Computers & Electronics

The FBI Can Activate Your Notebook Or Android Smartphone’s Mic Remotely

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  • Aug 8th, 2013 5:28 pm
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Sr. Member
Dec 1, 2003
608 posts
250 upvotes
Ottawa

The FBI Can Activate Your Notebook Or Android Smartphone’s Mic Remotely

Not Sure if posted already....

The Wall Street Journal reports that the FBI employs a secret tactic in its quest to keep up to speed on suspects: a hacker-like feature that allows the Bureau to remotely activate the microphone of any laptop or an Android smartphone. From there, the FBI can listen in on activity without the knowledge of the device’s owner.

Obviously, the report will shock many but surprise few, with many reports in the past having revealed some of the FBI’s slightly controversial tactics. The Journal cites a “former U.S. official” in its report, which notes that the tool is used to track suspects from a varying degree.

The FBI has a duty to stay ahead of the game in the fast-moving world of technology, and this remote mic control is just one of a number of ways this is achieved. All manner of surveillance techniques are utilized by the Bureau, and although the methodology is rarely put out there in the public domain, a warrant earlier on this year detailed a system involving taking snaps of a suspect using their webcam. That particular request was denied, but as you can imagine, the FBI has to exercise every possible avenue in its stated role to serve and protect.

The source of The Wall Street Journal’s report notes that the FBI only uses these kind of tactics when all else fails, and there’s little by way of choice. Naturally, FBI endeavors to find only “relevant data” in any case, with a dedicated vetting team overseeing that any course of action focuses on matters concerning the investigation.

It’s long since been known that the FBI has to get its game on every now and then, but rarely are we treated to information pertaining how exactly the Bureau goes about its business. With so many controversies in recent years concerning leaks of government information and such, the information age makes the work of the FBI more involved and perhaps more difficult than it ever has been.

Are you comfortable with the fact that the FBI uses these modern-day wire-tapping techniques in the interests of the general population? Or are you somewhat skeptical of the techniques being employed in this manner? Do leave your comments below!

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Deal Fanatic
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Oct 22, 2007
9280 posts
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London
Notebook Or Android? Soooo does this apply to Blackberry or IOS products? Is this backdoor access part of the OS or a sophisticated hack, or a little of both?

I'm surprised some hacker wunderkinds haven't found the relevant code in the OSes... if it exists.
Deal Fanatic
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Nov 4, 2008
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Scarbs
aka eavesdropping on someone's phone sex.
Deal Expert
Jun 15, 2011
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And so the government violates a person's privacy lol. Tsk tsk... What's new?
Blanka
Deal Addict
Apr 14, 2007
2959 posts
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Montreal
Apple lays down for NSA snooping as well as Google and Microsoft. BBM supposedly isn't decryptable.
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Feb 6, 2009
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Toronto
this is the future...

i wonder how long it'll be when everyone starts making their own software/hardware.
Deal Addict
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Feb 18, 2007
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New Westminster
Just saw a feature on CNN about hackers being able to easily turn your web cam on without you knowing it is on and be able to watch you. since some TV's now have smart features and use webcams you have to be wary that someone isn't watching you while your on the couch. it also mentioned that smart TV's are very easy to hack into compared to computers and not to do any banking or anything from web browsers through the TV.

As for what the government can do i think that the best hackers can also do though they don't have the resources of the NAS.
Poor Grammar and being long winded don't fit well together, Oh well.
Deal Addict
Aug 1, 2005
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Windsor
You can do this yourself on an android.. I've had to tap someone's work cell phone when they said they lost it to track it down and find it. Turns out they wanted a Galaxy S4 over the S3 they had, and they "lost it", but actually had possession of it the whole time.
Deal Fanatic
Dec 24, 2007
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CompWizrd wrote: You can do this yourself on an android.. I've had to tap someone's work cell phone when they said they lost it to track it down and find it. Turns out they wanted a Galaxy S4 over the S3 they had, and they "lost it", but actually had possession of it the whole time.
Did you do this without ever having physical access to the device?
Deal Addict
Aug 1, 2005
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xalex0 wrote: Did you do this without ever having physical access to the device?
Yes. Pulled their SMS logs, their call logs, and turned on and uploaded audio clips. It helps that I had the Google account password... You can install apps from a web browser without having to touch the phone.
Jr. Member
Dec 19, 2011
149 posts
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Cowansville
They do it in Die Hard 4 .. so it's true :)
Deal Addict
Sep 28, 2010
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Surrey
Canada has cesis, equivlant to fbi...this is old news, if you jailbreak youre phone and add an app off of cydia you can monitor the phone
Deal Addict
Aug 1, 2005
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xalex0 wrote: How?
Because I'm the Systems Administrator and I set the phone up when it was initially deployed. It is an employee's phone.
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Dec 24, 2007
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CompWizrd wrote: Because I'm the Systems Administrator and I set the phone up when it was initially deployed. It is an employee's phone.
So you did have physical access to the device at some point after all.
Deal Addict
Aug 1, 2005
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xalex0 wrote: So you did have physical access to the device at some point after all.
At the time I tapped their phone? None at all. In theory I could have just provided the user with the login and password for Google and they could have set it up. You can trivially go to play.google.com, login and install apps on the phone without having the phone in your hands at all. If i was able to get ahold of their google password in another manner (send a reset request to an email, guess the password, etc) I could do the same without the phone in my hand. I'm sure Google themselves could install apps, considering they can (and have) remove apps from your phone without needing the phone.

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