Snowden - your smartphone is spying on you

lost69 on 10/10/2015 - 07:49

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-34444233

"Dreamy Smurf is the power management tool which means turning your phone on and off with you knowing," he said.

"Nosey Smurf is the 'hot mic' tool. For example if it's in your pocket, [GCHQ] can turn the microphone on and listen to everything that's going on around you - even if your phone is switched off because they've got the other tools for turning it on.

"Tracker Smurf is a geo-location tool which allows [GCHQ] to follow you with a greater precision than you would get from the typical triangulation of cellphone towers."

Once GCHQ had gained access to a user's handset, Mr Snowden said the agency would be able to see "who you call, what you've texted, the things you've browsed, the list of your contacts, the places you've been, the wireless networks that your phone is associated with.

"And they can do much more. They can photograph you".

Mr Snowden also explained that the SMS message sent by the agency to gain access to the phone would pass unnoticed by the handset's owner.
"It's called an 'exploit'," he said. "That's a specially crafted message that's texted to your number like any other text message but when it arrives at your phone it's hidden from you. It doesn't display. You paid for it [the phone] but whoever controls the software owns the phone."

Told you so! Pats flip phone

Mobile

Comments

  • subywagon on 10/10/2015 - 08:15
    +5

    That's why I only use telegraphs these days.

    • scotty on 10/10/2015 - 10:10
      +3

      That's why I only use my trusty fleet of pigeons these days. Oh wait, what's this "NSA" acronym engraved on one's beak…

    • tyler.durden on 10/10/2015 - 11:05

      How about these?

      they are quite reliable and well tested

      https://goo.gl/tXh3Sk

    • tyler.durden on 10/10/2015 - 11:08

      NSA don't need to do much spying

      All they need to do is to visit people's instagram, facebook, twitter, blog etc..

      • Baysew on 10/10/2015 - 11:10

        …OZBargain posts

    • QuickToThePointless on 10/10/2015 - 11:17

      Tin cans and string for me.

      That way, if you see an extra string running at a tangent, you know you are being tapped and can proceed to use secret sign language as you already have line of sight

  • iridiumstem on 10/10/2015 - 08:18
    -4

    …Hmmm, I am seriously curious whether you are a luddite or an Apple fan boy. If you are truly worried about those, you wouldn't be accessing the internet or even have a desktop. There is a possibility that Intel may have included security loopholes in their CPUs (looking at how Intel had security loopholes in their device for 16 years), which to me suggests that it's possible that all CPUs have security loopholes. Russia and other countries are trying to move away from Windows at the very least, in fears of security loopholes. Some Chinese products like clothing iron, have been found with hidden chips (http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-24707337) as well, so yeah.

    There was a juicy incident that you could've brought up about iOS (XcodeGhost) as well, which is seriously making me question your motives behind posting security issues relating to Android and Android only.

    If you are truly worried about the government spying on you, the chances are, they will be able to spy on you no matter what you do, unless you seclude yourself from the society and technology in general. GPS is a no go, because it's originated from US military. GLONASS is Russian military based, so that's no go as well. You wouldn't carry around your phone, because they can track you down with it easily. It's easy to plant bugs at someone's house, workplace, car, so on and so forth. Do you think the governments seriously didn't do that kind of thing before smartphone? What makes you trust your flip phone that much? How can you be certain that it's impenetrable by the government?

    • lost69 on 10/10/2015 - 09:39
      +1

      Huge difference between a desktop and phone you carry 24/7 that is always watching and listening. The internet is easily selective, a lot of people have their whole lives on these pathetic phones. As for Apple all Iphones have a built in back door. Good luck using one. You have a smartphone, its equivalent to a chip embedded in you.

      • iridiumstem on 10/10/2015 - 10:03

        And you think they cannot do that with your "dumb phone"? If the governments want to listen in or track you, they can and they will. What? They couldn't do that kind of thing before smartphones were a thing? They can easily eavesdrop on your calls, if they desire. They could easily track you as long as you have a phone on you using the towers.

        • lost69 on 10/10/2015 - 10:13

          No GPS, no maps, no bluetooth, fuzzy excuse for a camera, no mic, speaker barely average. Compared to a smartphone, cameras front and back, pin-point GPS, bluetooth, NFC, WiFi, logged into a cloud account, on top of basic cell towers. Huge difference.

