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The Second Operating System Hiding In Every Mobile Phone
Jah-Wren Ryel writes "Every smartphone or other device with mobile communications capability (e.g. 3G or LTE) actually runs not one, but two operating systems. Aside from the operating system that we as end-users see (Android, iOS, PalmOS), it also runs a small operating system that manages everything related to radio. So, we have a complete operating system, running on an ARM processor, without any exploit mitigation (or only very little of it), which automatically trusts every instruction, piece of code, or data it receives from the base station you're connected to. What could possibly go wrong?"
So this basically means that even if the NSA is *NOT* spying on everyone's personal lives by surreptitiously turning on our cameras and microphones, then some 2-bit drug cartel with a couple crackers and an eBay account can? No thanks.
In my house, we are putting in a charging station by the front door, where we will leave all phones. Guests will be cordially invited to leave their cell phones at the door, feel free to pick up a free charge for the ride home.
In the words of a Google employee, "Fuck these guys."
Yeah, I'm surprised anyone thinks this is news. It's been like this since the days of the grayscale Nokia phones. A phone that is turned of can still be located by the cell towers and it can in some cases be remotely turned on and used as a listening device. Back then security experts advised to remove the battery before you discussed secrets in a corporate or government setting, in order to avoid falling victim to espionage.
I guess it's just not very practical to follow that advice. Some government agencies and some corporations have probably installed jammers or shielding around certain meeting rooms in order to keep top meetings secure.
Please. Anyone paranoid enough to take the battery out of their phone to avoid being tracked would simply not bring the phone with them, which is both easy and effective.
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Reference from the wikipedia article on Mobile Phone Tracking (check the original source if you can be arsed and let us know if sounds true): Declan McCullagh; Anne Broache (December 1, 2006). "FBI taps cell phone mic as eavesdropping tool". Cnet. Retrieved June 24, 2010. "Kaplan's opinion said that the eavesdropping technique "functioned whether the phone was powered on or off." Some handsets can't be fully powered down without removing the battery; for instance, some Nokia models will wake up when turned off if an alarm is set."
Korma: Good