This article is a comprehensive and interesting treatise on the dangers facing and imminent mobile phone users. These threats can be broadly classified into two categories: signal interception and access to user information. Access to user information can be divided into access to text messages, access to user records, and access to information stored on a mobile phone set. These four dangers are the very basis on which the first four sections of this title were developed.
The first section begins by highlighting the basic concepts of signal interception. This is followed by a proper definition of signal interception, with particular emphasis on the possible areas in the mobile phone network where signal interception can be performed. Next, the reader is exposed to certain hardware and software techniques that can accomplish the task of signal interception. In discussing this, the analog mobile phone system has been critically reviewed and, at the same time, its weaknesses have been exposed by analyzing the contemporary digital mobile phone system. This section concludes with a discussion of the relevant matters substantiating the claims made earlier in this section.
The second section starts with the systematic introduction of text messaging and explains the meaning of access to text messages. Next, this section points to the fact that law enforcement agents have access to text messages. After discussion of this point, examples were cited to substantiate this claim. Subsequently, threats from malicious attackers were also brought forward with cases substantiating the existence of such threats. This section concludes with a mention of a combination of software and/or hardware devices for data retrieval.
The third section begins with a coherent description of what user records are and where they can be found. This is followed by a discussion of various methods of accessing user records from a mobile phone or the operator’s database server. This section concludes by citing relevant cases to corroborate the explanations given earlier in this section.
The fourth section discusses the details of modern mobile phones and how they efficiently play the role of data processing, storage and transmission. Subsequently, various scenarios for accessing the stored information have been brought to the reader’s attention. This section concludes with credible real-life examples supporting the explanations given earlier in this section. The segment concludes with a call for practical and reliable mobile security solutions.
The fifth section explores other potential threats. The first issue to be considered is the possibility of using a mobile phone to track and locate a person. This was adequately supported by a news report. The second issue examined in this section is the potential for malicious threats to mobile phone users as a result of Bluetooth technology. This was also adequately reinforced by a news report touching on every aspect of the issue. The segment concludes with a call for practical and reliable mobile security solutions.
1. Signal Interception
The unified framework of spectral-correlation theory of cyclostationary signals is used to present a comprehensive treatment of weak, random signal detection for interception purposes. Relationships have been established between the different types of Ad Hoc detectors previously proposed, the optimal detectors and the newly proposed detectors. The spectral-correlation-level approach to the interception problem has been described as particularly promising for detection, classification and estimation in particularly difficult environments with unknown and changing noise levels and interference activity. A fundamental shortcoming of the radiometric methods prevalent in such environments has been clarified.
Before going into the details of signal interception, it is extremely important to take its root to its ancestor – intelligence. Intelligence is the act of secretly listening to a private conversation, which may be considered immoral or beneficial depending on the parties involved in the act and the underlying motives for engaging in the act. This can be done through telephone lines (phone tapping), email, instant messaging, and other communication media considered private. At this point it is necessary to underline that signal blocking, technically, comes under phone tapping. Therefore, a brief explanation of what phone tapping is will undoubtedly shed more light on what signal blocking actually is.
Phone tapping is the monitoring of telephone and Internet conversations by covert means for the purpose of obtaining information about transmitted information and/or altering that information. Therefore, in this context, signal interception can simply be described as the acquisition and/or disruption of data, being transmitted over a radio access network, representing the connection between mobile devices and base stations, or over a core network, as such Which constitutes the connection between the base station and the mobile switching centres and between the mobile switching centres to each other and to the public switching telephone network.
The issue of signal interception or eavesdropping has become a daily topic for everyone in the mobile communications community, from occasional discussions among technical experts, as such aggressive attacks have undesirable effects. The wild proliferation of signal interception hardware and the development of software technologies that make mobile devices hack-prone are all irrefutable proofs confirming the fact that signal interception is a major threat to the privacy of all mobile customers.
2. Access to text messages
It is essential to provide an adequate explanation of the fundamental concepts underlying the act of accessing text messages before delving into the issue of access. Consequently, key concepts will be highlighted. Text messaging is a general term for sending text messages using such services from mobile phones. Short Message Service (SMS) on GSM, Skymail on JPhone, Short Mail on NTT DoCoMo, SMTP on Rim BlackBerry, etc. These text messaging services are communication protocols that allow the exchange of short text messages between mobile devices and as previously described, such services are available on most mobile devices that have an on-board wireless telecommunications facility. Depending on the perceptual interpretations provided, access to text messaging can be described as the acquisition of text messages stored or deleted from users’ mobile devices or operators’ servers for legal or illegal purposes by particular parties (mobile operators, law enforcement officials or hackers).