        • iridiumstem on 10/10/2015 - 10:23

          @lost69: As I said before, if they want to spy on you, they can and they will. I don't disagree with the idea of smartphones being a possible security loophole. That said, having a "dumb phone" is somehow safe?

          They can easily eavesdrop on you, they can easily track you. I agree that the camera wise, you'd be having worse camera, worse resolution. That said, I think I got the eavesdropping part and tracking part ticked on the dumb phone. Besides, I am more than certain that if the government wants to spy on you, they'd do more than just use your phone.

          You should get off your desktop, they might be spying on you using it.

        • nismo on 11/10/2015 - 11:10
          +4

          @lost69:

          no mic

          Really? A phone without a mic?

          How does one talk to the person on the other end?

        • nearbyghost on 12/10/2015 - 07:09
          +1

          @nismo:
          Don't let that get in the way of a tin foil hat argument ;)

        • lost69 on 12/10/2015 - 16:14

          @nismo:

          No additional mic beyond the basic speaker.

    • altomic on 10/10/2015 - 09:45
      +3

      Neg for misuse of the term "Luddite"

    • Diji1 on 10/10/2015 - 17:08
      +1

      GPS is a no go, because it's originated from US military.

      Simple GPS devices do not transmit anything at all so the operator of the GPS has no idea if you are using it or not.

      GLONASS is Russian military based, so that's no go as well.

      Ditto

      Do you think the governments seriously didn't do that kind of thing before smartphone?

      No they did not. The Australian Government hasn't started surveilling every Australian citizen metadata. That starts October 13th, a few days from now as I understand it.

      Frankly it's attitudes like yours that allowed the legislation to pass in the first place because apparently you are clueless enough about the situation to think that the surveillance already existed.

      • iridiumstem on 10/10/2015 - 18:22

        I think you and I are in slightly different path, when I said "that kind of thing", I was talking about spying on individuals. OP's posts are all about how smartphones are root of all security loopholes and how using dumb phones are the way to go, I was simply criticising that. Spying on individuals were possible before smartphones were there. I was not talking about mass surveilance nor was I hinting it.

        I don't deny that smartphones can be a security loophole, that said, positioning it as the sole loophole that can easily be fought with "dumb phones"? I think that's just ignoring how capable the government can be in terms of surveilance. That's why I've listed things that government can abuse.

        If you want to go into legistration stuff, 1. I would be against it (though my intention has no effects whatsoever for now, I have no rights to vote for now) 2. that said, I am not dumb enough to believe that fighting for that would somehow give me complete immunity from governments. As the saying goes, it's not illegal unless you get caught and many secret services are more than likely to be following that principle.

  • nismo on 10/10/2015 - 09:12
    +2

    This whole discussion reminds me of Enemy of the State
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120660/

    Good and interesting movie. Especially Gene Hackman's character "Brill"

  • StewBalls on 10/10/2015 - 09:52
    +7

    You are being watched. The government has a secret system, a machine that spies on you every hour of every day. I know because I built it.

  • garetz on 10/10/2015 - 09:55

    Why do you think you can no longer take out the battery of new gen phones these days ? cause they need power 24/7 to make use of them.

  • t_c on 10/10/2015 - 10:09
    +14

    I can only wish my life was so exciting that someone would actually want to spy on me. :S

    • indium on 10/10/2015 - 10:58
      +2

      Nice bluff :P

    • SlickMick on 11/10/2015 - 22:54

      I don't think anyone would be getting paid to spy on me. Should I drop a word here and see how long it takes for my door to get kicked down?

  • aim54x on 10/10/2015 - 10:38

    Maybe it is time to drop some more choice keywords…..

  • ItsMeAgro on 10/10/2015 - 11:38
    +1

    The first politician to even claim he/she will stop this useless warrantless wiretapping BS has my vote.

    • StewBalls on 10/10/2015 - 12:06
      +6

      Sorry, they're just far too busy with important life & death issues like gay marriage to deal with trivial issues like information security & privacy.

    • macrocephalic on 12/10/2015 - 10:37
      +3

      You'll be voting Greens then.

