Can Big Brother really hack your cell phone when its turned off!?

Hey guys I dont know wether or not this has been posted yet or not but I just clip from FOX news that suggests the FBI can hack into your cell phone and turn on the mic even when the phone is turned off... eves dropping on any1 that has a mobile phone if they suspect you of anything "NAUGHTY"

If so this world is FUKT! yeah i said it. THere is no other word.

Link to FOX Video

Fox is the worst possible source. You can read more about it here instead. As you can see, its ancient news but I guess Fox likes to get the ratings up.. or something.



[edit on 7-6-2008 by Copernicus]

Thanx for that. Yeah they are pros at shoveling lies. I think its just all a bit rediculous. This world going down the #ta

reply to post by ka0s69


Yes, I believe that is true with certain models depending on the firmware in the device.

Also you can use a cell phone to remotely do things such as turn on your lights etc from any where in the world.

www.linuxha.com... Here is a link...also google X10 etc

Here's an idea: don't listen to the media. They lie and blow everything out of proportion just to get ratings. Then Joe Nobody takes what they say, makes it even more blown out of proportion and it becomes things like this. This would have to be one of the most asinine things I've ever heard of.

No, they can't. I don't think I should need to explain why or how, it should be obvious. There is no spoon. And by spoon I mean conspiricy. Here. In this subject. Check?

Yes, The Government can and does activate your cell phone to listen in on you.

They have done this to 22 million Americans since 2000 (before 9/11)

Here is just two examples of what is commercially available:

www.downloadtopc.com...

bicellphone.com...

I found both of these site in under three minutes.

God help us....

This would have to be one of the most asinine things I've ever heard of.

No sir..this is very simple. Although I have not activated a cell phone in this manner I have used cell phones to demonstrate how a person can turn lights on and off, open garage doors etc when educating customers on home automation.

A cell phone is simply a small computer that uses microwave signals.....in its oldest form it was used in Britain in WW2...

I meant the concept of them doing anything to your phone when powered off. It just seems really asinine to me.

Some phones are in an "always on" mode when the battery is installed. The firmware can trigger the boot up.....

I am unsure of the models.

If you take out the battery then it of course "turns" off that portion of the firmware.

yea...there is lots of cool gadgets

When I was at CES in Las Vegas they had section upon section of gadgets that jam cell phones, turn them on, pin camera's you can view whith cell phone (scary) etc etc....also in order to purchase some of this stuff you need a license according to one of the guys at the booth!

Don't forget you can't even remove the battery from the iPhone(easily), and a lot of new phone designs are doing the same. So there has to be something to it, at the very least if you're paranoid remove the battery when your celly isn't in use.

Even if they 'can' do it, I'm quite certain they don't have millions upon millions of employees hired just to monitor every cell phone across the country. Sift through billions of conversations throughout the average day just trying to find that one person who happens to say something they think is horribly aweful and unamerican. Yeah, that makes sense.

If they are doing it, I would be quite certain they are doing it to people with some sort of purpose. While illegal and unconstitutional (without a warrant), if they are doing it... I highly doubt my cell phone is of any interest to any government agent. Unless they want to hear me discussing graphic design projects with clients or exchanging barbeque recipes with coworkers. "Oh just listen to this poor McMartinson guy, his wife just scolded him for coming home from the pub pisd drunk."

Can they do it... probably. Are they doing it... possibly in some select situations. Should I be worried... not in the least.

Of course they may use an voice recogniton or phonetic recognition software as a net to capture the things they are looking for.....also they can narrow down the search using area codes...or they can narrow a search geographically...or they can use stats on imigration ie..Muslim's will live near an mosque or where hala meat can be found etc

like others said,some models of phones are in a standby and arent "fully" powered off. Those phones could be vulnerable to remote access. This can be done using bluetooth also. Someone with a laptop and a bluetooth dongle in a hotspot like starbucks can and have shown how its done. Most ppl either dont notice,or decide not to turn off their bluetooth signal on their phones when not using a headset. The laptop with the necesary software sees the signal,and connects to it just like a wireless headset. From there you can view the phones contact info (numbers addresses etc ). The coolest part i saw was that the hacked phone was made to call the hackers cell phone,from there you have an open mic in which to listen in.

