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Let's say you're a journalist meeting with a source. Let's say a certain three letter agency would like to listen to that conversation in real-time if they cou
by imron 10y ago
Let's say you're a journalist meeting with a source.
Let's say a certain three letter agency would like to listen to that conversation in real-time if they could.
Let's say the journalist thinks that by setting his phone to flight mode, the radio is off and he can't be maliciously tracked.
Let's say the three letter agency has various means to connect and listen in on phones in real time if it chooses.
This new smartphone case would then be able to confirm to the journalist that the phone is not sending/receiving radio signals.
Now, that might sound like a far-fetched scenario, but bear in mind that Snowden asked reporters meeting with him to put their phones in his fridge to prevent exactly that scenario from playing out.
It is therefore not surprising that he might play a part in developing a case like this.
- slg 10y agoThe next logical question is why is this case better than putting their phones in the fridge?
- Quequau 10y agoBecause you can't take the fridge with you on a false trail, place the phone inside at some point before deviating to the true meeting point, and then pull it back out again once the meeting has been completed and sufficient distance has been traveled. Even some sort of electromagnetic shielding case or bag wouldn't be as convenient (so more likely to be used) or informative.
- Gracana 10y agoThe introspection/detection part. That's the only part, actually. It doesn't stop the signals by itself.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- Kenji 10y agoYeah. Or have a little metal case with you into which you put your device. Or buy a roll of aluminum foil and just wrap the phone inside it (just spelling this out makes me feel like a conspiracy theory nutter). So many cheap options...
- chakalakasp 10y agoThere are fairly cheap little faraday cage forensic bags that LEOs often purchase in bulk. Power off phone, slip phone in, it's not transmitting any more.
- DigitalJack 10y agoUsing this thing, you will know that you've been compromised if a transmission occurs. Fridge won't tell you that. Knowing you are compromised, you could prepare disinformation to throw off, embarrass or otherwise humiliate an adversary.
- tablehampton 10y agoSo we assume that an adversary has dropped some malware that can silently enable the radio, activate the microphone, encode the audio stream and transmit it in real-time - and they want to avoid detection by this case. Well, all they need to do is modify the malware to record the audio to a file and transmit it when the radio is next switched on, perhaps interleaving it with normal radio activity. As a malware detector, this case is useless.
- toyg 10y agoThey would have to know the exact meeting time and would use space on the device, which could be noticed. This case is not a silver bullet, but it's a useful tool.
- tablehampton 10y agoOr they could record to file only when the radio is off, and transmit directly without recording when it is on.
- ddt_Osprey 10y agoNot useless. Just less useful. It pushes the capacity for your adversary to operate into (slightly) slimmer confines, which is a marginal improvement. Otherwise, your adversary can behave in an unrestrained manner. No?
- chakalakasp 10y agoI guess. For the kinds of clients who would want this device, this would just be like making it so that you're only a little bit pregnant. You either prevent the eavesdropping or you don't. The only safe tactic is not bring the device anywhere you don't want to be tracked or recorded. Or to technologically prevent it from operating somehow in a way that doesn't rely on verification -- such as taking the battery out, if you can, or putting it in a verified faraday cage that you keep in a soundproof box if you can't. And if you're the kind of person with a life so interesting they need to worry about about phone implants, maybe take battery removability into consideration when you buy the device.
- jefhwite 10y agoWouldn't a faraday cage be effective here? I suppose it doesn't confirm that you are being surveilled, but it would block radio signals.
- mi100hael 10y agohttps://twitter.com/Snowden/status/737769180087353345 https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/737769180087353345
- Stratoscope 10y agoIn the fridge? Let's hope he knows how far the closest tower is for the journalist's carrier. My Galaxy Note 4 gets a solid connection on T-Mobile in the fridge, in the oven, in the washer, and in the dryer. It's in the range of 33ms ping, 45Mbps upload, 24Mbps download in each of those locations. Why? T-Mobile has a neighborhood tower one short block from home.
- hellogoodbyeeee 10y agoThe fridge would block the ability of the microphone to pick up sounds, not block the cell tower signal