Protecting your phone from wiretapping: how to secure your smartphone - a guide. How to find out if a mobile phone is being tapped How to find out a mobile phone for wiretapping

Have you ever wondered what your parents, girlfriend or friend is doing? According to sociological studies, more than half of our citizens are interested in such questions from time to time.

I think this post will be very useful in connection with the latest news that the Russian special services have learned to listen to Skype.

As the saying goes, even walls have ears. In this collection, I tried to consider the most common options, and how to avoid or at least minimize the risk of information leakage?

1). Interception by air
There are passive GSM interceptors or IMSI interceptors. These interceptors look like laptops with an antenna, naturally equipped with certain software.

Each mobile phone has a SIM card with a unique IMSI identification number, by which your communication provider, as soon as a call is made, determines who is calling and, accordingly, what tariff plan the client has, how much money to withdraw from him. GSM interceptors emulate the operation of a base station through which a cell phone operates.

At the moment of connection, the phone starts looking for the most powerful channel from several base stations located in the area, the GSM interceptor pretends to be such a station, and through it the subscriber connects with his interlocutor, transmitting the signal further along the chain through the provider's stations. Ordinary GSM-communication has a very weak encryption, we can say that it is not encoded at all, and such an interceptor allows you to connect to 20-30-100 channels. It would be a mistake to think that only special services need such interception, it is also widely used in economic espionage, because, for example, all trade brokers communicate with clients via mobile communications, and their conversations are intercepted all the time.
Asking price:On the black market, these devices are from $500 thousand to 1 million $

2). Interception through a communication provider.
At each station of any mobile operator in Russia, by law, SORM is installed, a black box that allows special services to record any conversation. I have no doubt that you can get access to the capabilities of SORM in Russia for money or acquaintance, this option works, and it means that the interception is carried out directly through the provider, regardless of his desire or unwillingness.
Asking price: By acquaintance, they can organize a recording almost "for free" - from 5000 rubles(simple printout of calls and sms) up to 10 million $(comprehensive monthly wiretapping of the "competitor")

3). Installing a Trojan on a Phone
Such a program directly records from a microphone. Such a practice exists. Just two weeks ago, a scandal erupted around the Carrier IQ developer program installed on 150 million phones, which tracked all calls and all actions that the owner performed. It's no secret that such programs are installed by default on Apple and HTC devices, although Apple, under pressure from customers, promised to remove the program from the 5th version of the iPhone. But in general, these are small programs, from which, if you do not know about their existence, there is practically no protection.
Asking price: On the "hacker" forums, such a program is ready for you to make and customize for you from 10000 rub and above(the main difficulty is "infecting the object's phone with a Trojan virus")

four). Using Bluetooth and WiFi
A huge number of people use a BlueTooth headset, and traditionally it is believed that this communication standard in the ISM band is limited to a range of 10-12 meters. However, there is evidence that the signal can be intercepted at a distance of up to 1 thousand meters - using a directional antenna to capture weak signals that are completely unprotected.
Asking price: You can order analogues of such devices from Chinese sites from 35000 rub and above(Difficulties - every third such "toy" is delayed at customs)

5). Cable listening.
Traditional "bedbugs" mounted on cables that, often forgotten, sometimes link cellular cells together.
Issue price: From 50,000 rubles and above

There are other ways to intercept conversations that are no longer associated with cellular communications, for example, using a directional microphone with a laser that is directed at the glass of the room where the negotiations are taking place. It removes vibrations of the glass coming from sound waves, and perfectly records speech, albeit with a loss of timbre coloring. But the protection against such wiretapping is simple - heavy curtains between the window and the speakers.

Ways to protect against wiretapping

Anti-trap procedures are inexpensive, especially if you just take a few precautions. There are many levels of protection, and they depend on how seriously the client is interested in keeping his negotiations secret: weak protection will help against hooligans, good protection can be compared to an anti-nuclear bunker.

1). The first step is to check if there are any extraneous programs or intrusions into the case on the phone. If we are talking about a non-telephone conversation, then we must not forget that a switched off phone can work in microphone mode - it can be activated through a provider, so it can be placed in a special metal case that completely shields the signal, or just a microwave that shields not only from microwave radiation. And you can just remove the battery or, best of all, the SIM card.

During telephone conversations, you can then offer to use encrypted communication channels. There are special cryptographic programs that encrypt on a peer-to-peer basis, that is, the voice stream is encrypted throughout the communication channel, from one communication subscriber to another.

2). Avoid or minimize sharing of personal information such as credit card numbers, financial matters, passwords. And when conducting confidential business negotiations, use specially prepared mobile phones and spatial noise systems;

3). - It is more difficult to intercept a conversation that is conducted from a moving car, since the distance between it and the intercepting equipment (if it is not in the car) increases and the signal weakens;

4). - Use communication systems in which data is transmitted at a high speed with frequent automatic frequency changes during a call (for example, GPRS);

5). - Turn off your mobile phone completely if you do not want to be tracked by location;

6). - You should not buy used devices and even more so repair mobile phones in dubious workshops.

