Ride the Lightning
Cybersecurity and Future of Law Practice Blog
by Sharon D. Nelson Esq., President of Sensei Enterprises, Inc.
CELL PHONE SPYWARE: A READER ASKS "CAN THEY REALLY DO THAT?"
September 10, 2009
Unfortunately, yes. Cell phone spyware can use satellites to constantly transmit your physical location to the person who is spying on you. It can transmit every e-mail and text message you type. It will allow the person who is spying on you to listen in on all your phone calls. Your stalker can also use the speaker function on the phone to listen in on your conversations – you don’t even have to be on the phone. The phone just has to be close enough to pick up the conversation.
Click here to see the video that prompted the reader’s question.
I asked John to comment about the video – here’s his response:
The short answer is “YES” – this is all possible. The long answer is it depends on a lot of factors. Generally, you need physical access to the phone in order to install the requisite software to do everything in the video. That's another good reason to have your phone PIN protected. As an alternative, you can compromise some phones through Bluetooth. If you're stupid enough to have Bluetooth configured to look for partnerships on a constant basis, you deserve to be compromised (or at least your phone does). If you have a Smartphone, you could get compromised via an e-mail attachment or other file transmission. Still, having the phone physically in hand is the most common method of installation.
You need to look at the capabilities of the phone and the method of "infection." Certain software will only work with specific phone operating systems or models. The #1 rated spy software is FlexiSpy which will work with phones running Symbian, BlackBerry and Windows Mobile operating systems. It's not cheap at $349, but will do all the things shown in the video.
Remember that these are targeted installations for spying. You'll probably find this type of software most often in a divorce situation, where one spouse installs software on the other phone. Jealous loves are a good bet too. How would you prevent this? Keep your phone with you and make sure it is PIN protected at all times.
Privacy is something we once took for granted. Not any more.
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