Law enforcement officers have no problems obtaining records of text messages and telephone conversations from mobile operators. In fact, they quickly and easily gain access to such information in electronic format for careful checking. Private detectives operating in Poland give their clients access to the text message archive of the person under surveillance, especially when checking one’s private life.
To further substantiate these claims, it would be of paramount importance to refer to Disk Labs Forensic Services, which provides a complete mobile phone forensic investigation analysis. Upon request, they provide comprehensive reports about the mobile phone user and all data and records contained therein. For example, regarding SMS, they provide detailed information about the SIM card, SMS memory usage, and confidential details about the SMS message, such as the original address and the full text sent. These point to the fact that the data stored or transmitted through the mobile phone is not completely secure due to the vulnerability of the mobile phone. Researchers at Independent Security Evaluators (ISE) have shown that hackers can take control of an iPhone and gain access to text messages and contact information. Furthermore, they demonstrated that by cheating the phone to access a particular website.
There are many instances where some parties have taken advantage of these inherent flaws of mobile devices and thus violated the private lives of users. One interesting case is the text-messaging sex scandal between Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his chief of staff Christine Beatty. The Detroit Free Press checked over 14,000 text messages received from Beatty’s pager, and published messages that confirmed the two had a relationship and had lied about it by swearing. To make the cases cited in the previous paragraph more understandable, it will be necessary to clarify the technicalities behind access to text messages. When a mobile phone user sends text messages using their mobile phone (for example, SMS messages using GSM), these messages may be intercepted in the same way as voice signals are intercepted. In addition, most mobile operators keep text messages on their servers for fixed periods ranging from a few days to years.
As a result, when text messages are available on operators’ servers, these messages can be accessed by mobile operators and/or law enforcement authorities. In the light of the above, it is necessary to bear in mind that gaining access to stored text messages (by any third party) is a very challenging task, but it is possible with the necessary expertise and tools.
The advent of software that can efficiently retrieve and restore deleted text messages stored in the SIM cards of users’ mobile phones, and with a more powerful combination of software and hardware that can download the entire content of the SIM cards, demonstrates the urgent need for reliable security solutions for mobile phones. Much of what is carefully and comprehensively explained here points to the essential fact that threats to mobile users’ privacy urgently require authentic and practical security solutions, especially when it comes to illegal and unauthorized access to text messages.
3. Access to user records
A brief description of what user records are in mobile phones will be essential for a proper understanding of the mechanism of how mobile customers’ privacy may be breached as a result of unauthorized access to their records on their mobile devices. Records of mobile subscribers on the servers of mobile network operators are mainly confidential information. The largest part of users’ confidential information is contained in calling activities, such as logs of incoming and outgoing calls; detailed information of the number dialed and being dialed; accurate and detailed records of the time and duration of phone calls; the user’s location at the time of phone calls; billing information, etc. These data are usually managed by the mobile network operator. Like text message security, getting access to a user’s records by a third party is a difficult and challenging task, but it is possible because there have recently been many cases of violation of the privacy of mobile phone users by getting access to their records.
There are also cases where mishandling and misuse of data contained on storage devices or even hardcopy of such data by the operator can open the way for intrusion and acquisition of information. It should also be noted that the technology for accessing user records is the same as that explained in the previous section about accessing text messages. The growing number of mobile phone spy software’s website and tutorials alarmed technical experts, business experts and even government officials to the extent that a Senate conference was held with the sole purpose of addressing the issue of protecting consumers’ phone records. This reinforces the claim that access to mobile phone users’ records is a major threat, which must be taken into account in the search for reliable security solutions that will protect the privacy of mobile phone users.
In order to reinforce what has been stated in the previous paragraph, a number of recent and popular cases will be discussed. It would be more appropriate to start with an interesting and recent case, reminiscent of the anti-government food riots in the Egyptian city of Mahalla al-Kubra. Amidst the uproar, a large number of protesters had mobile phones which were used to make calls and send text messages. About nine months after this incident, 22 people were convicted for their involvement in the demonstration. This is extremely disappointing, especially when one considers how the Government mysteriously identified and punished the demonstrators. Interestingly, the secret was revealed when Annie Mullins, Vodafone’s global head of content standards, announced at an event at the Westminster Forum that Egyptian authorities had forced her to hand over customer communication data following food riots. This is undoubtedly a major ethical dilemma associated with securing and releasing records of mobile phone users.
