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Archive for the ‘Mobile Phone Security’ Category
Wednesday, June 20th, 2012
It has emerged that Michigan State Police have been using a high-tech mobile forensics device that can extract information from over 3,000 models of mobile phone, potentially grabbing all media content from your iPhone in under two minutes.
The CelleBrite UFED is a handheld device that Michigan officers have been using since August 2008 to copy information from mobile phones belonging to motorists stopped for minor traffic violations. The device can circumvent password restrictions and extract existing, hidden, and deleted phone data, including call history, text messages, contacts, images, and geotags.
In short, it can copy everything on your smartphone in a matter of minutes.
Learning that the police had been using mobile forensic devices, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has issued freedom of information requests which demand that state officials open up the data collected, to better assess if penalised motorists warrant having their data copied.
Michigan State Police were more than happy to provide the information – as long as the ACLU paid $544,680. Obviously not pocket change.
“Law enforcement officers are known, on occasion, to encourage citizens to cooperate if they have nothing to hide,” ACLU staff attorney Mark P. Fancher wrote. “No less should be expected of law enforcement, and the Michigan State Police should be willing to assuage concerns that these powerful extraction devices are being used illegally by honoring our requests for cooperation and disclosure.”
Once the data is obtained, the device’s “Physical Analyzer” can map both existing and deleted locations on Google Earth, porting location data and image geotags on Google Maps.
The ACLU’s main worry is that the handheld is quietly being used to bypass Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches:
“With certain exceptions that do not apply here, a search cannot occur without a warrant in which a judicial officer determines that there is probable cause to believe that the search will yield evidence of criminal activity.
A device that allows immediate, surreptitious intrusion into private data creates enormous risks that troopers will ignore these requirements to the detriment of the constitutional rights of persons whose cell phones are searched.”
The next time you are Michigan, be sure drive carefully!
Read Original Story Here: thenextweb.com
Tags: iphone, Michigan, police
Posted in Electronic Countermeasures, Mobile Phone Security, National News, privacy | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 11th, 2012
Much has been written about the security concerns of the President of the United States using a Blackberry. President Obama’s use of the device came under fire primarily because he is more willing to embrace technology than previous Presidents and admits to being addicted to the device.
I am no expert on how hackers do their thing, but I find it disturbing when the media/journalists either print or talk of the ways in which national security can be breached. Why would we want to give the crazies of the world any tips on how to breach our national security? Exposing techniques for hacking or eavesdropping on the President of the United States is quite irresponsible – whether you know what you are talking about or not. Even if the concerns are justified, don’t publicize it! Just like I would ask you not to give written instructions on how to make a bomb.
Two such articles attempt to expose the vulnerabilities of the President’s use of a Blackberry (links provided at the end of this story). My head was spinning after reading about the various technologies, the proposed vulnerabilities written by non-security experts, and the comments written by readers explaining why/how it would be virtually impossible to hack into the President’s Blackberry.
Both stories seem more focused on concerns that carrying around a Blackberry places the President at risk because his location could be determined either via GPS tracking of his device or by hackers being able to hone in on which device belongs to the President by discovering the serial number (IMEI) of his device.  (more…)
Tags: eavesdropping, Electronic Countermeasures - Debugging, GPS Technology, hacking, Online Security, security
Posted in "Hmm.", cell phone security, eavesdropping, Electronic Countermeasures - Debugging, GPS Technology, hacking, Mobile Phone Security, Online Security, Technology, U-Spy Store | No Comments »
Monday, January 9th, 2012
FD HIDDEN DIV
“You could now listen in 100% completely undetected” — that’s the promise one company makes on its website to anyone who wants to eavesdrop on someone else’s cellphone.
Spy technology is now available to the average person who wants to gather cellphone information, read private emails, and track someone’s location using global positioning systems. Experts say that the technologies are being used by spouses and partners to track, harass and stalk. “Technology has just exploded. It’s so sophisticated now and it’s very easy to utilize these different technologies to keep tabs on a person and find out where they’re going,” said Gina Pfund, chief assistant prosecutor of the Domestic Violence Unit in Passaic County.
