5 ms·

Have never heard of a security plug before. where can I get one?

antsar 13y ago
I don't know where, but it sounds fairly simple to make: cut the connector off from an old headset, and solder all of the wires in it together. One of the wires (the uninsulated one) in there is ground, the other three are signal.
- rcfox 13y ago
  Yeah, I'm not sure either. I don't see it in the official accessories store. antsar's correct though. It's simple to make one yourself. The nice thing about the security plug is that it's small; it doesn't look like your headphones' cable snapped off. :)
  - corin_ 13y ago
    If you don't trust the manufacturer who put the code into your handset, how can you trust that the security plug will always work (other than checking the internal wiring yourself)?
    - asadlionpk 13y ago
      plug the security plug and make a call to someone and see if they can hear you?
      - corin_ 13y ago
        In the hypothetical in which the phone has been created to act as a bug, surely it would be easy to detect the security plug and disable the microphone for normal uses while leaving it enabled for hidden use. The security plug is only secure if the wiring means that when plugged in, software cannot access the normal mic - if software can access it, it can trick the user into thinking anything.
        nine_k 13y ago
        With the security plug plugged in, actual hardware, the microphone, is short-circuited and cannot produce any signal. That's the whole point. If you trust the wiring, of course ;-]
        corin_ 13y ago
        But that's my point - if you don't trust the people putting software into your phone, why would you trust the same people with what hardware they put in?
        jawr 13y ago
        Your argument about not trusting anything can be applied to... anything. It's not hard to make one yourself, so if you're that worried about security, don't use a third party plug.
        chris_wot 13y ago
        If you are really that paranoid, take out the battery when you aren't using it :-)
        rhizome 13y ago
        If your phone allows it.
        corin_ 13y ago
        The issue isn't the plug you put in, it's the wiring in the phone - which is fairly hard to make yourself.
        ukd1 13y ago
        Most (smart) phones have two mics for noise canceling. I would assume this only affects one.
        antsar 13y ago
    - maggit 13y ago
      In the case of the baseband processor, the company that put code into it is not the company that put the phone together. It is a complex trust situation. In this case, you can reduce the number of agents you have to trust by using the security plug. This is good for security. The handset manufacturer could still be spying on you, but if the security plug actually works as advertised it would disable all attacks that would listen in on your mic. These attacks could be deliberate by any of the companies that have code in your handset, or it could be via an accidental weakness in any of this code that is exploited by a third party. This last kind of attack is what the linked article talks about, and a security plug would actually reduce the severity of such an attack.
      - tmzt 13y ago
        It's not a perfect solution, the audio routing might be hardware with simple impedance detection of a plugged in headset, which the software could ignore and continue using the mic.

I don't know where, but it sounds fairly simple to make: cut the connector off from an old headset, and solder all of the wires in it together. One of the wires (the uninsulated one) in there is ground, the other three are signal.

rcfox 13y ago
Yeah, I'm not sure either. I don't see it in the official accessories store. antsar's correct though. It's simple to make one yourself. The nice thing about the security plug is that it's small; it doesn't look like your headphones' cable snapped off. :)
- corin_ 13y ago
  If you don't trust the manufacturer who put the code into your handset, how can you trust that the security plug will always work (other than checking the internal wiring yourself)?
  - asadlionpk 13y ago
    plug the security plug and make a call to someone and see if they can hear you?
    - corin_ 13y ago
      In the hypothetical in which the phone has been created to act as a bug, surely it would be easy to detect the security plug and disable the microphone for normal uses while leaving it enabled for hidden use. The security plug is only secure if the wiring means that when plugged in, software cannot access the normal mic - if software can access it, it can trick the user into thinking anything.
      - nine_k 13y ago
        With the security plug plugged in, actual hardware, the microphone, is short-circuited and cannot produce any signal. That's the whole point. If you trust the wiring, of course ;-]
        corin_ 13y ago
        But that's my point - if you don't trust the people putting software into your phone, why would you trust the same people with what hardware they put in?
        jawr 13y ago
        Your argument about not trusting anything can be applied to... anything. It's not hard to make one yourself, so if you're that worried about security, don't use a third party plug.
        chris_wot 13y ago
        If you are really that paranoid, take out the battery when you aren't using it :-)
        rhizome 13y ago
        If your phone allows it.
        corin_ 13y ago
        The issue isn't the plug you put in, it's the wiring in the phone - which is fairly hard to make yourself.
        ukd1 13y ago
        Most (smart) phones have two mics for noise canceling. I would assume this only affects one.
        antsar 13y ago
  - maggit 13y ago
    In the case of the baseband processor, the company that put code into it is not the company that put the phone together. It is a complex trust situation. In this case, you can reduce the number of agents you have to trust by using the security plug. This is good for security. The handset manufacturer could still be spying on you, but if the security plug actually works as advertised it would disable all attacks that would listen in on your mic. These attacks could be deliberate by any of the companies that have code in your handset, or it could be via an accidental weakness in any of this code that is exploited by a third party. This last kind of attack is what the linked article talks about, and a security plug would actually reduce the severity of such an attack.
    - tmzt 13y ago
      It's not a perfect solution, the audio routing might be hardware with simple impedance detection of a plugged in headset, which the software could ignore and continue using the mic.