4 ms·

So, how do they plan on activating cameras/microphones? Backdoor?

donkeyd 3y ago
Have you heard of hacking? Most police forces have offensive hacking teams by now, it's not much of a secret. Also there are some quite famous tools that aid in this.
- EduardoBautista 3y ago
  The camera and microphone of a modern smartphone are not trivial to hack. I highly doubt a local government would have the resources to even consider having such teams.
  - donkeyd 3y ago
    There's a Dutch TV show that regularly catches African fraudsters by literally using their camera's to take pictures of the fraudsters. Sure, they trick them into installing an app, but that's something LE can do as well. Also, there are tools like Pegasus that pretty much do all the heavy lifting in hacking.
- mordae 3y ago
  Do they? I can't really imagine anything like that. I would be inclined to believe that they purchase ready-made tools from Israeli/US companies. But hacker teams?
stef25 3y ago
Back to 15$ Nokias I guess
- wkat4242 3y ago
  Which come with microphones too. Is S30+ or KaiOS (previously FirefoxOS) which Nokia uses really that much more secure? Also, usability becomes a thing here. Most people don't even use their phone for calls anymore. Not being able to do the other stuff defeats the purpose.
  - stef25 3y ago
    But no apps or dodgy email links you can hack them with, perhaps? No idea The most basic phones don't have KaiOS. There are / have been hacks using SMS that didn't even require the user to do anything, but then again they required Android iOS to carry out the hack. The smaller the attack surface the better (for the criminal). > Also, usability becomes a thing here. Most people don't even use their phone for calls anymore. Not being able to do the other stuff defeats the purpose. Afaik criminals that were using these special phone systems like SkyECC just wanted to make calls and send messages, they'll use something else for TikTok or whatever. EDIT: SkyECC didn't have microphone enabled, it was just able to send messages https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shutdown_of_Sky_ECC https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shutdown_of_Sky_ECC
    - wkat4242 3y ago
      Even SIM cards have been hacked remotely: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/aug/01/sim-card-flaw-cellphone-hackers-karsten-nohl https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/aug/01/sim-card-... So, "simple is safe" is just not really a thing. SafER perhaps, but also so much less useful that it defeats the purpose of using one IMO. I think it would be better to use a secure android ROM. Like GrapheneOS or CalyxOS.

Have you heard of hacking? Most police forces have offensive hacking teams by now, it's not much of a secret. Also there are some quite famous tools that aid in this.

EduardoBautista 3y ago
The camera and microphone of a modern smartphone are not trivial to hack. I highly doubt a local government would have the resources to even consider having such teams.
- donkeyd 3y ago
  There's a Dutch TV show that regularly catches African fraudsters by literally using their camera's to take pictures of the fraudsters. Sure, they trick them into installing an app, but that's something LE can do as well. Also, there are tools like Pegasus that pretty much do all the heavy lifting in hacking.
mordae 3y ago
Do they? I can't really imagine anything like that. I would be inclined to believe that they purchase ready-made tools from Israeli/US companies. But hacker teams?

stef25 3y ago

Back to 15$ Nokias I guess

wkat4242 3y ago
Which come with microphones too. Is S30+ or KaiOS (previously FirefoxOS) which Nokia uses really that much more secure? Also, usability becomes a thing here. Most people don't even use their phone for calls anymore. Not being able to do the other stuff defeats the purpose.
- stef25 3y ago
  But no apps or dodgy email links you can hack them with, perhaps? No idea The most basic phones don't have KaiOS. There are / have been hacks using SMS that didn't even require the user to do anything, but then again they required Android iOS to carry out the hack. The smaller the attack surface the better (for the criminal). > Also, usability becomes a thing here. Most people don't even use their phone for calls anymore. Not being able to do the other stuff defeats the purpose. Afaik criminals that were using these special phone systems like SkyECC just wanted to make calls and send messages, they'll use something else for TikTok or whatever. EDIT: SkyECC didn't have microphone enabled, it was just able to send messages https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shutdown_of_Sky_ECC https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shutdown_of_Sky_ECC
  - wkat4242 3y ago
    Even SIM cards have been hacked remotely: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/aug/01/sim-card-flaw-cellphone-hackers-karsten-nohl https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/aug/01/sim-card-... So, "simple is safe" is just not really a thing. SafER perhaps, but also so much less useful that it defeats the purpose of using one IMO. I think it would be better to use a secure android ROM. Like GrapheneOS or CalyxOS.