-I'll try to find a link with the video. Saw it on an episode of "Beyond Tomorrow" on the science channel.

Edit for link here

[edit on 6/8/08 by spanishcaravan]

[edit on 6/8/08 by spanishcaravan]

Okay, so lets say they can do it. So what? Let them. There's nothing I say over a phone that is worth being all butthurt about if the government is in fact listening in on it.

Only reason I'd be so greatly worried about it is if I was doing something wrong. Maybe that's why so many people are paranoid about it. What's the plan? Blow up an orphanage? Rob a bank? What is so important that is has to be kept a secret? And don't give me the whole I have a right to privacy crap, the government has chosen to give you these rights because they recognize these as our rights as humans. If they wanted to take them away, they would.

Originally posted by Echo3Foxtrot
What is so important that is has to be kept a secret? And don't give me the whole I have a right to privacy crap, the government has chosen to give you these rights because they recognize these as our rights as humans.

democracy is the rule of the people, the people are the government. the government can't give or take any rights, you elect a government to ensure your rights are enabled and that your responsibilities are administered.

your thinking of a dictatorship there.

The Rights you have are not given to you by any government.

You are endowed with these rights by the Universe; your Creator

The Right to Privacy is a Freedom you have, though King, Dictator and Democracies have all endeavoured to take them away. Sometimes all at once and with violence, but is normally accomplished via a process of incrementalism (Like in the US nowadays), whereby freedoms are slowly taken away - one by one - and always in the name of security...

'Those who give up liberty for security will get neither' Says Ben Franklin and he was right.

America is Not a Democracy, It is a Republic and a Republic Cannot vote away the rights of it's people or refuse to acknowledge them in a time of manufactured crisis.

A Democracy is a Dictatorship by the majority of the minority. America is not a Democracy, and as such no law or bill can remove or invalidate the constitution or Bill of Rights; a crime that the Bush Administration has committed repeatedly... A Crime for which they will eventually receive a fair trial before handed over to the Hague for their Violations of the Nuremberg Laws.

America just pulled out of the UN Human Rights Body today. They refuse to acknowledge it because if they did, they would be subject to thousands of charges of Human Rights Violations - also known as War Crimes

The Refusal of America to issue a Declaration of War against Iraq in 2003 means America has launched and Waged an Illegal War of Agression. abosulutely in no way different than those war waged by the Nazis (which were pre-emptive wars designed to prevent further terrorist attacks against the Homeland).

Even if you have nothing to hide, Even if you are a raving psychopath, You have the Right to Privacy. No One can take that away from you and rest assured that the day those rights are taken away from you - The American Republic will have officially Fallen....The Pax Americana has Ended.

if you wanna know if your phone is making anykind of connections while it's turned off, simply place them near some speakers, if it connects to anything while you -think- it's tuned off, you'll hear that annoying sound coming out of the speaker!! ti-tititit-tititit-tititittttttttttttt lol

a reply to: ka0s69

If you had a clue about half the stuff that is happening to people as I type right now you would probably sit down and start crying and then your head would explode.

I'm sure this has been posted..
In the late 90's mob boss in chi town was took down..by an off cell phone...it made huge headlines..was it whitey?..I dunno...seems right...I'll do a bit of googling...

a reply to: ka0s69

A good nerd buddy of mine took a trip to DC near the White House for a job. He told me his phone battery was dead and then it suddenly powered up and forcefully updated the software/firmware on his android device. He said it tripped him out pretty hard. I wonder if this happens to anyone else.

It makes me think that most smart phones maintain a reserve battery life even when they die for backdoor purposes. I know my iPhone won't turn back on around 3-5% battery life remaining if I turn it off and try to save battery. I miss my old non-smart phone. I could take the battery out of that thing in 5 seconds, but not on the dang iPhone.