Gaining access to a cell phone to listen to it is actually not that difficult. However, there are ways to prevent invasion of your privacy.

Each of us has a cell phone. When was the last time you left home without a mobile phone? Surely it was an accident. It's no secret that we use phones very often; we actually already depend on them and their capabilities.

We're not trying to scare you, but do you know how easy it is to access them from outside? If someone wants to listen to your conversations, read SMS messages and track you using GPS, they will do it.

There are many reasons why a person wants to eavesdrop on someone else's telephone conversation. It could be a nosy boss, a jealous spouse, a burglar, or a telephone bully.

It's illegal to spy on someone's phone without the owner's permission, but it happens. This doesn't necessarily happen to you, but if you suspect someone is reading your SMS messages, here are a few for you: useful tips about how to figure out the villain.

Battery temperature

One of the likely indicators of the presence of wiretapping is the battery. Feel your phone when you're not using it - if it feels warm or even hot, it means it's still in use. Keep in mind that heat comes primarily from overuse. The battery can only be hot if the phone has been used for a while.

The phone drains very quickly

If you charge your mobile phone more often than usual, you will receive another sign of a potential threat. If you haven't used the gadget more than usual, it is possible that your phone was being used by someone without your knowledge. When a mobile phone is tapped, it loses battery power much faster. A tapped cell phone is constantly recording conversations in the room, even if it looks like it is lying idle.

You can use the BatteryLife LX or Battery LED iPhone apps to monitor your battery drain rate.

Note: Mobile phones tend to lose maximum battery level over time. If your phone is more than a year old, the battery capacity will steadily decrease depending on the amount of use.

Shutdown delay

When you turn off your phone and watch long delay, backlight staying on for a long time or simply the phone refusing to turn off, then you may well be on the hook. Always be aware of unusual phone behavior. Although, the problems described may be caused by failures in the phone's hardware or software.

Strange activity

When your phone is working, does it happen that its backlight suddenly lights up, some applications are installed by themselves, something happens? spontaneous shutdown? Strange behavior could be a sign that someone is controlling the device remotely. By the way, this can also occur due to interference during data transmission.

Background noise

When you are talking, a wiretapped phone may cause interference. Something like echoes, electrical discharges, clicking sounds - these sounds can be caused environment, connection interference... or the fact that someone is listening to you. If you hear a pulsating noise coming from your phone when you're not using it, it could be a serious problem.

Interference

If you use your phone in close proximity to others electronic devices(like a TV) and it creates interference on them, then this may be a consequence of the presence of foreign devices in the mobile phone body. In most cases, interference is normal, but if it happens when you are not using your phone, then this may well mean that you are “under the hood.”

Become a disinformer

If you suspect that your phone conversation is being listened to or recorded by someone you know, you can try to misinform the spy to confirm this suspicion for sure. Tell someone you trust your “secret” personal information over the phone. If you find out later that others have found out, then the answer may be yes.

Get Help

If you have reason to believe that your mobile phone is being tapped, seek help. The police are also an option, since they have equipment that can be used to check the phone, but you should only go this route if you are absolutely sure that you are being monitored. For example, if information that you once discussed with a reliable business partner was miraculously leaked, and no one else could have known about it.

Conclusion

Still, you shouldn’t suffer from paranoia.

To one degree or another, literally everyone noted the above signs.

The chances of someone being hooked are very low. Most of the problems described above can be explained by a poor connection, an old battery, or firmware glitches - but there are also signs that are worth paying attention to in any case. If you are a Good Samaritan, then there is a good chance that your phone is clean.

If you want to be safe, then you should lock your phone with a password and keep it with you at all times.

Don’t expect that simply turning off your phone with a button will protect you from wiretapping. The microphone does not turn off, and the location of the device is tracked.

If you are not using it, remove the battery from the compartment to be sure that you are not being tapped. Moreover, if you simply need to make yourself invisible to billing, you need to remove the battery without first turning off the phone with the button.

8 secret codes for your mobile phone

1) *#06# . Allows you to find out the unique IMEI number of any smartphone, including iPhone.

2) *#21# . Allows you to obtain information about enabled forwarding - calls, messages and other data. Very convenient if you want to check if anyone is spying on you.

3) *#62# . Using this command, you can find out which number incoming calls are forwarded to if the iPhone is turned off or is out of network coverage.

4) ##002# . Disables any call forwarding. This way, only you will accept them.

5) *#30# . Provides incoming caller ID information

6) *#33# . Shows information about blocking of outgoing supported services such as calls, SMS and other data.

7) *#43# . Displays call waiting information.

8) *3001#12345#* . The so-called “James Bond” menu: here is information about the SIM card and signal strength cellular network, there was even room for reception indicators cellular signal. All data, by the way, is promptly updated.

Russia has created a system for intercepting mobile conversations in offices

InfoWatch has developed a system that will allow employers to intercept employee cell phone conversations in the office. With its help it is proposed to combat the leakage of confidential information

Natalia Kasperskaya's InfoWatch company has developed a solution that will allow employers to intercept and analyze the content of employee conversations on their mobile phones. The Kommersant newspaper writes about this with reference to several sources in Russian IT companies and an employee of the Federal mobile operator.