I have personal knowledge of a woman who was being stalked and believed her ex-boyfriend was entering her home when she was out. She couldn’t understand how he knew each and every time that she wasn’t home. She eventually figured it out – he was tracking her via her cellphone. This is very scary stuff when this type of technology gets into the wrong hands.
The person watching or listening is often a family member and frequently a suspicious or controlling partner. They have scanned Facebook pages, viewed online web-browsing histories, and examined cellphone records for proof. However, some take it a step further, planting spyware on smart phones and computers. (more…)
Tags: cell phone spying, computer spying, eavesdropping, Electronic Countermeasures - Debugging, invasion of privacy, Online Security, security
Posted in Abuse, cell phone security, eavesdropping, Electronic Countermeasures - Debugging, GPS Technology, hard to find security equipment, Home, Personal & Travel Security, Mobile Phone Security, Online Security, privacy, stalking, Technology, U-Spy Store | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 4th, 2012
The U.S. Department of Defense is holding a Cyber Conference in Atlanta, Georgia from January 20 – 27, 2012.
This program brings together professionals in the following disciplines: Digital Forensics, Forensic R&D, Information Technology, Investigations, and Legal.
Some of the topics include:
- D3 Digital Crime Scene Challenge
- Six People Who Are Changing the World of Security
- U.S. Cyber Challenge
- Forensics
- The Future of Crime
- Computer Crime and Intellectual Property
These are amazing topics! If you are interested, go to: dodcybercrime
Tags: crime, cyber crime training, cyber-crime, hacking, identity theft, investigation, Online Security, spying
Posted in cell phone security, crime, Electronic Countermeasures, Electronic Countermeasures - Debugging, hacking, Intellectual Property Theft, Mobile Phone Security, Online Security, Technology, U-Spy Store | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 4th, 2012
In the old days, spies were just people who physically engaged in espionage or clandestine operations. This made it simpler to find your enemies than in today’s world of high technology. Now, we don’t know if “spies” are in our computers or phones. Surveillance equipment has taken on a whole new meaning.
Wikileaks revealed what it has dubbed “the Spy Files.” These files are a collection of 287 documents that include information about companies that provide different types of surveillance methods including cell phone forensics, spyware, and Wifi interceptions.
Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange says that for “Over a year or longer, SSL certificates have been penetrated by various organized crime groups and intelligence agencies. The entire SSL system, which is the mechanism that guarantees security and anonymity online, has been compromised. SSL is beyond repair.”
In addition, the ACLU has listed a very detailed account of what they consider illegal domestic spying in America. “The FBI, federal intelligence agencies, the military, state and local police, private companies, and even firemen and emergency medical technicians are gathering incredible amounts of personal information about ordinary Americans that can be used to construct vast dossiers that can be widely shared with a simple mouse-click through new institutions like Joint Terrorism Task Forces, fusion centers, and public-private partnerships. The fear of terrorism has led to a new era of overzealous police intelligence activity directed, as in the past, against political activists, racial and religious minorities, and immigrants.”
Read story@ dfinews
Tags: cell phone spying, eavesdropping, Electronic Countermeasures - Debugging, electronic spying, government spying, hacking, invasion of privacy, Online Security, spying, surveillance
Posted in "Hmm.", cell phone security, eavesdropping, Electronic Countermeasures, Electronic Countermeasures - Debugging, hacking, hard to find security equipment, Mobile Phone Security, Online Security, privacy, Technology, U-Spy Store, U-Spy Surveillance Equipment | No Comments »
Friday, December 30th, 2011
I wrote a story on December 1st titled, “Your Smartphone Is Spying on You.” In that story I talked about the Carrier IQ Software and its ability to track your phone activity, including text messages.
Sprint recently announced it is disabling this software from their phones. Sprint came under fire, along with AT&T and T-Mobile, for using Carrier IQ’s controversial key-logging software. Sprint now says it is “disabling the use” of software from customer’s phones.
“We have weighed customer concerns and we have disabled use of the tool so that diagnostic information and data is no longer being collected,” said Sprint spokeswoman Stephanie Vinge in a statement, “We are further evaluating options regarding this diagnostic software as well as Sprint’s diagnostic needs.”
Carrier IQ, which says its software is used only to help with network diagnostics, has been under fire for several weeks after an independent researcher discovered the software can track the activities of phone users, including text messages.