4. Access to information stored on mobile phone sets
Many people use their mobile phones as portable computers, ensuring that they store a lot of sensitive information on their devices. This trend is becoming even faster with the increasing trend of smart phones, which increases the chances of personal information stored in your phone being at risk. Due to the countless advances made in mobile technology, mobile phones are now equipped with even more advanced and improved features in addition to the existing standard voice functionality. Consequently, existing mobile devices are designed to support many additional features and accessories, such as communication protocols for text messaging, email, packet switching for Internet access, gaming, Bluetooth, infrared, camera with video recorder and for sending-receiving photos and videos (Multimedia Messaging Service) MMS, MP3 player, radio and GPS. It is only by combining all these functionalities and the data processed as inputs or outputs that the information stored on the mobile phone set is formed.
It is important to note that whenever a mobile device is lost or stolen, all the information stored on it becomes available to those who have access to that device, even if it is password protected. It emphasizes once again how vulnerable mobile phones are. Many mobile phone users erase the information stored in old mobile phone sets before selling or throwing them away, but doing so does not guarantee the security and privacy of the stored information, because using special software programs, it is possible to restore the deleted information. Intruders may also have access to information stored on the mobile phone set when the user has not lost/sold his/her mobile phone set. This an efficient intruder can do efficiently through mobile phones, computers, and other devices with Bluetooth connections.
To adequately substantiate what has been stated in the previous paragraph, some examples will be presented. Adam Goudiak, a 29-year-old Polish security researcher at the Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Center, found two vulnerabilities in Sun Microsystems’ mobile version of Java software that could allow a malicious program to read private information from a mobile phone or render the phone unusable under unusual circumstances They found a way to attack the Nokia 6310i mobile phone, but before exploiting these vulnerabilities, the mobile phone user must download and run a malicious Java program. With the massive use of web media features through mobile phones by enthusiastic users, this can be a fatal hoax and many users will fall victim to it. This.
A disturbing case is that of Miley Cyrus, who was liked by a well-known hacker to be known as ‘K Dollars’. He pretended to be the rightful owner of their account in the operator’s database and obtained their data from the operator by cleverly requesting it. His mobile phone was also hacked and some of the archived photos were posted and distributed on various websites. Another case is an embarrassing incident involving an iPhone, which makes it easier to access stored information from phones that are locked. It was exposed that an unauthorized user could exploit the security flaws inherent in the phone by pressing the button twice to make an emergency call. This brings up the user’s favorite contacts and clicking on a number gives complete access to all the features of the phone. Additionally, clicking on an email gives access to all emails and clicking on a contact’s name gives full access to the data of all contacts. This is yet another clear proof of taking serious action on security because of the obvious naivety and vulnerability of mobile phones.
5. Other dangers
Mobile phones have gone further than we imagined -from a simple communication device to intelligent gadgets ensuring justice or, in other words, smart devices for committing crimes. What can a mobile phone tell? Surprisingly, much more than what we wouldn’t even want to tell ourselves. If someone travels with a mobile phone, the device repeatedly informs network transmitters about that person’s change of location. By analyzing the speed of radio waves and using triangulation technology, it is possible to determine the exact location of a person using a mobile phone for text messaging or calls, also with the same accuracy as a GPS satellite navigation system. A news report examining every aspect of mobile phone tracking said that mobile telephone technology is rapidly becoming a powerful testing tool in the hands of police investigators. By verifying call data records (CDRs) maintained by cell phone companies, police checkers can access the cell phone location and stored data of calls made by customers.
Police can trace the location of a mobile phone user minute by minute at any time. The standard radio-tracking technology used by mobile companies makes it possible for the police to obtain valuable information about the exact location of a suspect. A mobile phone is usually connected to a particular person and provides his or her minute-by-minute space. This technology detects the radio frequency sent from the mobile phone to the service antennas. A method called triangulation helps the company locate the collar’s whereabouts in its multi-antenna area of operation. Mobile phone locations are monitored by measuring the signal strength from the phone to nearby towers. The company can receive and store information about any mobile phone that is operational and operated within the cellular network
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