Zecurion CEO Alexey Raevsky, who also heard about the development of this system, explained to the publication that we are talking about a kind of

"femtocell (equipment for signal amplification cellular communications), which must be installed on the customer’s premises and connected to the mobile operator’s network, but the voice traffic passing through it will be intercepted, translated into text using speech recognition systems and then analyzed by keywords regarding the transfer of confidential information."

The development of a prototype of this system was confirmed to the publication by Kasperskaya itself. According to her, the manufacturer of the device is a third-party organization; she refused to disclose the partner.

“It is planned that the hardware device installed in the company will be integrated with the core of the cellular operator's network so that it becomes a trusted base station for the cellular operator. This base station will then intercept voice traffic from mobile phones within its coverage area.”

She told.

- Kasperskaya added. She assured that in this case, calls from other SIM cards belonging to employees or clients and partners coming to the company’s office “will be rejected by the device and redirected to standard base stations of cellular operators.”

https://www.site/2013-08-19/kto_kak_i_zachem_proslushivaet_vashi_razgovory_i_chitaet_perepisku_issledovanie_site

“Shhhh. This is not over the phone"

Who, how and why listens to your conversations and reads your correspondence. Study site

"Not on the phone." “I’ll call you back from another number now.” “Let’s go outside and take a walk, it’s better not to talk here.” Such phrases have become firmly established in the life of the Russian establishment, but just a few years ago those who complained about wiretapping of phones and offices were mistaken for half-crazy people, like those who wear tin foil hats and believe in the zombie rays of the KGB. Today everyone knows: they listen to everyone, they listen without regard to the law, and the materials of these wiretaps are more often used not in court, but in political intrigues, denunciations, and provocations. the site spoke with one of the professionals of the shadow market of electronic intelligence to find out how this sphere works.

Who's listening

In the language of law enforcement agencies, wiretapping telephones and monitoring Internet traffic is called the abbreviation “SORM” - “System of technical means to ensure the functions of operational-search activities.” SORM-1 is a set of measures aimed at wiretapping mobile communications, SORM-2 – mobile Internet traffic. Today, such investigative methods are coming to the fore, eclipsing traditional forensic approaches. Accordingly, the units responsible for SORM are becoming increasingly influential within the internal affairs bodies. In the Sverdlovsk region, this is, for example, the Bureau of Special Technical Measures (BSTM) of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Sverdlovsk Region and the Operational and Technical Department (OTO) of the FSB Directorate for the Sverdlovsk Region.

According to the law, wiretapping of telephones and monitoring of Internet traffic is possible only by a court decision. True, the law allows investigators to “turn on the recording” without it, if the case is urgent and wiretapping is necessary to prevent an impending crime. By approximately the same principle, investigators are “as an exception” allowed to conduct searches, receiving court approval after the fact. As in the case of searches, law enforcement officers often use this rule to gain uncontrolled access to other people's secrets.

There are also ways to legalize illegal wiretapping by placing the name and telephone number of the desired person on a long list of suspects in some criminal case. As sources in the authorities say, judges almost never delve into how this or that surname is connected with a criminal case, and sign permits “in one fell swoop.” Such court decisions are classified as “secret”, and citizens will never know who was on the wiretapping list.

However, experts involved in wiretapping say: today, more and more often, citizens are being “recorded” without any court decisions at all. Each telecom operator has equipment installed that allows security forces to access the conversations of any client at any time (operators are required to do this by law). And in the regional department of the FSB there is a terminal remote access, with which you can start listening to any mobile user in a few clicks.

According to the law, several special services have the right to conduct wiretapping. In addition to the FSB itself, these are the Ministry of Internal Affairs, FSKN, GUFSIN, customs, FSO, SVR. But control over the equipment itself, which ensures the operation of SORM-1 and SORM-2, is under the control of the FSB. As experts explain, in order to put a particular number under wiretapping, employees from the police bureau of special technical measures do not have to run to the FSB and ask them to press a button: the Ministry of Internal Affairs and other agencies conducting operational investigative activities have their own access terminals. But they are connected “through the FSB,” that is, the main key is still located with the security officers.

“Therefore, for example, in the Roizman wiretapping case, it will be difficult to point all the fingers at the police and pretend that the FSB had nothing to do with it,” says the site’s interlocutor. According to him, responsibility for unauthorized wiretapping and its leakage in any case lies with two departments.

“Why do you need so many phones?”

How to protect yourself from wiretapping? Almost nothing. Firstly, it is useless to change SIM cards: it is not the mobile number that is used for wiretapping, but a unique number telephone set(IMEI). No matter what SIM card is installed in the phone, it will still be “live”.

Many representatives of the establishment and businessmen carry several phones with them, believing that one “ordinary” one is listened to, while others - the “leftists” - are not.. - If a person is wiretapped, law enforcement officers constantly receive information about the location of his phone. To do this, the phone does not necessarily have to have a GPS module installed; the location of even the simplest and cheapest handset is determined by base stations with an accuracy of one meter. And if you carry several handsets with you, geolocation data shows that next to your “main” number there are always 2-3 others. They are also immediately put on wiretapping, so walking around with a bunch of phones is completely pointless.”

