Re: Covert Microphone Application

From: Volker Tanger (vtlists@wyae.de)
Date: Sun Jul 30 2006 - 05:52:39 EDT


Greetings!

On Fri, 28 Jul 2006 07:45:17 +0200
Tonnerre Lombard <tonnerre.lombard@sygroup.ch> wrote:

> On Thu, 2006-07-27 at 21:03 -0600, Ralph Forsythe wrote:
> > I just don't see any unequivocal method of making sure you're secure
> > against this, unless you switch it to a desktop PC with no
> > microphone port and ban laptops from entering the room.
>
> Also, there's a whole new business method in "forgetting" your iPod in
> meeting rooms - of course with iPodLinux and gramofile or something
> similar that is not necessary displayed. Can give you quite some time
> in terms of mp3 recordings.

Or as "on demand" audio espionage device: most cellphones with
attached headset can be switched to auto-answer. In this case you
usually cannot switch the cellphone to silent mode - to prevent exactly
this attack vector.

But you can switch off vibration alert - and when loading the cellphone
with custom ring tones usually noone will notice. Such ringtones could
be ultrasonic WAV/MP3s (http://www.ultrasonic-ringtones.com/) or
similarily MIDI file with a single ultra-quiet (velocity=1),
extremely high or low and ultra-short tone.

The only problem for a few cellphone models is to find a combined
headset+charger plug if it only has one connector (like the Siemens
models) if you want to install a "permanent" listening device. But then
the excuse "I thought it was stolen - it must have slipped out" does not
hold anymore. ;-)

Bye

Volker

-- 
Volker Tanger    http://www.wyae.de/volker.tanger/
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