I am grateful to this researcher for discovering this software and making the public aware of it as well as to those in Congress who are investigating this suspicious software.
The company, whose software is on 141 million cellphones around the country, has said that is not the case, that its software “does not record, store or transmit the contents of SMS (text) messages, email, photographs, audio or video. For example, we understand whether an SMS was sent accurately, but do not record or transmit the content of the SMS. We know which applications are draining your battery, but do not capture the screen.” (more…)
Tags: cell phone, cell phone spying, Electronic Countermeasures - Debugging, invasion of privacy, U-Spy Store, wiretapping
Posted in "Hmm.", cell phone security, Electronic Countermeasures - Debugging, Mobile Phone Security, privacy, Technology, U-Spy Store | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 28th, 2011
Karsten Nohl, head of Berlin-based Security Research Labs and a well-regarded expert on mobile security, will be speaking this week at the Berlin hacking convention. He will be speaking about the security vulnerabilities of GSM phones.
Mobile security is a hot topic given that smartphone sales have now outpaced PC sales. Smartphone malware is exploding at an unprecedented rate as people put more of their valuable information on these devices. Hackers continue to find ways to exploit the security of these devices.
Nohl discovered flaws in a widely used wireless technology that could allow hackers to gain remote control of phones and instruct them to send text messages or make calls. He identified a bug last year in GSM technology that makes calls vulnerable to tapping. He says he is calling attention to these flaws in an effort to pressure the industry into sprucing up the security of their products.
Nohl says hackers could use the vulnerability in the GSM technology to make calls or send texts to expensive, premium phone and messaging services in scams. GSM technology is used by most telecom operators globally and by billions of people.
Previously, security experts have identified a small number of viruses designed to infect smartphones which would allow hackers to take control of the devices and force them to make calls or send text messages. However, Nohl said he has discovered a way to leverage previously disclosed vulnerabilities in GSM technology that could potentially threaten hundreds of thousands of phones.
“We can do it to hundreds of thousands of phones in a short time frame,” Nohl told Reuters ahead of his presentation on the topic at the hacking convention. (more…)
Tags: cell phone, Electronic Countermeasures - Debugging, hacking, Online Security
Posted in cell phone security, Electronic Countermeasures - Debugging, hacking, hard to find security equipment, Mobile Phone Security, Online Security, Technology, U-Spy Store | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 13th, 2011
I think many of us feared this day would come – when the privacy of our cell phone numbers would no longer exist. There is nowhere left to hide from tele-marketers, and you know that is where this is headed.
Congress is considering a bill (H.R. 3035) that would allow “robo-calls” to your cell phone - even if you didn’t give a company permission to contact you at that number.
Consumer groups want Congress to kill the bill as they say it could lead to “nuisance calls.” I am on the side of the consumer groups. Something people may not have considered is the fact that this also makes people more vulnerable to cell phone hacking. I already have surveillance software and firewalls on my computers. Will we now need to install surveillance software on our cell phones to track all the unknown callers - to distinguish between the annoyers and the hackers?
Supporters of the “Mobile Informational Call Act of 2011” include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Air Transport Association, as well as groups that represent bankers, mortgage lenders, college loan programs, and debt collectors.
The proposed legislation does not provide a way to opt-out of this system. Business groups say they have no problem with adding an opt-out provision to the bill. Just what we all have time to do – go online and navigate websites to find out how we can “opt out” of ALL the institutions that will have our cell phone numbers. You know they won’t make it easy.
In a letter to Congress, they claim H.R. 3035 is needed to “modernize” existing law by enacting “limited common-sense revisions to facilitate the delivery of time-sensitive consumer information to mobile devices, while continuing to protect wireless consumers from unwanted telemarketing calls.”
They say robo-calls to cell phones would be used to alert you to food and drug recalls, data breaches, flight delays and appointment cancellations. Interesting, considering there is already a way to receive this information. My pharmacy, bank, credit card company, data monitoring companies, airline, and anyone I make an appointment with already have my cell phone number. If it’s important, I will give you my number, but I am against my number being given to anyone without my consent. (more…)
Tags: cell phone, invasion of privacy
Posted in "Hmm.", cell phone security, hard to find security equipment, Mobile Phone Security, privacy, Technology, U-Spy Store, U-Spy Surveillance Equipment | No Comments »
Monday, December 12th, 2011
In another layer to the spying games of the Murdoch empire and the ever growing bizarre story of the Ex-News of the World paper’s scandal of hacking into the phones of private citizens, another arrest was made.
