Disable a Cell Phone. Cell phones are every where; no matter where you look everyone has one. It is really no wonder that cell phones are now quickly becoming a chosen weapon used to spy on people, block communications or just flat out annoy people beyond all reason. A new product that caught my eye in the realm of spy technology is one that you'll think is mighty important if you too are among the millions that own a cell phone. It is called a Frequency Blocking Bag and is manufactured by Tayx Ltd , a China based company. This is a good, inexpensive tool for people who need to disable cell phones in order to obtain the full attention and cooperation of their intended target... for instance, a spy or covert operative of some sort.
Then again, I am sure hundreds of not so covert uses will surface shortly as it usually happens when something like this emerges for the public to buy. At around $5, you can own this small layered bag that can make any cell phone a useless piece of junk. Some Facts About Carrier IQ. There has been a rolling scandal about the Carrier IQ software installed by cell phone companies on 150 million phones, mostly within the United States.
Subjects of outright disagreement have included the nature of the program, what information it actually collects, and under what circumstances. This post will attempt to explain Carrier IQ's architecture, and why apparently conflicting statements about it are in some instances simultaneously correct. The information in this post has been synthesised from sources including Trevor Eckhart, Ashkan Soltani, Dan Rosenberg, and Carrier IQ itself. First, when people talk about "Carrier IQ," they can be referring to several different things. For clarity, I will give them each a number. There is consensus agreement that layers 2–4 collect information that can include location, browsing history (including HTTPS URLs), application use, battery use, and data about the phone's radio activity.
Google chairman calls Carrier IQ a ‘keylogger’ Culture Connoisseur Badge Culture Connoisseurs consistently offer thought-provoking, timely comments on the arts, lifestyle and entertainment. More about badges | Request a badge Washingtologist Badge Washingtologists consistently post thought-provoking, timely comments on events, communities, and trends in the Washington area. Post Writer Badge This commenter is a Washington Post editor, reporter or producer. Post Contributor Badge This commenter is a Washington Post contributor. Post Recommended Washington Post reporters or editors recommend this comment or reader post. You must be logged in to report a comment. You must be logged in to recommend a comment. PR.20111212.pdf (application/pdf Object) Carrier IQ: We’ve never provided info to the FBI.
Culture Connoisseur Badge Culture Connoisseurs consistently offer thought-provoking, timely comments on the arts, lifestyle and entertainment. More about badges | Request a badge Washingtologist Badge Washingtologists consistently post thought-provoking, timely comments on events, communities, and trends in the Washington area. Post Writer Badge This commenter is a Washington Post editor, reporter or producer. Post Contributor Badge This commenter is a Washington Post contributor. Post Recommended Washington Post reporters or editors recommend this comment or reader post. You must be logged in to report a comment. You must be logged in to recommend a comment. Carrier IQ Says Bug Can Cause Some SMS to Be Recorded in Coded Form. Dear Carrier IQ: If you want to track me, you need to ask me first. Last week, a bit of an uproar began online when a clever Android developer named Trevor Eckhart discovered something shocking on his phone.
While watching the data logs on his handset, he discovered that a piece of software was keeping track of nearly every move he made on the HTC smartphone (an EVO 3D, in case you’re sweating right now). The software, created by a company called Carrier IQ, was able to see who he had called and when, to whom he had sent text messages, Web sites he’d visited and more. Needless to say, the public reaction to the revelation was intense. Here was a device that you likely use intimately. Your phone is always with you. Some of us even sleep with the things underneath our pillows. The smartphone is not just an accessory — it’s a lifeline. Now, it’s not so much the tracking that’s the problem. The real problem is that it’s been kept secret. Second, and more important, you don’t have any oversight in regard to who can see the data. Ask politely first. Police Using Apple iOS Tracking Data For Forensics. Legal spying via the cell phone system | InSecurity Complex.
Two researchers say they have found a way to exploit weaknesses in the mobile telecom system to legally spy on people by figuring out the private cell phone number of anyone they want, tracking their whereabouts, and listening to their voice mail. Independent security researcher Nick DePetrillo and Don Bailey, a security consultant with iSec Partners, planned to provide details in a talk entitled "We Found Carmen San Diego" at the Source Boston security conference on Wednesday. "There are a lot of fragile eggs in the telecom industry and they can be broken," Bailey said in an interview with CNET. "We assume the telecom industry protects our privacy. But we've been able to crack the eggs and piece them together. " The first part of the operation involves getting a target's cell phone number from a public database that links names to numbers for caller ID purposes.
"We log that information and associate it with a phone number in a (caller ID) database," DePetrillo said. 26C3: GSM: SRSLY? 26th Chaos Communication Congress Here be dragons The worlds most popular radio system has over 3 billion handsets in 212 countries and not even strong encryption. Perhaps due to cold-war era laws, GSM's security hasn't received the scrutiny it deserves given its popularity. This bothered us enough to take a look; the results were surprising. From the total lack of network to handset authentication, to the "Of course I'll give you my IMSI" message, to the iPhone that really wanted to talk to us. Cloning, spoofing, man-in-the-middle, decrypting, sniffing, crashing, DoS'ing, or just plain having fun. Microsoft May Add Eavesdropping To Skype. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published a Microsoft patent application that reaches back to December 2009 and describes “recording agents” to legally intercept VoIP phone calls.
