Opinions wanted: can you remotely activate phone microphones and record?

33

Mahatma coat wrote: »

I didnt have to give any name or address when I bought my new Sim, just walked into the Shop, said "gimme an 087 SIM" Shoved it in the phone and charged it up.

whats teh Story with givin them names and addresses??????

No you just buy any sim, if you want to avail of the free credit register it as whatever name enters your head either in the shop or on the net and you get your free credit.

It can be awkward when you lose your sim to get another, I got a few, I went in to get the first replacement and I was asked my name, I just said to the fella, listen I registered it to a bogey name and dont know what name I gave, he was understanding and replaced my sim.

So then I went onto the website and went to my page linked to my number and changed my details from letsbe avenue, to a more realistic address.

So when I lose it I have all my details sorted name/DOB/address and a new sim comes my way with a smile.

Moriarty

brianhere wrote: »

The international GSM standard, for example, allows anybody who wants to to access your phone remotely by intercepting GSM command messages that your phone transmits to the cell tower. That includes being able to turn it on remotely and turning on the sound etc. Anybody can do it who has access to these secret codes, you don't need to installl anything on the target device.

Can you show me where exactly in the GSM standard this is?

brianhere

I don't know the exact codes myself, as I say you have to be practical here, this information is obviously classified, meaning they keep that a secret! Incidentally there are a few interesting details here: http://cryptome.org/gsm-spy.htm . I thought this was an interesting quote too:

"Security researcher Ross Anderson reported in 1994 that "there was a terrific row between the NATO signal intelligence agencies in the mid 1980s over whether GSM encryption should be strong or not. The Germans said it should be, as they shared a long border with the Warsaw Pact; but the other countries didn't feel this way, and the algorithm as now fielded is a French design."[2]"
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A5/1 )

So the intelligence agencies were involved in the beginning when GSM was setup, you can be sure then that they installed their own backdoors into it.

brianhere

Just thought I'd add a point too about getting anonymity from using SIM cards without registering your real address. Don't forget that all that assumes that the Powers that be don't have voice signature recognition running, meaning that they can tell who is on the call from an analysis of their voice. Certainly you can be sure that the big intelligence agencies have all of that capability hence the anonymous SIM cards are no use...

33

brianhere wrote: »

Just thought I'd add a point too about getting anonymity from using SIM cards without registering your real address. Don't forget that all that assumes that the Powers that be don't have voice signature recognition running, meaning that they can tell who is on the call from an analysis of their voice. Certainly you can be sure that the big intelligence agencies have all of that capability hence the anonymous SIM cards are no use...

There's a work-around for voice recognition technology, you simply have to accuire a realistic Limerick accent, they (the powers that be) reckon it will be another 100 years until the technology is up to it, if ever.:D

Be like Nutella

Cheers Brianhere.. nice work... good point about the original decision process Vis a Vis the type and level of encryption incorporated in the original GSM launch... extremely interesting... supports the general opinion that the whole concept is doable (and probably done in my opinion at this stage after listening to the excellent points made here) I think if you simply read the EU report on Echelon carried out with help from our very own Desmond OMalley you'll be left jaw open... as boring as an EU report mostly is to read.

Treora

33 wrote: »

There's a work-around for voice recognition technology, you simply have to accuire a realistic Limerick accent, they (the powers that be) reckon it will be another 100 years until the technology is up to it, if ever.:D

It's actually Donegal accents that voice recognition systems can't handle. No joke.

seanybiker

Auto answer and away we go.

Moriarty

brianhere wrote: »

I don't know the exact codes myself, as I say you have to be practical here, this information is obviously classified, meaning they keep that a secret! Incidentally there are a few interesting details here: http://cryptome.org/gsm-spy.htm . I thought this was an interesting quote too:


So the intelligence agencies were involved in the beginning when GSM was setup, you can be sure then that they installed their own backdoors into it.

In fairness, you made very specific claims in your previous post ..

brianhere wrote:

anyone who wants to to access your phone remotely by intercepting GSM command messages that your phone transmits to the cell tower. That includes being able to turn it on remotely and turning on the sound etc

I'm just making the point that it's not - more specifically hasn't been historically - easy to do this sort of thing, certainly not to the extent that some are making out here.

There would also be little point in european security forces specifically crippling encryption on GSM when they have complete access to all call data via Lawful Intercept services and agreements which have been in existance for decades..

brianhere

I think I was saying that you could find out about it in the Orwellian Ireland book (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Orwellian-Ireland-Brian-Nugent/dp/0955681200/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1304095994&sr=1-2) ? From which, via a book on US intelligence operations in Columbia,:

"There was another nifty secret feature to Centra Spike's capability. So long as their target left the battery in his cell phone, Centra Spike could remotely turn it on whenever they wished. Without triggering the phone's light or beeper, the phone could be activated so that it emitted a low-intensity signal, enough for the unit to get a fix on its general location. They would activate the phone briefly when their target was most likely sleeping, then move the plane into position to monitor any calls he might make when he awoke."

From the BBC:

"But today's spies are also able to convert conventional phones into bugs without the owners' knowledge.
...
Mobiles communicate with their base station on a frequency separate from the one used for talking. If you have details of the frequencies and encryption codes being used you can listen in to what is being said in the immediate vicinity of any phone in the network.
According to some reports, intelligence services do not even need to obtain permission from the networks to get their hands on the codes.
So provided it is switched on, a mobile sitting on the desk of a politician or businessman can act as a powerful, undetectable bug."

So going by the BBC, at any rate, we know it is done through these protocols used by GSM but I cannot tell you what the precise codes are, which obviously are classified military/intelligence secrets.

No doubt they do those lawful intercepts too, but it is even more convenient for them to tap you without going through the telephone companies at all. And besides if we are talking about US and UK intelligence operating in Ireland, it might be especially inconvenient for them to go through 'the proper channels'!