FBI Taps Cell Phone Microphones in Mafia Case

cnet-declan writes "We already knew the FBI can secretly listen in to car conversations by activating microphones of systems like OnStar. A new Mafia court case suggests that the FBI can do the same thing to cell phones. The judge's opinion and some background information [pdf] are available for reading online. The most disturbing thing? According to the judge, the bug worked even if the phone appeared to be 'powered off.' Anyone up for an open-source handset already?" From the article: "This week, Judge Kaplan in the southern district of New York concluded that the 'roving bugs' were legally permitted to capture hundreds of hours of conversations because the FBI had obtained a court order and alternatives probably wouldn't work. The FBI's 'applications made a sufficient case for electronic surveillance,' Kaplan wrote. 'They indicated that alternative methods of investigation either had failed or were unlikely to produce results, in part because the subjects deliberately avoided government surveillance.'"

Comments

Re:What's so alarming here?

[Yokaze]

The poster of the story seems to be under the false impression that the FBI activated the mobile phone's integrated microphone. This would have been quite alarming. However, if he (or the original author) had read the affidavit correctly (as you probably did), he'd notice that they just bugged him. (Point 3: "[...] through a listening device placed in the cellular phone [...]").

Re:In Soviet Russia

[Dun Malg]

That also happened to some people I knew in the UK, the police monitored their house via their POTS phone. .

I don't really see how that's possible. When the handset is on-hook, the microphone is disconnected. This is a requirement for BABT compliance. You are correct. The analog POTS system fully disconnects the microphone and speaker when on hook, as per design standards going back to the 1870's. It's not possible to listen in on-hook without modifying the phone. OP is either engaging in "urban legendry", or the incident took place before 1982, when BT still owned the entire phone system (including the sets themselves) and could believably send a technician 'round to "fix the phone".