However, there is a small trick with two handsets that allows you to relatively reliably keep the secret of negotiations. “Suppose there are two devices - A and B. A is used constantly, and there is reason to believe that it is being listened to. B – for confidential conversations, registered to another person. In this case, A and B should never be turned on at the same time or next to each other. If you need to make a call on the “secret” phone B, you turn off A, drive away, into the coverage area of ​​another base station, then turn on B, make a call. Then you turn off B, go again to another base station and then turn on A,” says our interlocutor. Another way is to permanently store the “secret” phone in some hidden place, each time coming to him with the “main” mobile phone turned off.

Particularly cautious victims of wiretapping prefer to turn off the phone during an important conversation or hide it somewhere away. The site's interlocutor confirms that the ability to record via phone in standby mode exists, but this technology is used infrequently. “In these cases, the so-called microphone effect. This can only be done if a team of specialists works in close proximity to the interlocutors. The signal receiver and recording device must be somewhere nearby,” he explains.

How it works

Another thing is ordinary wiretapping. It can be massive. Today in Yekaterinburg, the FSB’s capacity allows 25-50 thousand subscribers to listen simultaneously, in Moscow – hundreds of times more. The main problem is not how to record information, but how to decipher and process it. In the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Sverdlovsk Region, for example, there is a special department of “analysts” who are engaged in simply transcribing recorded conversations and turning audio into text. Now Sverdlovsk law enforcement officers, using the preparation for the 2018 World Cup and EXPO 2020 as an excuse, are setting themselves the task of increasing hardware wiretapping capacity. And creating more advanced systems for processing the information received is already a task for security forces not only at the Russian, but also at the global level. Recent scandals in the United States show that Russian intelligence services are far from the only ones involved in illegal or semi-legal “monitoring”.

The world leader in creating data analysis and processing systems for intelligence services is the American company Palantir Technologies. According to the site’s interlocutor, Palantir technologies are used by both American government organizations, such as the CIA, and Russian ones, including the FSB and the Information and Analytical Center of the Russian Government. “The last one is hard to wrap my head around. It turns out that the entire volume of government information, including secret information, goes through the American system..

In Russia, one of the largest suppliers of “analytical” software for intelligence services is also Avicomp Services. And hardware solutions and programs for “monitoring” (that is, wiretapping) are actively sold by the Novosibirsk company Signatek. Its website says that it offers “subjects of operational investigative activities” “systems for monitoring the communications of objects: telephone conversations, fax sessions, video calls, SMS messages, DVO, ICQ, email”, as well as “Systems for monitoring the movement of objects with visualization on map."

The product catalog contains examples of what the program interface for “monitoring” looks like:

What'sApp or Viber?

With the analysis of Internet traffic of suspicious citizens (SORM-2), the situation with the security forces is somewhat worse than with wiretapping of conversations. Although telecom operators provide intelligence agencies with any information in the same way, the analysis of this data itself is quite complex. “Any smartphone constantly downloads and sends huge amounts of data. Until recently, there was a huge problem in isolating information of interest from all this mass, for example, correspondence on Skype or WhatsApp. However, now this problem has been generally solved, and even in the regions they have learned to read Internet messengers,” says our interlocutor.

He calls the popular What’s App an extremely unsafe messenger - the information sent is not encrypted. Skype has such encryption, and it would have been reliable if the owners of the service, having entered the domestic market, had not shared decryption codes with Russian security forces. Therefore, today communication via Viber can be considered the most reliable, in which all data (both correspondence and conversations via voice communication) are encrypted and are not yet available to domestic intelligence services (“This is why they are trying to ban Viber in the first place,” our interlocutor is sure). The site’s source does not trust the Telegram service, which is declared to be a “super-reliable” messenger, “as well as everything that is done in Russia, including by Pavel Durov.”

Another relatively reliable way to correspond is to use BlackBerry phones that have own service messaging BlackBerry Messenger. The data in it is encrypted even more securely than in Viber; Russian security forces do not have access to it, and perhaps that is why BBM is banned in Russia. To use it, you have to buy a phone in the USA and “unlock” it from Russian specialists.

A major developer of programs and equipment for SORM-2 in Russia is the MFISOFT company, which supplies software for the FSB. The description of the SORMovich hardware and software complex given on their website states that it can put users under control by name account, phone number, email address, IP and ICQ number. The complex provides “detection and interception of mail messages at an email address”, “interception of files transferred via FTP”, “listening to IP telephony”, etc.

Who's being watched

Maybe the security forces would like to “listen to everyone,” but in reality there are only 200-300 people in Yekaterinburg under constant surveillance, the site’s interlocutor says. Most of them are suspected of extremism (primarily Islamist) and terrorism, members of organized crime groups under development, participants in large-scale opaque financial transactions (“cashers”, etc.).

“They are absolutely listening to the governor, his inner circle, and the top officials of the city. Deputies of the Legislative Assembly and City Duma are unlikely, only if someone was ordered by competitors. But this is a rare case, no one says anything important on the phone for a long time, and not many people are ready to spend 70 thousand rubles a day to wiretap a competitor,” says our source.

Recently, another proven way to become a victim of wiretapping has emerged - regularly criticize the current government or go to protest demonstrations. Of course, all participants in street actions will not be wiretapped, but the most active ones will be wiretapped. In Yekaterinburg, they have long been listening to Evgeny Roizman and Aksana Panova - as opponents of the Sverdlovsk governor Evgeny Kuyvashev. Those around the governor do not hide the fact that printouts of their conversations regularly land on the table of the head of the region.