Protecting your phone from wiretapping is an urgent issue for those involved in social or political activities, business, as well as ordinary citizens who do not want personal information to fall into the wrong hands.

There is no easy way to determine if a smartphone is being tapped. But there are signs that should make you wary. These are, firstly, strange interference, secondly, a noticeable decrease in Internet speed, and thirdly, accelerated battery drain on a new smartphone.

How are the secret services wiretapped?

National secret services in almost all countries cooperate with mobile operators that provide them with access to any subscriber by court order and transmit data for at least the last 3 months.

How do you know if you are being listened to?

Battery temperature

One of the likely indicators of the presence of "wiretapping" is the battery. Feel your phone while you're not using it - if it's warm or even hot, it's still being used. Keep in mind that heat comes primarily from overuse. The battery may only be hot if the phone has been in use for some time.

Phone drains very fast

When a mobile phone is tapped, it loses battery much faster. A bugged mobile phone is constantly recording conversations in the room, even if it looks like it is lying idle.

Turn off delay

When you turn off your phone and see a long delay, the backlight stays on for a long time, or the phone just refuses to turn off, it's possible that you're hooked.

strange activity

When your phone is working, does it happen that the backlight suddenly lights up, some applications are installed by themselves, does it spontaneously turn off? Strange behavior may be a signal that someone is remotely controlling this device. By the way, this can also happen due to interference in data transmission.

background noise

When you are talking, the phone "on tap" may interfere. Something like echoes, electric shocks, clicks - these sounds can be caused by the environment, interference on the connection ... or someone listening to you. If you hear a pulsating noise from your phone when you're not using it, it could be a serious problem.

Interference

If you use your phone in close proximity to other electronic devices (such as a TV) and it interferes with them, then this may be due to the presence of foreign devices in the mobile phone case. In most cases, interference is normal, but if it occurs when you are not using the phone, then this may well mean that you are "under the hood".

How to protect your phone from wiretapping?

Use messengers that are closed to everyone, such as Telegram, Chare, Wickr or Signal.

Determine what information is safe to post publicly. Should everyone know your phone number, have access to information about your family, loved ones and lifestyle. Be careful when posting pictures of children.

Do not install unfamiliar software on your phone, monitor existing applications, use multi-level identification wherever possible, do not follow insecure links or connect to suspicious "free" charging cables.

Only a mobile operator can offer a service for tracking the location of a subscriber: a member of your family, an acquaintance or a company employee.

We also present to your attention 8 secret combinations for mobile phones that no operator will tell you about.

Code *#06#
With this combination, you can find out the unique IMEI number of any smartphone.

Code *#21#
This combination allows you to get information about the included call forwarding. Find out if someone is receiving your calls, messages or other data.

Code *#62#
This command allows you to find out the number to which incoming calls are forwarded if iPhone is turned off or out of network coverage.

Code ##002#
With this set, you can turn off call forwarding. Now only you can receive calls.

Code *#30#
Provides information about determining the number of the incoming subscriber.

Code *#33#
This combination shows information about blocking outgoing supported services such as calls, SMS and other data.

Code *#43#
This set helps display call waiting information.

Code *777# (for Ukraine)
Displays the current balance, as well as an information operator menu, depending on the cellular operator that is used.

8 combinations on your phone will help you find out if you are being tapped. How much talk lately about wiretapping by intelligence officers, be it an ordinary worker or a high-ranking figure. But no one fully knows how deep security officers can go in listening to mobile devices.

Perhaps this is just the fruit of a sick fantasy of the mass media and spy films that do not cease to be popular all over the world, and there are no auditions in sight.

Below are 8 combinations on your phone to help you figure it out. These combinations are not known to most phone users, not even every operator knows about them.

1. *#43#
Displays information about call waiting on the phone.

2.*777# (code for Ukraine)
Find out your current balance and display the menu of the mobile operator, depending on which one you are currently using.

3. *#06#
This code allows you to get unique IMEI data of any phone.

4. *#21#
With this combination, you can find out if your calls, SMS or other data are coming to someone else besides you. All this can be done by finding out if call forwarding is enabled on the smartphone.

5. *#33#
Information is displayed about which services your phone supports and which of them are coming from the device at the moment. It can be calls, sms and much more.

6. *#62#
Shows the number to which your calls and data are forwarded, if any.

7. ##002#
This code is used to disable call forwarding so that only the owner of the machine, i.e. you, can receive calls.

8. *#30#
Gives the necessary information to determine the number of incoming calls.

These simple combinations can protect you from easy ways to infiltrate your phone from the outside. However, from more complex methods, if any, they are unlikely to be reliable protection.

