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Criminals Remote-Wiping Cell Phones
An anonymous reader writes "Crafty criminals are increasingly using the remote wipe feature on the Apple iPhone and other business handsets, such as RIM's BlackBerry, to destroy incriminating evidence, the head of the UK's Serious Fraud Office Keith Foggon has warned. Foggon told silicon.com that the move away from PCs towards using mobile phones was causing a headache for crime fighters who were struggling to keep up with the fast pace of new handsets and platforms churned out by the mobile industry."
I can wipe my blackberry to make data irretrievable? I can do it remotely too? HOW?
...who took one look at this and thought "good."
Don't forget to view the photos. I thought the photos were more interesting than the article.
http://software.silicon.com/security/0,39024655,39270417,00.htm
If you are really paranoid, you'll want your laptop or cell phone to:
With this, only experts will be able to copy your device much less decrypt it, and they will have a limited time window to do the copy.
Such a phone or laptop would be good for crossing national borders or any other place where it is subject to search or seizure. If the border guards take it and try to copy it, they may give you back a brick, but at least they won't have anything useful.
Of course, this means you should have your irreplaceable data someplace else for safe-keeping. Think of your phone or laptop as a "convenience copy."
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
if the cops had any brains they would shut off the phones (remove battery) the second they get it and then give it to forensics that should have the IQ to operate it in a faraday cage so that it cant be tampered with remotely. Do they take laptops and PC's they capture and hook them to the net and turn them on? Why do they connect phones to the network when they look at them?
Come on, I though they taught the police how to handle evidence. Are you telling me that CSI tv show is a LIE!!!!
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Sorry it sounds like a "In Soviet Russia" thing but it is true.
Symbian/WinMobile smart phones have tools to lock the handset remotely or in case of new Kaspersky antivirus/security or other 3rd solutions, you can remotely instruct phone to delete all personal data irrecoverably and lock itself. I am almost sure Blackberry, being an enterprise focused device must have similar option.
Once the Apple decided not to allow background running processes, they lost that possible solution. Not just they don't allow anyone to implement it, they don't implement it themselves too.
It is a completely fool safe thing. User sends a previously set SMS to device, device locks itself. Or in Kaspersky case, it doesn't just lock itself, it wipes its data and optionally transforms itself to a white hat (for you) rootkit/trojan and sends the number of first SIM card plugged to device to previously set number.
I have a program on there that'll reformat the hard drive and zero everything else out, as well as disabling the SIM card, if I text it a certain phrase. Of course, it isn't all that helpful if whoever gets ahold of my phone just turns the radio off or removes the antenna so it can't receive that message, but I guess I have to count on criminals not knowing much about PalmOS since it's apparently a dying platform or something.
I worked at a high school that was administering standardized tests--standard procedure is that cameras and phones stay in backpacks to keep students from leaking the exams. Makes sense.
Turns out a few students are so phone addicted they put their phone in their pocket, ask to use the bathroom, and whip the phone out the second they enter the hall. The phones were quickly confiscated by a hall monitor.
Being the school's sysadmin, there was insistence that I check every one of these confiscated phones for evidence of trying to leak exam information--page pictures, text messages, etc. Of course, I found nothing.
I explained that, IF the students were in fact doing this, they could easily delete any evidence they were leaking information--picture archive and sent-messages folder. I was looked at as if I had grown a third nipple--I might as well have been speaking Farsi.
BTW, there's a feature I want in a camera phone. Upon pressing one key, the camera phone commits to taking a picture and immediately e-mailing it to a predetermined e-mail address. That way, should a person/police officer take the phone or swat it out of your hand, it's too late, unless they can physically break the phone or remove the battery within the 3 seconds the picture takes to send...
A Faraday cage needs the cage and the object to be electrically separated. Otherwise, you just gave your device a big antenna.
I suppose if you are an organized crime syndicate, yes, they are interfering with your business plan. Perhaps you should inform all of your employees, er... henchmen, to please refrain from leaving their iPhone at any crime scenes they have created.
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
Wrapped carefully and it did not ring. :)
"So long and thanks for all the fish."