Is your Cellphone Eavesdropping on You?

Shirl told me of this case last night and I thought I would post this for discussion. I previously posted it as a news bucket entry, but the ramifications of this are such that I thought I should bring it out for discussion. What do you think about this case and the possibilities for the future, for us, for the country and so on? You just have to expect that this method is being used for more than just this one case.

FBI taps cell phone mic as eavesdropping tool

The FBI appears to have begun using a novel form of electronic surveillance in criminal investigations: remotely activating a mobile phone’s microphone and using it to eavesdrop on nearby conversations.

The technique is called a “roving bug,” and was approved by top U.S. Department of Justice officials for use against members of a New York organized crime family who were wary of conventional surveillance techniques such as tailing a suspect or wiretapping him.
What’s new:

The FBI is apparently using a novel surveillance technique on alleged Mafioso: activating his cell phone’s microphone and then just listening.
Bottom line:

While it appears this is the first use of the “roving bug” technique, it has been discussed in security circles for years.

Nextel cell phones owned by two alleged mobsters, John Ardito and his attorney Peter Peluso, were used by the FBI to listen in on nearby conversations. The FBI views Ardito as one of the most powerful men in the Genovese family, a major part of the national Mafia.

The surveillance technique came to light in an opinion published this week by U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan. He ruled that the “roving bug” was legal because federal wiretapping law is broad enough to permit eavesdropping even of conversations that take place near a suspect’s cell phone.

Kaplan’s opinion said that the eavesdropping technique “functioned whether the phone was powered on or off.” Some handsets can’t be fully powered down without removing the battery; for instance, some Nokia models will wake up when turned off if an alarm is set.,

This long article linked goes on to say the following:

Because modern handsets are miniature computers, downloaded software could modify the usual interface that always displays when a call is in progress. The spyware could then place a call to the FBI and activate the microphone–all without the owner knowing it happened. (The FBI declined to comment on Friday.)

“If a phone has in fact been modified to act as a bug, the only way to counteract that is to either have a bugsweeper follow you around 24-7, which is not practical, or to peel the battery off the phone,” Atkinson said. Security-conscious corporate executives routinely remove the batteries from their cell phones, he added.

12 Comments

diane101 on December 12, 2006 at 4:43 pm

I had a lot of trouble deciding on a title for this diary. Maybe it should be “Is Big Brother listening through your cell phone?”
So what do you think?
I don’t like this at all. There are quite a few ways of using this method, some say they need the actual phone and others say no, it can be done remotely..well the implications for the misuse of this technology are great.

Militarytracy on December 12, 2006 at 5:03 pm

as a bug the only thing you can do to make sure that your private conversations are private is to remove the battery from it when it’s in the conversation area?

diane101 on December 12, 2006 at 5:16 pm

So it seems, from the article at least.

dada on December 12, 2006 at 5:43 pm

Not only can they eavesdrop, with GPS they know where you are…

.
.
.
As GPS technology proliferates, there’s growing awareness among cell phone owners that the devices can track them. Nearly half of all wireless phone users and 55 percent of all wireless Internet users knew of some location-based services, according to a survey by In-Stat/MDR. More importantly to U.S. cell phone carriers, more than a third of those surveyed said they’d be willing to pay a monthly fee for location services.

Nevertheless, the surveillance capabilities of these phones are raising privacy concerns.
.
.
.
more HERE

and HERE

Big Brother was a rank amateur compared to what these guys can do…gives new meaning to “reach out and touch someone”…feel safer now?

Indianadem on December 12, 2006 at 10:38 pm

Almost any modern 911 emergency call center can locate your digital cell phone within a few yards. Its a great feature for emergency workers in many situations such as the large forest recreation area we have here. We have a lot of injuries that are far away from anything but horse trails and sometimes people don’t have the foggiest idea where they are.