The “ Legal Intercept ” patent application is one of Microsoft’s more elaborate and detailed patent papers, which is comprehensive enough to make you think twice about the use of VoIP audio and video communications. The document provides Microsoft’s idea about the nature, positioning and feature set of recording agents that silently record the communication between two or more parties. The patent was filed well before Microsoft’s acquisition of Skype and there is no reason to believe that the patent was filed with Skype as a Microsoft property in mind. However, the patent mentions Skype explicitly as an example application for this technology and Microsoft may now have to answer questions in which way this patent applies to its new Skype entity and if the technology will become part of Skype. NDSS12_WOODPECKER.pdf (application/pdf Object) Researchers Say Carrier IQ Not Logging Texts or Emails, But Has Some Worrisome Capabilities. Carrier IQ and Facebook pose the least of your privacy threats | Internet privacy.
There's plenty of rightful indignation over the revelation that AT&T and Sprint have installed monitoring apps (purportedly to detect network and performance issues) on the millions of cellphones and smartphones they sell, using software from a company called Carrier IQ. But technologies such as Carrier IQ, GM's continued tracking of OnStar customers who had cancelled service, and the tracking software used by some malls over the Thanksgiving holidays are relatively benign compared to what people are not talking about: software and devices that not only monitor individuals but feed that data to insurers and others who could use it to determine rates, deny coverage, and otherwise control people's behavior.
This year has seen much teeth-gnashing over anonymized tracking tools such as Carrier IQ, the capture of smartphone location information, and the mall-tracking devices. Despite the uproar, these technologies don't invade individual privacy because they don't know who the person is. Researchers find big leaks in pre-installed Android apps. Your Android Phone Is Secretly Recording Everything You Do. CarrierIQ | Android Security Test. This information is written to the best of my knowledge using publicly available resources. No security was bypassed to obtain anything marked confidential, and Carrier IQ made no effort to protect said documents.You can take the Carrier IQ training yourself here – have made a mirror of all materials referenced here for download for the sole purpose of allowing others to understand and verify my security research on Carrier IQ. – Carrier IQ (CIQ) sells rootkit software included on many US handsets sold on Sprint, Verizon and more.
Devices supported include android phones, Blackberries, Nokias, Tablet devices and more. From carrieriq.com: Carrier IQ is the market leader in Mobile Service Intelligence solutions that have revolutionized the way mobile operators and device vendors gather and manage information from end users. Great! AL36: data length. The Rootkit Of All Evil – CIQ. And the spy and invasion of privacy saga continues, but this time XDA Recognized Developer TrevE seems to have hit the very core of most of what is happening with devices. You may recall from a few articles back that we started talking about something called CIQ or Carrier iQ. This is, essentially, a piece of software that is embedded into most mobile devices, not just Android but Nokia, Blackberry, and likely many more.
According to TrevE, the software is installed as a rootkit software in the RAM of devices where it resides. This software basically is completely hidden from view and in it virtually invisible, and worst of all, rather complicated to kill (some devices more so than others and you will see why in a few minutes). This is given root like rights over the device, which means that it can do everything it pleases and you will have nothing to say about it. Why do we go into this? And here is what CIQ actually looks like both in Samsung and HTC devices respectively Want more? Carrier IQ retracts cease and desist letter sent to security researcher, says it doesn't track Android users.
Mobile ‘Rootkit’ Maker Tries to Silence Critical Android Dev | Threat Level. A data-logging software company is seeking to squash an Android developer’s critical research into its software that is secretly installed on millions of phones, but Trevor Eckhart is refusing to publicly apologize for his research and remove the company’s training manuals from his website. Though the software is installed on millions of Android, BlackBerry and Nokia phones, Carrier IQ was virtually unknown until the 25-year-old Eckhart analyzed its workings, recently revealing that the software secretly chronicles a user’s phone experience, from its apps, battery life and texts.
Some carriers prevent users who actually find the software from controlling what information is sent. Eckhart called the software a “rootkit,” a security term that refers to software installed at a low-level on a device, without a user’s consent or knowledge in order to secretly intercept the device’s workings. Malware such as keyloggers and trojans are two examples. “We’re not looking at texts. Malls track shoppers' cell phones on Black Friday - Nov. 22.
Through this signage at Promenade Temecula, the mall is notifying shoppers that their phones may be tracked as they move throughout the premises. NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Attention holiday shoppers: your cell phone may be tracked this year. Starting on Black Friday and running through New Year's Day, two U.S. malls -- Promenade Temecula in southern California and Short Pump Town Center in Richmond, Va. -- will track guests' movements by monitoring the signals from their cell phones. While the data that's collected is anonymous, it can follow shoppers' paths from store to store. The goal is for stores to answer questions like: How many Nordstrom shoppers also stop at Starbucks? While U.S. malls have long tracked how crowds move throughout their stores, this is the first time they've used cell phones. But obtaining that information comes with privacy concerns. The management company of both malls, Forest City Commercial Management, says personal data is not being tracked.