I post whatever random things that just so happens to catch my attention for more then a fleeting moment.

8th September 2012

Link reblogged from CRIMINAL WISDOM with 383 notes

LEAVE YOUR CELLPHONE AT HOME →

criminalwisdom:

n+1 interviews Jacob Appelbaum, the driving force behind Tor and Wikileaks:

Appelbaum: Cell phones are tracking devices that make phone calls. It’s sad, but it’s true. Which means software solutions don’t always matter. You can have a secure set of tools on your phone, but it doesn’t change the fact that your phone tracks everywhere you go. And the police can potentially push updates onto your phone that backdoor it and allow it to be turned into a microphone remotely, and do other stuff like that. The police can identify everybody at a protest by bringing in a device called an IMSI catcher. It’s a fake cell phone tower that can be built for 1500 bucks. And once nearby, everybody’s cell phones will automatically jump onto the tower, and if the phone’s unique identifier is exposed, all the police have to do is go to the phone company and ask for their information.

Resnick: So phones are tracking devices. They can also be used for surreptitious recording. Would taking the battery out disable this capability?

Appelbaum: Maybe. But iPhones, for instance, don’t have a removable battery; they power off via the power button. So if I wrote a backdoor for the iPhone, it would play an animation that looked just like a black screen. And then when you pressed the button to turn it back on it would pretend to boot. Just play two videos.

Resnick: And how easy is it to create something like to that?

Appelbaum: There are weaponized toolkits sold by companies like FinFisher that enable breaking into BlackBerries, Android phones, iPhones, Symbian devices and other platforms. And with a single click, say, the police can own a person, and take over her phone.

A must read.

  1. inexplicablebehaviour reblogged this from nenna4
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  4. mostlyjudson reblogged this from valerie-evelyn and added:
    So the companies that maintain our data have no constitutional standing to protect that data from the Government, but we...
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    Feeding my paranoia is a dangerous thing :(
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  22. hiddenawayrhms reblogged this from michaelisbored and added:
    This is something interesting that you HAVE to read. It’s quite interesting to see what exactly can be done to your...
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