5 ms·

I was talking on the phone to someone in another country (a US friendly country) and the other person mentioned Tor. The second he got to the end of the word th

by dm2 12y ago

I was talking on the phone to someone in another country (a US friendly country) and the other person mentioned Tor. The second he got to the end of the word the phone call cut out. I haven't had a phone call cut out in years except that one time. It was most likely a complete coincidence but it would be very interesting if anyone else has ever had a similar experience.

probably_wrong 12y ago
Whenever I finish a Skype call, I immediately get a message supposedly from the other person with a 4-digit number. I don't know what that number means yet. Also, my phone's wifi will not turn off since last week. Those are all probably just coincidences, but then again, it would also fit in the kind of behavior I'd expect to observe from spyware, either state-sponsored or just the usual kind. In any case, the NSA has made it very easy to become paranoid.
- randallsquared 12y ago
  If you're using Skype on Linux, it's the number of seconds of the call. Skype on Linux hasn't been updated in so long that the client doesn't always know what to do with what it's sent; if you're using Skype on Mac, that's when it tells you that you just got off a call with so-and-so for such-and-such time, but on Linux, it just prints out the literal number of seconds and it's done.
- delian66 12y ago
  I had the same problem, when I used the 4.2 linux version of the Skype client. It seems that it was a protocol mismatch between the Windows and Linux versions of the Skype client, and the 4-digit number is the duration of the call in seconds.
- AlyssaRowan 12y ago
  Does the other person know what that means? Is it their phone unlock code?
e455b328 12y ago
It was not a coincidence. I created an account just to respond because I've been waiting years to have my experience... "validated". The same exact thing has happened during phone conversations I've had except with a different word. And I first noticed it years ago but it was post-9/11. When it happened I thought the phone call dropped by accident. I called back and picked up where I left off telling the same story. At the same word the call dropped again. I called back again and said "uhh, that was weird. Did you notice it cut off again when I said _______?" And the call dropped once more. At that point there was no plausible way it was a coincidence. The next time I called, I decided not to test it again. I've been looking out ever since for some mention of this somewhere. Never saw one until now.
- aatos 12y ago
  What was the word?
  - BillyParadise 12y ago
    Obviously, it was _______ And if this one is blanked out, too, then you know I'm the newest addition to the Watchlist.
    - enraged_camel 12y ago
      It's not blanked out for me. Clearly the NSA is interfering with your web experience.
  - e455b328 12y ago
    I didn't mention it cuz I figured if they're monitoring calls for it then they're damn sure monitoring posts for it and I didn't want to end up on a list. But what the hell, I'd rather learn more about what this is really all about. And that's the thing: the word wasn't even that crazy, unless you're on line at an airport (apparently) which I wasn't. The word was "bomb". (...Now that I think about it, I was at a train station. Not a major one though, doubt if that's related.)
amalcon 12y ago
I find it unlikely that this is intentional. To do intentionally intentionally would require human monitoring (or more powerful context analysis than I've heard of): "Tor" is a homophone for "Tore" and "Torr", and in a few accents it's very similar to "Tour". It's also a prefix for a lot of words. At least "Tore" and "Tour" are more common in conversation than "Tor", and I'd expect things like "Torrent" to also be more common. In the case of human monitoring, cutting the call off immediately is an odd response: usually both spooks and law enforcement would rather keep listening to get more information. An automated system might try to do that, but only one whose designers don't care if it's noticed: if my phone cuts off whenever I talk to a foreigner about a tour, I'm surely going to notice. There could have been something fishy going on there, but it doesn't fit the usual threat models in non-dictatorial regimes.
- dm2 12y ago
  I agree that it was most likely a coincidence, other than server access any intelligence agency would have no reason to monitor me. Even if you were near the president and said on the phone or over a radio "Shoot the president's head" it could be completely justified depending on context (if you were a production crew talking to a camera operator for instance). It would be nearly impossible to sort out the false positives and even if you could it wouldn't prevent much because of code-words that could be used. Then again, we all know that bugs happen, there might have been a new system in place. It would be conceivable that the phone/tower/something received a bad command when the "recording" started and it caused the call to drop. I say "hacked" and "stolen" on the phone all the time, but those would likely be on the list of "calls to record".
Istof 12y ago
The same didn't happen to me when talking about bombs with someone in another country. Could it be because it was VOIP?