Glenn Mulcaire, 41, was arrested last week in connection with the News of the World’s phone hacking scandal. The private investigator has previously served time in jail (six months) for hacking phones of royal aides on behalf of the News of the World. Mulcaire was arrested last week on charges of suspicion of conspiring to intercept voice mail messages and perverting the course of justice. He was known to have kept meticulous records of the individuals whose phone messages he had intercepted.
This is the 18th suspect to be detained as part of the police’s investigation into phone hacking carried out by the paper, which Murdoch shut down in July. Thus far, only two people have been jailed for phone hacking — Mulcaire and News of the World reporter Clive Goodman, both in 2007.
An alarming number of 5,795 potential phone-hacking victims have been identified by London police in material collected from Mulcaire.
This latest arrest comes on the heels of the recent discovery about how The News of the World hired a specialist private investigator to run covert surveillance on two of the lawyers representing phone-hacking victims as part of an operation to put pressure on them to stop their work. The company acknowledged last month that for over the past year and a half, The News of the World had hired a private investigator to conduct covert surveillance of two lawyers representing victims of phone hacking. (more…)
Tags: eavesdropping, Electronic Countermeasures - Debugging, invasion of privacy, investigation, phone hacking, spying, surveillance
Posted in "Hmm.", cell phone security, Crime News, Criminal Foolishness, eavesdropping, Electronic Countermeasures - Debugging, hacking, Mobile Phone Security, National News, privacy, U-Spy Store, U-Spy Surveillance Equipment | No Comments »
Thursday, December 1st, 2011
Just yesterday, I told a friend that I am ready to return to using an old-fashioned cell phone because I am uncomfortable with the “behavior” of my new Android smartphone. This story I am sharing on this blog makes me realize I am not so paranoid after all. I took my phone to the store because applications keep adding themselves. I can delete some, but they only return a few days later. There are some applications that I can’t delete – ones that I don’t want on my phone and that put me at risk of my personal information, including my email, being accessed by someone other than me.
The store put an “application killer” on my phone because they agreed there are some weird applications running in the background and they can’t explain why after I delete the ones I can see, they keep returning or why new ones keep adding themselves. They agreed many were unnecessary applications. I have already added countermeasure software to my computers, but now I apparently need to add surveillance software to my phone to try and stay one step ahead of these companies who are gathering my personal information. They are watching me, so I guess I need to watch them watching me!
I didn’t even know how to find many applications that were running in the background. It seems that unless you are a technology expert, you are at the mercy of your phone doing as it pleases. The technician at the phone store told me my phone keeps “freezing up” because there are so many applications running in the background. I have added only four applications to my phone.
By the way, it seems Google has the most control over my Android phone. Ironically, Google and my phone provider are “partners.” Google your name sometime. You may be surprised. I found a picture from my personal computer posted in a “picture gallery.” It was a picture that I NEVER publicly posted to any site. Explain that one Google.
I am constantly receiving “updates,” but when you read the fine print, these updates allow for too many permissions. For example, they want my phone to automatically connect to available Wi-Fi networks. If I want my phone to access wireless networks, I will enable it to do so on my own. I should not be held hostage to not being able to update my phone unless I agree to this provision.
An Android developer recently discovered a clandestine application called Carrier IQ built into most smartphones that doesn’t just track your location; it secretly records your keystrokes, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Is it time to put on a tinfoil hat? That depends on how you feel about privacy. (more…)
Tags: cell phone spying, Electronic Countermeasures - Debugging, hacking, invasion of privacy, Online Security, privacy, spying, surveillance
Posted in "Hmm.", Abuse, busted, cell phone security, Electronic Countermeasures, Electronic Countermeasures - Debugging, GPS Technology, hacking, hard to find security equipment, Mobile Phone Security, Online Security, privacy, Technology, U-Spy Surveillance Equipment | No Comments »
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