  • nocure on 10/10/2015 - 11:44

    Edit

    • DeafMutePretender on 11/10/2015 - 01:01
      +6

      The Government already recorded your original unedited message into their database.

      • nocure on 11/10/2015 - 08:10

        I had second thoughts but I'm sure they will enjoy my sarcasm.

  • [Deactivated] on 10/10/2015 - 17:21

    Anyone have deals on tinfoil?

    Need to make some hats.

    • DeafMutePretender on 11/10/2015 - 01:03
      +8

      It's not tinfoil hat-wearing season anymore. The time for wearing tinfoil hats was the pre-Snowden era.

      • Baysew on 12/10/2015 - 19:53

        It's Magpie season now, isn't it ?

  • gummibear on 10/10/2015 - 17:23

    The drug dealers have been getting into Nokia 8210's for this reason
    http://www.businessinsider.com.au/drug-dealers-are-buying-no…

  • DeafMutePretender on 11/10/2015 - 01:05

    It would appear that smartphones are too convenient and useful for spying to be a disadvantage significant enough to give up on said device.

  • Gershom on 11/10/2015 - 09:09

    Good luck to them if they try to spy on me. They'll get bored to death.

  • Bunnyburger on 11/10/2015 - 19:41
    +2

    I cringe when I hear people to say "nothing to hide nothing to fear". I swear everyone has a friend like that.

    • DeafMutePretender on 11/10/2015 - 23:28
      +1

      It's funny when two-faced Governments say to their citizens "nothing to hide nothing to fear" while at the same time engaging in media censorship.

    • macrocephalic on 12/10/2015 - 10:38
      +3

      Ask them if they want a security camera installed in their toilet.

      • Bunnyburger on 12/10/2015 - 14:57

        Hahaha I don't wanna ruin the friendship!

  • Peace Maker on 12/10/2015 - 02:30

    And while we debate this the private sector and tech companies collect vast amounts of our personal data to exploit for commercial use and hardly anyone says a thing. We have no idea what they are doing with it and giving it to in many cases. To make it worse they often get hacked and it ends up on pastebin.

    At least the govt is collecting/using the information under a system of checks and balances and legislation for crime rather than to make a profit. If it turns out they aren't, at least we as citizens have some recourse unlike with the private companies.

    • [Deactivated] on 12/10/2015 - 07:16

      The difference is with private companies we (usually) have a choice of what, if at all, we share. We don't have that choice with compulsory government mass collection.

      Our government's networks are breached and leak all the time, exposing sensitive information - we just rarely hear about it. They aren't necessarily any more secure than private companies. Just look at the US this year, the IRS' 330,000 taxpayer file breach paled in comparison to the US Office of Personnel Management's 4.2-million-that-blew-out-to-be-over-22-million people's confidential health, finance, criminal and biometric records breach.

      Private companies are also more accountable. For government systems, the system of checks and balances are often found lacking and there is little repercussion for mismanagement and mistakes.

      There really needs to be severe and enforced penalties for any organisation that fails to protect sensitive information entrusted to them - maybe then they'll take that responsibility seriously and carefully choose what information they store and how.

      • Peace Maker on 12/10/2015 - 14:20

        The difference is with private companies we (usually) have a choice of what, if at all, we share

        But the T&C's are intentionally vague and they exploit the unwillingness of users to dig deeper. There doesn't seem to be much conversation about this. The Android marshmallow update seems to address this (if only in a minor way) by letter you toggle the various permissions on and off.

        Private companies are also more accountable

        In what way?

        There really needs to be severe and enforced penalties for any organisation that fails to protect sensitive information entrusted to them

        I agree. This is the whole issue.

  • T1OOO on 12/10/2015 - 03:26

    Well I guess if they have been spying on me for the last 10 years and all the sexy sites I visit I can claim they condone it.

    Cheers!

  • asianbargain on 12/10/2015 - 07:30

    Porn ifunny and clash of clan

    Good luck spying

    P.s please don steal my clAsh account .. I almost max

  • bargainslut on 12/10/2015 - 10:00
    +2

    Most people are conditioned so therefore wont care much or at all regarding this article.

  • uiriamu on 12/10/2015 - 10:27
    -6

    Don't even care if they spy, if they catch more criminals this way I"m all for it. Screw snowden that guy is an attention whore

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