"FSBuk"

Recently, an increasingly significant role in the structure of SORM is played by the analysis of information collected in social networks.. With Facebook the situation is more complicated, but even here the secrecy of communication is not guaranteed. "Relatively safe way communication - through Western postal services: Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, says the interlocutor of the site. – The Tor network is also effective, guaranteeing anonymity to users. With its help, American journalists, among other things, communicate with their informants.”

To exchange information, more and more people and organizations are using cloud services like Dropbox, Yandex.Disk, Google disk and others. Law enforcement agencies are also interested in them. Among the popular services, Google's offering is considered relatively reliable, but our source advises paying attention to Wuala: an encrypted storage facility with servers in Switzerland. True, if you are saving your secrets not from Russian intelligence services, but from American ones, it is unlikely that anything will help you. A few days ago another "super safe" cloud service Lavabit was mysteriously shut down and all of its users lost their information. Apparently, the fact is that Lavabit email was used by former CIA agent Edward Snowden.

Under the hood

It’s rare that a Russian businessman and politician today discusses on the phone something more important than fishing and football. Therefore, in addition to analyzing the actual texts of negotiations, electronic intelligence professionals are engaged in processing large amounts of data, identifying mathematical patterns, implicit connections, and on this basis building hypotheses about the interaction of certain groups or persons. Materials for this can be phone calls, emails, banking operations, registration or liquidation operations legal entities etc. The resulting large diagrams are similar to those shown in one of the presentations of the already mentioned company Avicomp:

Illustration of electronic correspondence and monitoring of telephone conversations have already gone as far as the authors of dystopian novels never dreamed of. Probably, often the power of SORM helps prevent genuine terrorist attacks or real crimes. But much more noticeable to society are cases where electronic intelligence methods are used for political persecution and have nothing to do with legal procedures. At the same time, not only oppositionists, but also politicians loyal to the Kremlin suffer from uncontrolled surveillance. Compromising evidence collected using electronic means often becomes a weapon of the elite struggle against those who until recently themselves ordered the wiretapping of their enemies. In this sense, electronic intelligence has become a danger from which no one is immune.

Our information: How Ural politicians suffer from surveillance and try to save themselves

Everyone suffers from illegal wiretapping. Director of the Foundation for Support of Civil Initiatives “Legal Mission” (Chelyabinsk), Alexey Tabalov, told the site that “all his telephone conversations are being tapped” and he has been convinced of this more than once. Chairman of the Board of the Voice - Ural Foundation Yuri Gurman also assured us that in his organization the special services listen to phones and look through correspondence to email. “I know that they are listening, and let them listen. Although it gets disgusting,” he says.

Deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Perm Territory Vladimir Nelyubin told the site that at the entrance to some high offices it is now customary to hand over the phone to the secretary. The banker himself uses classic Nokia, does not recognize modern instant messengers and is not going to protect himself from wiretapping. And the former head of the administration of the governor of the Kama region, Firdus Aliyev, is convinced that it is impossible to protect himself from wiretapping. “Such measures do not exist, it is an illusion. Only personal communication allows us to eliminate leaks as much as possible, so we have to fly [to meetings],” he told the site.

In the “Tyumen Matryoshka” only in the South, in Tyumen, have they accustomed themselves to instant messengers like Viber and WhatsApp: in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug and Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, 3G coverage is much worse and it is expensive to use them. But northern officials are actively using hardware against wiretapping. For example, in the office of one of the high-ranking officials there is a “jammer” behind the curtain, which he turns on during important conversations. As they say, this device makes an eerie sound, so talking for a long time when it is working is simply physically difficult.

The same manager tells absolutely fantastic stories about mobile communications. According to him, today security officers have equipment that, once they have recorded the timbre of your voice, if they need to write about you in the future, it will automatically turn on, no matter what phone you are talking on. Therefore, it makes no sense to change numbers and devices. The official is also quite suspicious of the products Apple, although he has been using it since Dmitry Medvedev became president, who introduced the fashion for iPhone and iPad among civil servants. However, he covered the camera lenses on both gadgets with black tape. The official is confident that with the help of cameras the owner of the devices can be monitored.

One of the governors of the “Tyumen nesting doll” was observed without any iPhones. A video camera was found directly above the first person's bed in the official residence. Who ordered the surveillance (FSB or private individuals) has not yet been determined.

In the Tyumen North, in order not to become a “godsend for spies,” a few years ago they used the old grandfather’s methods - they liked to change mobile phones and SIM cards. One of the leaders of a large company told the site’s correspondent that there is a place near the shore of the Irtysh in Khanty-Mansiysk, passing over which a boat could run aground, so many telephones are sunk there.

The most thoughtful officials and businessmen will always prefer personal conversations telephone conversations. Moreover, as one of them admitted, the most reliable way of communication is to write on a piece of paper, after which this piece of paper is simply burned.

Almost every day we are asked how to listen cell phone. I want to emphasize once again that we offer ONLY programs for monitoring a mobile phone! Other methods of wiretapping, such as complexes, through an operator, viruses, etc. we don’t offer, and we don’t have such opportunities... Today we will talk about how you can listen to any mobile phone in theory.

