relies on the phone’s ear speaker — the speaker at the top of the device that is used when the phone is held to the ear — and the device’s built-in accelerometer for capturing the tiny vibrations generated by the speaker. more
Thursday, August 18, 2022
Spybuster Tip #823 - The Car Thief Cell Phone Trick
During a crime forum in the Cooper-Young neighborhood, Crump station officers said it was a new tool being used by the bad guys looking for items to steal.
They told the group it doesn’t matter how dark the tint is on your windows; when you put a cell phone in camera mode up to the windows, you can see right through them.
We (WREG-TV) put a cell up to a back window; sure enough, you could see everything in the backseat. more
Thursday, December 2, 2021
A New "Mobile" Phone - Complete with No Apps
Ever wish you had a mobile phone that would really turn heads?
One where you could call your friends, real or imaginary?
One that would look at you with loving eyes?
Your past is now your future...
Tuesday, November 23, 2021
3G Cell Phone Service - The End is Near
All of the major cellphone carriers — AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile — are planning to shut their older 3G networks in 2022. Like millions of people in the United States who use 3G phones and other 3G devices, you will have to buy a new device if you want to text, make calls or even reach 911...
The shutdown dates start in January 2022 and are spread out throughout the year. more
- Sprint’s 3G: Jan. 1, 2022
- AT&T’s 3G: Feb. 22, 2022
- Sprint’s LTE: June 30, 2022
- Verizon’s 3G: Dec. 31, 2022
- T-Mobile’s 2G and 3G: Not yet announced
Thursday, July 15, 2021
The "Encrypted" Cell Phones Had One Flaw: The FBI Controlled Them
The criminals texted each other about drug deals and money laundering, confident in special encrypted devices using a platform dubbed Anom. There was just one problem for the crime rings: The FBI was being copied on every message — millions of them worldwide. In fact, the agency had sent the Anom devices into the black market in the first place.
Those are the details and allegations that are now emerging about Operation Trojan Shield, an international effort coordinated by the FBI that has resulted in more than 800 arrests.
With the help of Europol, the FBI identified "over 300 distinct TCOs [transnational criminal organizations] using Anom, including Italian organized crime, Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs, and various international narcotics source, transportation, and distribution cells," according to a search warrant affidavit filed in court by Nicholas Cheviron*, an FBI special agent in San Diego. The document was unsealed Monday.
In addition to heading the investigation, FBI Special Agent, Nic Cheviron (son of the best corporate security director ever), wrote the search warrant. It is a fascinating read.
Wednesday, March 31, 2021
Privoro Launches Audio Masking Chamber & RF Shield for Mobile Devices
(Press release)
Privoro, today revealed its latest product,
Vault, a first-of-its-kind defense against remote data capture. The
Vault case is a two-in-one portable Faraday enclosure and audio masking
chamber for smartphones, providing unsurpassed protection against not
only wireless attacks and location tracking but also eavesdropping and
spying.
Vault eliminates smartphone signals more effectively than portable, fabric-based Faraday products, delivering a minimum of 100 dB of radio frequency (RF) attenuation – 10 billion times signal reduction. When a smartphone is placed in the Vault case, the smartphone can no longer be reached via cellular, WiFi, Bluetooth, near-field communication (NFC) and radio-frequency identification (RFID).
In addition to RF shielding, Vault's user-controlled audio masking prevents the extraction of intelligible speech up to voice levels of 90 dBA through independent noise signals. Users will have the assurance that conversations in the vicinity of Vault cannot be deliberately captured by bad actors through the enclosed smartphone's cameras and microphones.
Privoro developed Vault to meet the requirements of nation-state customers seeking to tackle the long-standing unique and critical security risks that mobile devices pose. more
Thursday, August 20, 2020
Hackers Can Now Clone Your Keys Just by Listening to Them (wtf?!?!)
Every time you unlock your front door, your key whispers a small, but audible, secret. Hackers finally learned how to listen.
Researchers at the National University of Singapore published a paper earlier this year detailing how, using only a smartphone microphone and a program they designed, a hacker can clone your key.
What's more, if a thief was able to install malware on your smartphone, smartwatch, or smart doorbell to record the audio from afar, they wouldn't even need to be physically nearby to pull off the attack.
The key (ahem) to the attack, dubbed SpiKey, is the sound made by the lock pins as they move over a typical key's ridges. more
Wednesday, August 19, 2020
Verizon Launches Hyper-Precise GPS Location Technology
Verizon launched its Hyper Precise Location using Real Time Kinematics (RTK), a location technology that provides location accuracy within 1-2 centimeters, on the Verizon network.
Verizon has built and deployed RTK reference stations nationwide to provide pinpoint level accuracy to RTK compatible internet of things (IoT) devices. RTK will also support emerging technologies that depend on high level location accuracy such as delivery drones and customer-approved location data for first responders during emergencies...Additionally, the rollout of hyper-precise location services paired with Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband (UWB) network and 5G Edge, will pave the way for more autonomous technologies. more
Thursday, August 13, 2020
White Sims from the Dark Side
Russian SIMs. Encrypted SIMs. White SIMs.
These cards go by different names in the criminal underground, and vary widely in quality and features...Beyond spoofing phone numbers, some SIMs let a caller manipulate their voice in real-time, adding a baritone or shrill cloak to their phone calls that is often unintentionally funny. Other cards have the more worthwhile benefit of being worldwide, unlimited data SIMs that criminals source anonymously from suppliers without having to give up identifying information and by paying in Bitcoin.
The SIM cards themselves aren't inherently illegal, but criminals certainly make a noticeable chunk of the companies' customer bases. The NCA told Motherboard it has seized so-called Russian SIMs from suspects during investigations. more
Wednesday, August 12, 2020
Attack Can Decrypt 4G (LTE) Calls to Eavesdrop on Conversations
A team of academics has detailed this week a vulnerability in the Voice over LTE (VoLTE) protocol that can be used to break the encryption on 4G voice calls.
Named ReVoLTE, researchers say this attack is possible because mobile operators often use the same encryption key to secure multiple 4G voice calls that take place via the same base station (mobile cell tower)...
Researchers say that the equipment to pull off a ReVoLTE attack costs around $7,000. While the price might seem steep, it is certainly in the price range of other 3G/4G mobile interception gear, usually employed by law enforcement or criminal gangs...
A scientific paper detailing the ReVoLTE attack is also available for download as PDF from here and here. The paper is titled "Call Me Maybe: Eavesdropping Encrypted LTE Calls With ReVoLTE." more