Its a not so nice feature should Big Brother come calling.

martini on December 12, 2006 at 7:50 pm

With debate about GPS in cell phones, as well:

http://jwz.livejournal.com/721119.html

diane101 on December 12, 2006 at 8:36 pm

And then there is this:

For rent: U.S. toll booths
Lost Highway
The foolish plan to sell American toll roads to foreign companies.
By Daniel Gross

If a governor told you there were a way to spread pork, raise funds for infrastructure investment, promote jobs, avoid raising taxes, and put a dent in the trade deficit—all in one fell swoop—you might think he had a bridge to sell you. And you’d be right. Only in this case, it’s a toll road. And instead of a sale, how about a long-term lease?

Earlier this month, in a triumph for Gov. Mitch Daniels, Indiana’s House narrowly approved his proposal to lease the 157-mile Indiana Toll Road, which spans the northern part of the state, for $3.85 billion to a joint venture of Cintra, a Spanish company, and Australia’s Macquarie Bank. The two companies have been active in the U.S. road business. In 2004, the two inked a 99-year lease for the 7.8-mile elevated Chicago Skyway. Last year, Macquarie completed its acquisition of the Dulles Greenway outside Washington, D.C. And Cintra, which manages toll roads in Europe and the Americas, is a strategic partner to the Texas state government in the planned Trans-Texas Corridor. There are likely more such deals to come.

So what else is mew?

Indianadem on December 12, 2006 at 10:28 pm

Daniels already has a new plan to sell more of Indiana. Goodbye homes, goodbye farms.

Indianapolis already has an expressway encircling it. This new road is intended to connect six counties to a road intended to boost development in the collar counties. It is not hard to imagine a future extension to complete the circle when need arises.

The Indiana Commerce Connector, as Daniels has dubbed it, is needed to create jobs. Daniels cited statistics showing nine of the top 10 new investments supported by the Indiana Economic Development Corp. in the last two years fall within 10 miles of an interstate highway.

Of course, building a new highway is expensive. So Daniels is proposing to build this road as a public-private partnership. The state would own the new tollway, but it would be leased to a private operator, just like the Indiana Toll Road.

No global warming here – just more and more and more highways. Indiana once had a network of light rail lines connecting rural communities with cities. If you know where to look, you can still see remnants of the old roadbed and bridge supports here and there.

BobX on December 13, 2006 at 8:23 am

and get a Tracfone. It is difficult to tie the phone to one person because there is no name registration involved and they are very difficult to trace. They really hate throw away phones for that reason. Same goes for Boost and Virgin.

diane101 on December 13, 2006 at 11:49 am

I had a trac phone a few years ago and I had to register it with a name when activating it. Of course I guess you could use a fake name, but I am sure the powers that be will soon close that gap in order to keep their eyes/ears on us.

boran2 on December 13, 2006 at 11:37 am

Then there are Lojack and EZ Pass devices. While not allowing for eavesdropping, they will provide location information.

alohaleezy on December 13, 2006 at 4:37 pm

the dumb suckers that we are, we just kept buying the latest gadgets. I mean, wtf did people do before cell phones? Ipods, etc. I am so tired of seeing people with things stuck to their ears. Remember when people actually talked to their neighbors?

diane101 on December 12, 2006 at 4:43 pm

I had a lot of trouble deciding on a title for this diary. Maybe it should be “Is Big Brother listening through your cell phone?”
So what do you think?
I don’t like this at all. There are quite a few ways of using this method, some say they need the actual phone and others say no, it can be done remotely..well the implications for the misuse of this technology are great.
Militarytracy on December 12, 2006 at 5:03 pm

as a bug the only thing you can do to make sure that your private conversations are private is to remove the battery from it when it’s in the conversation area?
- diane101 on December 12, 2006 at 5:16 pm
  
  So it seems, from the article at least.
dada on December 12, 2006 at 5:43 pm

Not only can they eavesdrop, with GPS they know where you are…

.
.
.
As GPS technology proliferates, there’s growing awareness among cell phone owners that the devices can track them. Nearly half of all wireless phone users and 55 percent of all wireless Internet users knew of some location-based services, according to a survey by In-Stat/MDR. More importantly to U.S. cell phone carriers, more than a third of those surveyed said they’d be willing to pay a monthly fee for location services.

