Remotely switched on, cellphones can spy on you
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Tapping cellphones may become a new criminal surveillance for the FBI. CNet has a write-up on how it was done.
“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.”
“Nextel and Samsung handsets and the Motorola Razr are especially vulnerable to software downloads that activate their microphones, said James Atkinson, a counter-surveillance consultant who has worked closely with government agencies.”
In recent news, we saw Switzerland tolerating VoIP telephony monitoring, based on quite the same technique. People incidentally download Trojan horses softwares, which could be activated remotely. And for commercial reasons, Google is elaborating a way to turn on laptop microphone to listen to users’ immediate surroundings to increase relevancy of its ads. Either way, microphones might become the spy you wouldn’t want.
Dec 2, 2006 | By Nuno
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[…] If you questioned it before, CNET’s article [via 21Talks] on how the FBI used a remotely- switched on cell phone microphone to listen to conversations “surrounding” a US gangster should make you think otherwise. And US District Judge Lewis Kaplan defended this use because of the broadness of the federal wiretapping law. […]