http://money.cnn.com/2014/06/06/technology/security/nsa-turn-on-phone/
> How the NSA can 'turn on' your phone remotely > Even if you power off your cell phone, the U.S. government can turn it back > on. > > That's what ex-spy Edward Snowden revealed in last week's interview with > NBC's Brian Williams. It sounds like sorcery. Can someone truly bring your > phone back to life without touching it? > > No. But government spies can get your phone to play dead. > > It's a crafty hack. You press the button. The device buzzes. You see the > usual power-off animation. The screen goes black. But it'll secretly stay on > -- microphone listening and camera recording. > > How did they get into your phone in the first place? Here's an explanation by > former members of the CIA, Navy SEALs and consultants to the U.S. military's > cyber warfare team. They've seen it firsthand. > > Related: Google testing super-secure email > > Government spies can set up their own miniature cell network tower. Your > phone automatically connects to it. Now, that tower's radio waves send a > command to your phone's antennae: the baseband chip. That tells your phone to > fake any shutdown and stay on. > > A smart hack won't keep your phone running at 100%, though. Spies could keep > your phone on standby and just use the microphone -- or send pings announcing > your location. > > John Pirc, who did cybersecurity research at the CIA, said these methods -- > and others, like physically bugging devices -- let the U.S. hijack and > reawaken terrorists' phones. > > Related: Cybersecurity: How safe are you? > > "The only way you can tell is if your phone feels warm when it's turned off. > That means the baseband processor is still running," said Pirc, now chief > technology officer of the NSS Labs security research firm. -- Kim Holburn IT Network & Security Consultant T: +61 2 61402408 M: +61 404072753 mailto:[email protected] aim://kimholburn skype://kholburn - PGP Public Key on request _______________________________________________ Link mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link