So, what types of wiretapping exist and can they be resisted?

Official, upon special request

Wiretapping method . The cellular operator, if required, is obliged to provide law enforcement agencies with the ability to wiretap, as well as provide access to the database (numbers, time, duration of incoming and outgoing calls, history of short messages, IMEI code of the mobile device, etc.). Naturally, a cellular operator will not provide such an opportunity to an ordinary person.

A way to avoid wiretapping. If you have good reason that you are being tapped in this way, do not use your previous phone number or the device itself. Either, as an option, use a special one, or use a crypto phone.

Unofficial, expensive

Wiretapping method . The method is that special equipment allows you to intercept a signal from a mobile device to a cellular operator’s base station and vice versa. This option is not available to the average person due to the high cost of the interception device, the price of which starts at $0.5 million.

In criminal circles, this technique is still in demand, despite its shortcomings: the signal capture radius from the phone is no more than several hundred meters and the existing probability of the operator changing the signal code. However, due to the fact that the method makes it possible to listen to conversations without the need to contact the “victim’s” mobile device or contact the telecom operator (as described above, this is impossible), it is actively used.

A way to avoid wiretapping. Apply protective equipment to such equipment. It works as follows: the equipment records the exchange of data from a mobile device with third-party equipment, after which pings are prohibited, after which it becomes difficult for attackers to intercept the conversation. A phone with an imei change will also help with this. But the most best option this is to use .

Using listening programs

Wiretapping method . In order to wiretap in this way, the “victim” must have . The program will record all calls, messages, determine location and much more, then upload all data to the server in your personal account. IN this method There are also disadvantages: the need for physical access to the phone to install a “spy”.

A way to avoid wiretapping. Do not leave your phone unattended and do not allow strangers to install unknown programs on it. Use antivirus programs to search for malware.

Now you know what options there are for wiretapping and ways to avoid it. We would also like to add: so that you cannot be listened to during an important conversation, do not use mobile devices, try to resolve issues in person :)

As with the legend of triangulation, carefully mixing fiction with carefully measured doses of truth can produce a believable-looking mixture. The beauty of it will be that not a single honest and objective specialist will say “this full bullshit." Such a hybrid of truth and fiction can even be shown on TV, accompanied by interviews with representatives of leading telecom operators. "Is it true that your company cooperates with intelligence services, transmitting to them information about calls and conversations of subscribers?" the pretty presenter will ask. " We work within the framework of the law and provide the necessary assistance in solving criminal offenses,” a company representative will say. And the average person will hear what he wanted to hear: “Yes! Everything said in the program is true! You can turn on the microphone and listen to me!”

Now let's try to figure it out ourselves.

The main tenets of the legend of eavesdropping:

1. IN any mobile equipment is initially designed to provide information about exact location subscriber (accurate to meters), recording and listening to conversations, even when the mobile phone is turned off (emphasis mine, quote from the first link).
2. These capabilities can be activated by intelligence agencies or well-prepared "hackers"
3. The phone user cannot detect the fact of listening
4. The presence of this possibility is confirmed by quotes from experts in information security, representatives of intelligence services and government organizations.

Imagine that such an opportunity really exists and that you have become the target of an eavesdropper. Your phone's microphone picks up your conversations, and your phone transmits them...

This is where the fun begins. How and where does the phone transmit wiretapped conversations? Even the authors of articles about wiretapping do not go as far as outright nonsense in their fantasies like “the phone has an alternative voice codec that is used to encode speech, and the phone then transmits the resulting stream on a secret frequency through a separate antenna, without using base stations.”

As a rule, they write that the phone makes a call to a certain number without the owner’s knowledge, after which everyone on that side listens carefully and records it.

We will stick to this version. So, your phone is making a call without your knowledge (using standard features GSM) to a certain number, and you don't notice it.

A number of uncomfortable questions immediately arise:

1. Why is the fact that there is an active call not visible in the phone interface?
2. How long will your phone battery last?
3. what to do with the characteristic interference on the speakers of surrounding radio equipment?
4. will the call used for listening be visible in the detailed listing of your calls?

There must be some answer to all these questions, otherwise such a call will go unnoticed for a maximum of a couple of minutes.

Under paragraph 1, they usually write that intelligence services or a mobile operator can remotely install software on your phone, which will Hide Everything. However, there is currently no way to transfer active content to a phone that will work with any phone and SIM card. Software in the form of a SIM-toolkit requires appropriate SIM cards, and cannot control the behavior of the phone in such a way as to hide the fact of the call. Software in the form of special Java Applications requires Java support in the phone (and articles about eavesdropping appeared long before the advent of MIDP 1.0), plus the API will not allow them to control the phone sufficiently to hide the call, and installing them will require certain manipulations on the part of the owner phone (at a minimum - open MMS/WAP-push SMS, or install the software yourself). Perhaps the situation is slightly different with applications for Series 40/60/80 OS or other smartphone OSes. But smartphones are not “all phones.”