Nevertheless, the surveillance capabilities of these phones are raising privacy concerns.
.
.
.
more HERE

and HERE

Big Brother was a rank amateur compared to what these guys can do…gives new meaning to “reach out and touch someone”…feel safer now?
- Indianadem on December 12, 2006 at 10:38 pm
  
  Almost any modern 911 emergency call center can locate your digital cell phone within a few yards. Its a great feature for emergency workers in many situations such as the large forest recreation area we have here. We have a lot of injuries that are far away from anything but horse trails and sometimes people don’t have the foggiest idea where they are.
  
  Its a not so nice feature should Big Brother come calling.
martini on December 12, 2006 at 7:50 pm

With debate about GPS in cell phones, as well:

http://jwz.livejournal.com/721119.html
diane101 on December 12, 2006 at 8:36 pm

And then there is this:

For rent: U.S. toll booths
Lost Highway
The foolish plan to sell American toll roads to foreign companies.
By Daniel Gross

If a governor told you there were a way to spread pork, raise funds for infrastructure investment, promote jobs, avoid raising taxes, and put a dent in the trade deficit—all in one fell swoop—you might think he had a bridge to sell you. And you’d be right. Only in this case, it’s a toll road. And instead of a sale, how about a long-term lease?

Earlier this month, in a triumph for Gov. Mitch Daniels, Indiana’s House narrowly approved his proposal to lease the 157-mile Indiana Toll Road, which spans the northern part of the state, for $3.85 billion to a joint venture of Cintra, a Spanish company, and Australia’s Macquarie Bank. The two companies have been active in the U.S. road business. In 2004, the two inked a 99-year lease for the 7.8-mile elevated Chicago Skyway. Last year, Macquarie completed its acquisition of the Dulles Greenway outside Washington, D.C. And Cintra, which manages toll roads in Europe and the Americas, is a strategic partner to the Texas state government in the planned Trans-Texas Corridor. There are likely more such deals to come.

So what else is mew?
- Indianadem on December 12, 2006 at 10:28 pm
  
  Daniels already has a new plan to sell more of Indiana. Goodbye homes, goodbye farms.
  
  Indianapolis already has an expressway encircling it. This new road is intended to connect six counties to a road intended to boost development in the collar counties. It is not hard to imagine a future extension to complete the circle when need arises.
  
  The Indiana Commerce Connector, as Daniels has dubbed it, is needed to create jobs. Daniels cited statistics showing nine of the top 10 new investments supported by the Indiana Economic Development Corp. in the last two years fall within 10 miles of an interstate highway.
  
  Of course, building a new highway is expensive. So Daniels is proposing to build this road as a public-private partnership. The state would own the new tollway, but it would be leased to a private operator, just like the Indiana Toll Road.
  
  No global warming here – just more and more and more highways. Indiana once had a network of light rail lines connecting rural communities with cities. If you know where to look, you can still see remnants of the old roadbed and bridge supports here and there.
BobX on December 13, 2006 at 8:23 am

and get a Tracfone. It is difficult to tie the phone to one person because there is no name registration involved and they are very difficult to trace. They really hate throw away phones for that reason. Same goes for Boost and Virgin.
- diane101 on December 13, 2006 at 11:49 am
  
  I had a trac phone a few years ago and I had to register it with a name when activating it. Of course I guess you could use a fake name, but I am sure the powers that be will soon close that gap in order to keep their eyes/ears on us.
boran2 on December 13, 2006 at 11:37 am

Then there are Lojack and EZ Pass devices. While not allowing for eavesdropping, they will provide location information.
alohaleezy on December 13, 2006 at 4:37 pm

the dumb suckers that we are, we just kept buying the latest gadgets. I mean, wtf did people do before cell phones? Ipods, etc. I am so tired of seeing people with things stuck to their ears. Remember when people actually talked to their neighbors?

Is your Cellphone Eavesdropping on You?

About The Author

diane101

12 Comments

Recent Posts

Recent Comments