TRADECRAFT
CELL PHONE TRACKING AND
INTERCEPTION
DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD he interception of private cell phone calls ultimately resulted in the closure of Britain’s most popular Sunday tabloid the News of the World. An ongoing parliamentary investigation has also been sullied with an economy of truth. Hacking is not state of the art and can be easily performed by ordinary mortals once the target phone number has been acquired; the way to protect your mail is also simple, by changing the factory-set PIN that offers little protection, since they vary between 0000 and 1234.
T
In respect of the recent riots in England, police have lots to ponder. Little wonder events caused the authorities to look again and examine cell phone interception. Also under investigation is how to decode hundreds of messages passed between the perpetrators. Not an easy task because the security services rely on digital processing. Interception and decoding requires professional assistance to obtain intelligence at best and an insight into the next target at worst. With such information at hand, the police would have been able to be in the right place at the right time. When the cell or mobile phone first came to Britain it wasn’t too difficult to intercept calls. The system was analogue in nature and scanning receivers capable of covering the base station frequencies were easily available. Even those receivers not expected to
BY PAUL BEAUMONT
The hacking scandal and recent riots in the UK have once again ignited interest in the power of cell phones. Eye Spy examines the security facts behind this and other communication platforms. Still think your call and location are secure? Then digest the contents of this revealing feature...
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EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 77 2012
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30/12/11, 4:52 pm