There remains the option of remotely changing/replacing the phone's firmware. Works with any phones. Any models. Any manufacturers. In the network of any operators. To this we can only say that it makes direct sense for the intelligence services that are capable of this to retrain as mobile phone manufacturers and effortlessly survive from the market of all current players :)

Point number 2 is usually passed over in silence. However, sometimes they write that “eavesdropping can be detected by the rapidly decreasing battery charge.” Which is usually enough for a maximum of 4 hours of continuous conversation, after which the phone dies. Somehow not very suitable for round-the-clock discreet surveillance, huh?

Point number 3 is also either passed over in silence or indicated as one of the ways to notice eavesdropping. But excuse me, in our time only a completely unobservant person can be unaware of the connection between interference from the speakers of radio equipment and the operation of a mobile phone. Again, for secretive method of listening, such a “side effect” is completely unacceptable.

Point number 4 suggests that the intelligence services are in collusion with mobile operators. This agreement assumes that:

1. The operator has nothing against the fact that his voice channels are used for listening, and he does not receive a cent for them. (We are not considering the option “secret services pay for the person being bugged”, right?)
2. The operator excludes calls to intelligence service numbers from the detailed call printout and from all internal databases (ok, this can be done)
3. If the listener is in the coverage area of ​​another network (or in roaming), the operator additionally bears the costs associated with roaming and interconnect.
4. This conspiracy is valid at least for all operators in the country where the intelligence services in question operate.

Attention, question: what should be the motivation of operators for them to agree to such a conspiracy - and, moreover, a secret conspiracy?

Since it is secret, the option of “compelling it by law” is not suitable (laws are published). Since the conspiracy involves significant financial losses on the part of the operators, the motivator must be either money or fear. Fear, for obvious reasons, disappears. And the money... Can you imagine intelligence agencies paying an operator for billing modifications and costs associated with wiretapping? :)

(A small digression: I read the “Lawful interception” section in the documentation for MSC from at least three manufacturers. Everywhere they talked exclusively about monitoring and recording calls from/to specified numbers, and not a word about the mystical “remote microphone activation”, “phone diagnostic modes” etc.)

So what do we have? Some all-powerful intelligence agencies, with the help of a staff of brilliant engineers, are developing a way to remotely change the software of any phone (note, they are developing it themselves - the intelligence services of another country will not share their developments with them). Further, these special services negotiate with all mobile operators to conceal the fact of calls to secret number owned by the intelligence services. After which, they change the software of your phone and force it to make a call to a secret number. At the risk of being noticed every second by the rapid discharge of the battery and interference from nearby radio equipment, they have the ability to listen to you for about 4-5 hours (if you played into their hands and pre-charged the phone), and if you want to use GPRS, they will almost certainly have to be interrupted (rare networks and phones allow parallel support active voice channel and active GPRS session).

Sorry, but is the game worth the candle?

Let's apply Occam's razor and try to consider alternative version. Let's say you are a mafioso and you are being followed. According to a court order, your phone (the number can be easily recognized) is put on “classic” wiretapping - giving you the opportunity to listen to the calls you make or receive. In addition, they receive some other information about you in a different way (perhaps not entirely legitimate). In order to be able to use this information in court and not expose its source/method of obtaining, this information is presented as “a recording obtained from a telephone using (unnamed) special means.” In addition, in their free time, representatives of special services in (anonymous) interviews can support the legend of wiretapping through a switched-off mobile phone - just so that “everyone is afraid.”

Now compare both options and ask yourself - which one looks more plausible and (most importantly) easier to implement?

If you are not yet convinced, use the razor again, and think about the relative plausibility of these options:

1. A young but ambitious journalist hears/reads that a high-profile arrest has been made based on a “bug” installed in a mobile phone. If you write it like that, the note will be boring and uninteresting. It would be much more interesting to write about Turning on the Microphone - then in addition to the paragraph about the arrest itself, it would be possible to write ten more, stuffed with pseudo-scientific nonsense.
2. You are a manufacturer of “mobile security products.” All sorts of scramblers, additional encryptors, tin foil hats, lead cases, etc. But here’s the problem: your products are poorly sold. The client does not feel the need to shell out money for your inventions. You take the initiative into your own hands and publish a series of articles in the media about the non-illusory threat of Turning on the Microphone... (this is the category that the first link seems to fall into).

Yes, I almost forgot - I promised to say more about quotes and links to official documents, with which this legend is often supported. Let's take the English-language article, the link to which I gave at the very beginning of the post. The article is replete with quotes. I will not analyze everything in detail, I will limit myself to the very first.

What the article says: " The FBI appears to have begun using a novel form of electronic surveillance in criminal investigations: remotely activating a mobile phone's microphone [...]. The technique is called a "roving bug," and was approved by top U.S. Department of Justice officials [...]. The surveillance technique came to light in an opinion published this week by U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan. take place near a suspect's cell phone. Kaplan's opinion said that the eavesdropping technique "functioned whether the phone was powered on or off."".

If you are not strong in English, I will translate. " The FBI began using a new surveillance method: remote microphone activation mobile phone. The method is called "mobile bug" and is approved by the highest ranks of the US Department of Justice. Judge Lewis Kaplan's opinion this week brought public attention to the method. The judge made a decision. according to which the use of a “mobile bug” is recognized as legal, because [.....] . The judge also noted that this method of eavesdropping works regardless of whether the phone is on or off".

