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> the article seems to mainly point the finger at malware Actually the article says: > "But the calls made from the phones are intercepted as they travel thro

> the article seems to mainly point the finger at malware Actually the article says: > "But the calls made from the phones are intercepted as they travel through the cell towers, cables and switches that make up national and international cellphone networks. Calls made from any cellphone — iPhone, Android, an old-school Samsung flip phone — are vulnerable."

fspeech 8y ago
That is a good point. The paper didn't make it as black and white as I read. However in my mind intercepting calls without police power (thus carrier cooperation) is much harder to achieve.
- bb88 8y ago
  The intelligence services are really clever in getting the information they need. Often, just like with other forms of security holes, they just need to be clever exactly once, and that might lead to months or years of intelligence. I also think of intelligence agencies are a little like magicians in how readily they will exploit someone's trust in reality.
  - fspeech 8y ago
    Right. Considering that calls can be intercepted at either end, just securing his end does not preclude the call from getting compromised on the other end. Maybe that is why the security people are not pushing back that hard, since it is fairly hopeless to limit him to only speaking over secured lines. Sure it is easy for him to access a secured line, but not the friends he wants to talk to.
    - bb88 8y ago
      > Maybe that is why the security people are not pushing back that hard And I quote: "Mr. Trump’s use of his iPhones was detailed by several current and former officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity so they could discuss classified intelligence and sensitive security arrangements. The officials said they were doing so not to undermine Mr. Trump, but out of frustration with what they considered the president’s casual approach to electronic security."

fspeech 8y ago

That is a good point. The paper didn't make it as black and white as I read. However in my mind intercepting calls without police power (thus carrier cooperation) is much harder to achieve.

bb88 8y ago
The intelligence services are really clever in getting the information they need. Often, just like with other forms of security holes, they just need to be clever exactly once, and that might lead to months or years of intelligence. I also think of intelligence agencies are a little like magicians in how readily they will exploit someone's trust in reality.
- fspeech 8y ago
  Right. Considering that calls can be intercepted at either end, just securing his end does not preclude the call from getting compromised on the other end. Maybe that is why the security people are not pushing back that hard, since it is fairly hopeless to limit him to only speaking over secured lines. Sure it is easy for him to access a secured line, but not the friends he wants to talk to.
  - bb88 8y ago
    > Maybe that is why the security people are not pushing back that hard And I quote: "Mr. Trump’s use of his iPhones was detailed by several current and former officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity so they could discuss classified intelligence and sensitive security arrangements. The officials said they were doing so not to undermine Mr. Trump, but out of frustration with what they considered the president’s casual approach to electronic security."