by dm2 12y ago

probably_wrong 12y ago

Whenever I finish a Skype call, I immediately get a message supposedly from the other person with a 4-digit number. I don't know what that number means yet. Also, my phone's wifi will not turn off since last week. Those are all probably just coincidences, but then again, it would also fit in the kind of behavior I'd expect to observe from spyware, either state-sponsored or just the usual kind. In any case, the NSA has made it very easy to become paranoid.

randallsquared 12y ago
If you're using Skype on Linux, it's the number of seconds of the call. Skype on Linux hasn't been updated in so long that the client doesn't always know what to do with what it's sent; if you're using Skype on Mac, that's when it tells you that you just got off a call with so-and-so for such-and-such time, but on Linux, it just prints out the literal number of seconds and it's done.
delian66 12y ago
I had the same problem, when I used the 4.2 linux version of the Skype client. It seems that it was a protocol mismatch between the Windows and Linux versions of the Skype client, and the 4-digit number is the duration of the call in seconds.
AlyssaRowan 12y ago
Does the other person know what that means? Is it their phone unlock code?

e455b328 12y ago

It was not a coincidence. I created an account just to respond because I've been waiting years to have my experience... "validated". The same exact thing has happened during phone conversations I've had except with a different word. And I first noticed it years ago but it was post-9/11. When it happened I thought the phone call dropped by accident. I called back and picked up where I left off telling the same story. At the same word the call dropped again. I called back again and said "uhh, that was weird. Did you notice it cut off again when I said _______?" And the call dropped once more. At that point there was no plausible way it was a coincidence. The next time I called, I decided not to test it again. I've been looking out ever since for some mention of this somewhere. Never saw one until now.

aatos 12y ago
What was the word?
- BillyParadise 12y ago
  Obviously, it was _______ And if this one is blanked out, too, then you know I'm the newest addition to the Watchlist.
  - enraged_camel 12y ago
    It's not blanked out for me. Clearly the NSA is interfering with your web experience.
- e455b328 12y ago
  I didn't mention it cuz I figured if they're monitoring calls for it then they're damn sure monitoring posts for it and I didn't want to end up on a list. But what the hell, I'd rather learn more about what this is really all about. And that's the thing: the word wasn't even that crazy, unless you're on line at an airport (apparently) which I wasn't. The word was "bomb". (...Now that I think about it, I was at a train station. Not a major one though, doubt if that's related.)

amalcon 12y ago

I find it unlikely that this is intentional. To do intentionally intentionally would require human monitoring (or more powerful context analysis than I've heard of): "Tor" is a homophone for "Tore" and "Torr", and in a few accents it's very similar to "Tour". It's also a prefix for a lot of words. At least "Tore" and "Tour" are more common in conversation than "Tor", and I'd expect things like "Torrent" to also be more common. In the case of human monitoring, cutting the call off immediately is an odd response: usually both spooks and law enforcement would rather keep listening to get more information. An automated system might try to do that, but only one whose designers don't care if it's noticed: if my phone cuts off whenever I talk to a foreigner about a tour, I'm surely going to notice. There could have been something fishy going on there, but it doesn't fit the usual threat models in non-dictatorial regimes.

dm2 12y ago
I agree that it was most likely a coincidence, other than server access any intelligence agency would have no reason to monitor me. Even if you were near the president and said on the phone or over a radio "Shoot the president's head" it could be completely justified depending on context (if you were a production crew talking to a camera operator for instance). It would be nearly impossible to sort out the false positives and even if you could it wouldn't prevent much because of code-words that could be used. Then again, we all know that bugs happen, there might have been a new system in place. It would be conceivable that the phone/tower/something received a bad command when the "recording" started and it caused the call to drop. I say "hacked" and "stolen" on the phone all the time, but those would likely be on the list of "calls to record".

Istof 12y ago

The same didn't happen to me when talking about bombs with someone in another country. Could it be because it was VOIP?