Now let's see what is really written in this opinion: "The government applied for a "roving bug," that is, the interception of Ardito"s conversations at locations that were "not practical" to specify, as authorized by 18 U.S.C. § 2518(11)(a). Judge Jones granted the application, authorizing continued interception at the four restaurants and the installation of a listening device in Ardito's cellular telephone. The device functioned whether the phone was powered on or off, intercepting conversations within its range wherever it happened to be." (emphasis mine).

Everything turned out to be simple. The judge approved the installation of a listening device on the suspect's cell phone. There's not a word about remote activation microphones. Below in the quoted document, the “installation” and subsequent “removal” of the listening device from the mobile phone of another suspect is also clearly mentioned.

Wiretapping telephone conversations is an illegal action prosecuted under Article 138 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, even if the surveillance is carried out in relation to close relatives and spouses. In addition, eavesdropping is unethical. But all this will not prevent you from listening to your wife’s phone using a special software. To do this, we have prepared detailed instructions for you.

Before you listen to someone else's mobile phone, remember:

• You alone bear responsibility for these actions (including criminal ones).
• All possible risks associated with the possible detection of wiretapping fall solely on you.
• We are not responsible for the performance of the software in this review.
• We are not responsible for the safety of your personal data.

You also need to remember that listening to the telephone conversations of your wife (or husband) is unethical and ugly, this is the highest manifestation of distrust in your own wife. If the ethical side of the issue does not concern you, use the instructions below.

Special spy software will help you listen to your husband or wife's phone. We will not figure out why this is needed at all - we only give instructions. First you need to solve two problems - select an application and install it on the controlled phone. We found two services online that allow you to establish almost total control over your wife or husband’s smartphone (or even over your own).

TalkLog service

The first service is called TalkLog, it works in paid mode. Its capabilities:

• Saving and compressing telephone conversations for subsequent uploading to the server.
• Listening to conversations over the Internet and downloading data to your computer.
• Reading incoming and outgoing messages.
• View information about calls made - when, to whom, duration of calls.
• View multimedia messages.
• View photos and videos taken.
• View your browser history.
• Control of installed applications.
• Monitoring the subscriber's location (including with high accuracy via GPS).
• Controlling smartphone on/off.
• Listening to your surroundings.

Despite the fact that the service is paid, it is possible to try it for free - for this there is a trial period of 12 hours. After completion, you must pay for the subscription. Its cost is 14.9 USD per month. A six-month subscription will cost 69.9 USD, an annual subscription will cost 89.9 USD. Location monitoring, browser history reading, application monitoring, and on/off control are provided free of charge.

Recorded conversations are stored in the smartphone's memory. After they are transferred to the server, the files must be deleted. Transfer is carried out via mobile internet(must be activated this option) or via Wi-Fi (in the latter case, you can avoid suspicious traffic leakage). To listen to conversations, you need to visit your personal account.

Please note that the service prohibits illegal use, so all risks lie solely with the users.

VkurSe application

Cheaper service compared to the previous one. Its capabilities:

• Record conversations and ambient sounds with automatic sending of files and notifications by email.
• Monitoring and reading CMC.
• Control the location of the smartphone.
• Remote activation of GPS for more accurate coordinates.
• Remote blocking of a mobile phone.
• Management of blocking codes.
• Blocking certain applications.
• Control of correspondence in VK, WhatsApp, Odnoklassniki, Viber and KateMobile (unofficial VK client) - only with root rights.
• Managing a client application using service SMS.
• Monitoring the camera and the photos it takes and sending them to the server.
• Taking screenshots.

The service is really powerful and allows you to get almost complete access to controlled devices (by the way, there can be up to 10 of them on one account). Initially, it was created to control your own devices, but nothing prevents you from installing the client part on your wife or husband’s phone. It can also be used to implement parental controls over baby tubes. The application runs in stealth mode, trying not to load the processor.

VkurSe is provided by subscription. Daily access costs 4.99 USD, monthly access is only 11.9 USD, semi-annual access is 59.9 USD, annual access is 99.9 USD, two-year access is 159.9 USD. There is also a trial trial subscription for three days from full access to all functionality.

It is quite possible that there are free apps, performing spy functions and allowing you to listen to the phone of a wife and husband. You can search for them yourself, but this is extremely dangerous - there are thousands of scammers working in this area who can gain access to your data and bank cards.

How to install wiretapping on a cell phone

The first priority is to register in the selected service, and then pay for a particular period of use. You can also take advantage of the free period for preliminary tests. After that, we proceed to install applications.

So, in order to wiretap your wife’s cell phone, you need to install an application on it from one of the above services (and this is actually a Trojan). Moreover, this must be done secretly from your spouse - for example, use her phone when she is sleeping or has gone to the toilet. Applications are downloaded from the VkurSe and TalkLog sites - it is useless to look for them in the Play Market. Don't forget to allow installation of applications from unverified sources in your phone settings.

Install the application, complete all the necessary settings, set permissions. Do not forget to first disable anti-virus software and automatic application control implemented in operating systems Android versions 8 and 9 (Protection in Google Play). Log in with the username and password from the account you created earlier, complete everything necessary recommendations(they will be displayed on the screen during setup).

