Is your cell phone bugged

Is your cell phone bugged

Vortex (a US company) has produced an online Video, which they say is "to explain this issue in a more demonstrative and somewhat less technical manner..."

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3437321657032158285&hl=en

It raises some quizzical issues. This is not my attempt to be dismissive of what they are saying, but I could not help but think it does rely upon the subjectivity of each mobile phone user to perhaps determine if their battery runs down too quickly or the handset gets hot when not in use that information is being extracted from it.

The video authors do stress that any such use of monitoring mobile phones is not targetted at the general public, but those under surveillance. But that in itself may not stop the general public thinking something maybe up if they find the events occurring that have been suggested .

Whilst videos like this can be informative, they can introduce feelings of worry or paranoia to those who maybe vulnerable to such feelings. Perhaps it might assist, if a mobile phone user thinks this is happening to first rule out common events that the mobile phone may be exposed to:

The mobile
A) had been left in direct sunlight
B) left close to a radiator or devices that emit heat generally in areas (kettles, photocopiers, computers/laptops etc)
C) that the user hasn't just taken the mobile phone out of the coat pocket (obvious I know, but worth saying anyway)
D) reduction in battery power occurs because of resource greedy applications running on the mobile phone
E) does update to the network and in areas were poor radio coverage pockets occur or where the mobile is located at the radio boundary of a Mast's coverage, updating to the network does increase energy consumption (drawn from the battery)
F) where a mobile phone is swtiched OFF and battery still runs low, it could be a fault of a bleed from the battery or that the mobile's firmware is faulty regarding e.g. the clock and draws more power from the battery at a higher rate
G) using broadband might require the ISP or application service to 'ping' the mobile to ensure the account is still connected, which might be a separate event from updating to the network regarding the subscriber IMSI-attach status for example

These are just some observations that might help, but if a mobile user is still concerned, the video does demonstrate a detection method using speakers. But even that may produce a false-positive result. There is of course another method that may eliminate this matter which the video suggests is to remove the mobile phone's battery. OK, but that doesn't take account of when the mobile is switched ON and in the idle mode. If the mobile user still feels uncomfortable, then change to a different or new mobile phone.

Switch On, Update, Lose Evidence

Switch On, Update, Lose Evidence

The focus of this article relates to what can happen when switching on a mobile telephone and how data can change on a SIM Card. Essentially how a mobile telephone updates a SIM card relating to location data is down to how each make and model of mobile telephone has been programmed. When dealing with location data in SIM Cards it should not be assumed that every make/model updates location data immediately or within a prescribed period. Certain events trigger location update data and therefore it is important to determine on a case by case basis how a mobile telephone and its SIM card should be examined.

I have received several comments from different sources saying that they found location data was not updated when the mobile telephone was held within a shielded device or bag. This is fine, but it has been found that data can change in such environments and it is not the case that it was only a few times, but the fact that it happened at all can mean unilaterally ignoring that such an event (loss of data) might occur may mean losing vital evidence.

A best practise methodology has been outlined in the article for those that wish to follow it and the justification for using such a stated methodology.

http://www.filebucket.net/files/1579_ov3rx/Switch%20On%20Update%20Lose%20Evidence%20.pdf

Switch On, Update, Lose Evidence

Switch On, Update, Lose Evidence

The focus of this article relates to what can happen when switching on a mobile telephone and how data can change on a SIM Card. Essentially how a mobile telephone updates a SIM card relating to location data is down to how each make and model of mobile telephone has been programmed. When dealing with location data in SIM Cards it should not be assumed that every make/model updates location data immediately or within a prescribed period. Certain events trigger location update data and therefore it is important to determine on a case by case basis how a mobile telephone and its SIM card should be examined.

I have received several comments from different sources saying that they found location data was not updated when the mobile telephone was held within a shielded device or bag. This is fine, but it has been found that data can change in such environments and it is not the case that it was only a few times, but the fact that it happened at all can mean unilaterally ignoring that such an event (loss of data) might occur may mean losing vital evidence.

A best practise methodology has been outlined in the article for those that wish to follow it and the justification for using such a stated methodology.

http://www.filebucket.net/files/1579_ov3rx/Switch%20On%20Update%20Lose%20Evidence%20.pdf