Wiretapping and how to avoid it

posted Jun 19th 2008 4:20pm by Juan Aguilar
filed under: cellphones hacks, news

No matter who you suspect is plotting your doom, you’ll need need to know the way wiretapping works in order to learn their plans and shield yourself from their surveillance. Luckily, ITSecurity has posted a comprehensive
article about wiretapping, including information on how to wiretap and how to find out if someone is wiretapping you.

One of the more intriguing methods of wiretapping the articles discusses is a service by a company called FlexiSPY. It works by covertly installing a program onto the target’s cellphone. Once installed, the spying party can listen to anything going on in the room the target is in by calling the phone. It won’t ring, vibrate, or give any indication that it is transmitting audio data.

Some of the more hack-oriented methods involve tapping into a landline, using special software to record VoIP calls, or buying a wiretapping kit. Of course, countermeasures, are also discussed, but some of the links they provide are a little more informative on the topic of defense against wiretapping.

Read

Comments [6]

Reader Comments

As a phone technician, I have to agree. It’s SOOO easy to spy on any landline when you have the will to do it. (And in my case, when I have all the tools to do it easily)

This article was interesting for me though since I didn’t no it could be done so easily with cell phones !

Thanks Hack’A'Day !

Posted at 5:02 pm on Jun 19th, 2008 by DigitalMind

When a call is being made on a cell phone for more than a short period of time, the phone gets warm. If a tapped cell phone is continually transmitting audio data, wouldn’t it get warm / have its battery inexplicably die faster than usual? I suppose the tapping software could try and cover this up by making the phone look like it is in an area with no coverage, and is continually seeking reception.

Posted at 6:54 pm on Jun 19th, 2008 by D.G.

they do get warm, but only us geeks would even notice this, and the battery life thing would also be nearly unnoticed by the victim, unless they were tech savvy, which could be the case, but is somewhat unlikely.

Posted at 1:23 am on Jun 20th, 2008 by ignition

I have to be honest, I don’t think the FlexiSpy thing is all that interesting. My wife’s phone calls me on a regular basis from her purse or car simple because she bumps it. I can’t ever make out what anyone’s saying or even tell who is in the room with her, even when I know she’s probably at work or home. Cell phone pickup just isn’t that good for background noises, and most of them are designed to screen it out.

Posted at 12:46 pm on Jun 20th, 2008 by Todd Grigsby

I think I’d be able to tell if my cell was transmitting, I keep leaving it by the speakers on my computer. Load buzzing noises when it connects to the network, and they get louder still when it’s sending and receiving.

Posted at 5:51 pm on Jun 20th, 2008 by Coyotecom

This article ignores the fact that a sensitive inductive probe can be used to listen to a standard telephone pair with no splicing.There is also no reason that the resulting audio couldn’t be transmitted by other means.

Posted at 4:34 am on Jun 22nd, 2008 by weregeek