Setup Tips:

• Strictly follow the recommendations created by the spyware developers.
• Do not touch settings whose purpose you do not understand.
• Don't include unnecessary features - this will create heavy load to the processor and Internet channel.

It is also not recommended to install several spy applications at the same time, since in this case conflicts are possible, including those that can be detected by the end user (wife or husband). The same applies to working with root - remember that any careless action can bring the phone to a “bricked” state (it won’t turn on or an endless reboot).

Please note that it is impossible to listen to your wife’s phone without installing the application, so there is no escape from this stage. After the installation is complete, you will notice traces - clear your browser history and delete the installation package.

Alternative way

The same VkurSe offers a comprehensive service for preparing a smartphone for wiretapping. The user selects a handset and reports its name to the support service. After receiving a notification about the normal operation of the software in this model, the user pays 80% of the cost of the handset preparation service - the total cost is 400 USD. You also need to pay the cost of the smartphone (here everything depends on the store where the purchase is made). Delivery is carried out by Russian Post or courier service.

The setup cost includes:

• 24/7 technical support.
• Guaranteed operation of the smartphone and readiness for wiretapping.
• Two years of subscription to the service.
• Installing all necessary rights and permissions.

The resulting phone can be presented to your wife as a gift. Although here it is still worth thinking about trust in your spouse.

Application update

All programs in our review are updated manually. Monitor the release of new versions on official websites. And remember, if your wife finds you with her phone in her hands, you’ll have to somehow get out of it (come up with an excuse yourself). Install new version easy - it is placed on top of the old one.

Working with applications

Installed applications run in hidden mode, without notifications or shortcuts. Listening to your wife's phone is carried out through the personal account of the selected service; it is also possible to send files with data by email. If necessary, you can download data to listen to conversations on your computer.

Is it possible to wiretap using the Internet?

Some kind of remote wiretapping of your wife’s phone via the Internet is impossible. Although many services claim the opposite. Most often, these are fraudulent services whose task is to siphon money from the pockets of gullible people into the pockets of the owners. Also, you should not respond to advertisements from people promising to gain access to any handsets without the help of software - only special services that have an entire arsenal of special equipment and access to the switchboards of cellular operators are capable of this.

Wiretapping without apps

There is no option to listen to your wife's phone without installing additional applications, just by phone number. As mentioned above, only the special services have it. The problem of wiretapping can be solved by contacting some influential acquaintances working in law enforcement agencies. In general, there is such an opportunity, especially since today all operators are obliged to keep negotiations within the framework of the “Yarovaya package”.

Is it possible to buy a wiretapping bug?

Bugs for listening to rooms really exist. There are also compact cameras built into pens, glasses, lighters and other items. The problem is that the circulation of such devices is prohibited in Russia - many cases have been registered when criminal cases were initiated against Russians when ordering such devices from Chinese online stores. Moreover, it is almost impossible to embed some kind of bug into a smartphone that has no free space. It is much easier to use special software.

Possible consequences of wiretapping

Some wives and husbands misinterpret the provisions of the law on the secrecy of correspondence and telephone conversations, rightly believing that they have every right to such actions. In fact, this is not so - if wiretapping is discovered, the wife can sue her own spouse, and she most likely wins the case (a technical examination of the smartphone will help to collect evidence).

Moreover, there are factors indicating wiretapping:

• The smartphone battery began to discharge a couple of times faster than before.
• Traffic leakage – conversations take little, but regular sending of photos can raise suspicions.
• Some errors began to appear on the phone - this is due to possible malfunctions in the operation of spy applications.

If you have any suspicions, take your smartphone to experts who can easily detect the installed software. Therefore, before wiretapping your own wife’s phone, we recommend that you think twenty times about the consequences - going to court will lead to the imposition of a substantial fine or imprisonment.

According to Art. 138 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, violation of the secrecy of correspondence, telephone conversations, postal, telegraph or other messages of citizens is punishable by fines of up to 80 thousand rubles (or up to six salaries or other income of the convicted person), or correctional labor for up to one year. If due to your official position it is possible to use technical means, the fine increases to 300 thousand rubles (or the amount of wages for a period of up to two years), and arrest for up to four months is also possible.

Prosecution under Art. 137 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - on violation of privacy. And a good lawyer hired by his wife for legal proceedings will easily bring additional articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation into the case, which will only increase the chances of going to jail. We recommend you think about possible consequences and the advisability of wiretapping.

We must not forget about the ethical side of the issue of listening - it is ugly towards your other half.

Here are some tips:

• Use antivirus software that easily detects such programs (paid versions with deep heuristic analysis work well).
• Activate the "Play Protect" function in Play Store(see screenshot below).
• Activate fingerprint lock or security code– many phones automatically take a photo of the face of the person who is trying to find the correct code.
• Analyze traffic consumption and battery drain - these are direct signs of possible wiretapping.
• Keep your phone with you - don't leave it in plain sight.

If you have any suspicions, submit your phone for examination, collect evidence and file a claim in court.

Which service to choose to wiretap your wife’s phone is up to you. We only brought brief instructions and made recommendations. Remember that main role Trust plays a role in the family. And if it is undermined (not all spouses lead a righteous lifestyle), you need to think about the advisability of further residence.

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