Secret codes for iPhone: pushing the boundaries of what's possible

Did you know that the iPhone has secret codes? With their help, you can see a lot: from signal strength to call forwarding status. So let's see what we can do here:

1. Hide your phone number

If you need to hide your phone number, it is enough to perform this simple manipulation, and you will already be calling as “Unknown”.

Sticks and dashes are today a visual embodiment of signal strength that lacks precision. Turn on “Field Test Mode” or “Field Test Mode” and dial the number as above. Then after starting the call, hold down the power button. Once the screen turns off, press the center button and wait until you return to the home screen. You will be interested in the number in the upper left corner of the iPhone, which will replace the sticks, indicating signal strength.

3. Find out your unique phone code

It is in the settings, but in order not to search for a long time, just dial the following combination of numbers.

4. Determine where your messages are coming from

Any SMS first gets to the SMS center by a special identification number. To find out, dial *#5005*7672# and call! Voila!

5. Call barring and call waiting

The call barring mode allows you to block incoming and outgoing calls, while the “waiting” mode allows you to hold the current or incoming call. If you have paid for both of these services, you can use the above codes. Share this useful information with your family and friends!

The modern telephone is a high-tech device that is available to almost everyone. The power and capabilities of the electronic filling, located in a small case, even surpass the parameters of some computers. When we talk, there is a feeling that no one hears the dialogue. But it is erroneous, so when transferring confidential information, you should remember that third parties can eavesdrop on you. In this regard, the question arises: "How to check the phone for wiretapping?"

Quite often today you can meet people who resort to this method of tracking. These are jealous spouses, and parents who care about the safety of their child, and bosses who are interested in the situation in the team.

Battery temperature

Absolutely any application consumes battery power. Therefore, when no applications are running in the device, the battery is in economy mode. It is one of the likely indicators of listening. Only when the device is in use can the battery temperature be high. It should be controlled after half an hour since the last conversation. Feel the phone while it is idle. If it turns out to be heated, then this is the first sign that someone is eavesdropping on you. Here it is necessary to remember that even the remote use of a mobile phone leads to heating of the battery.

Battery level

There is also another way to check the phone for wiretapping. Pay attention to as well as the charging time. A sign of a potential threat may be the sign that the mobile phone is discharged more often than usual. During the time that you use this device, you can roughly figure out how fast the charge is consumed. If your battery is draining much faster than usual, you have reason to be concerned. Even if the gadget looks lying around, it can be constantly in the room without your knowledge. Therefore, the battery loses its charge faster. But some applications, such as Battery LED or BatteryLife LX, can track the speed of this process. But remember that over time, these devices lose their maximum charge level. Therefore, after a year of use, the battery capacity will steadily decrease, but how much depends on the intensity of use.

Turn off delay

Another alarming factor is the delay in dropping the call and turning off the mobile phone. This is because eavesdropping programs, when wedged into the conversation, require some amount of time to do so. As soon as you notice that the call does not end immediately, and the shutdown process began to occur late, this serves as a reason for diagnosing the software and hardware of the device. If everything is in order, then you need to check the wiretapping of the phone. Pay attention to his unusual behavior.

Independent activity

This feature needs to be checked immediately. If various applications are installed without your participation, the backlight suddenly lights up, a call is made on its own - this is evidence that someone else has access to the mobile phone besides you. Also, such actions by the device can be performed due to interference that occurs during data transmission. All this serves as an occasion to check the wiretapping of the phone.

You should also pay attention to the funds in your account. This is necessary because all listening programs use the World Wide Web to send recorded information. As a result, the traffic becomes larger, but you can notice this only if you do not have an unlimited tariff connected.

Acoustic noise

If during a conversation you constantly hear some kind of electrical discharges, clicks, crackles, then this also serves as a reason for the immediate diagnosis of the device. But keep in mind that such interference may be caused by the environment of your interlocutor or connection failures. But a serious problem can be pulsating noise during the inactivity of the device. Here it is worth considering the question: “How to check the phone for wiretapping?”

Electronic devices

In the vicinity of the TV, the GSM module may create sound interference, such as howling, crackling, loud clicks. But you should be wary when these noises do not occur during telephone conversations.

However, all these signs cannot unambiguously indicate that the phone is being wiretapped. How to determine its presence, you will be prompted at the service center. Maybe it's just a network self-refresh, or the device checks for email, signal strength, or messages on its own.

Disinformation

Many modern people ask themselves the question: “How to find out if the phone is tapped or not?” If such suspicions crept into your head, then you can try to bring the person to clean water. Try to misinform him by giving personal "secret" information to a person you trust in a telephone conversation. You will receive an affirmative answer to this question when you realize that the information has spread.

Oddities when searching for a network

When using the Operator Select function, a new and unknown operator appears in the list on the display of the machine in the form of a set of numbers. Thus, without special equipment, you can establish the fact of tracking you. Once it was discovered by accident on the iPhone. At the same time, it absolutely does not matter, because the more modern it is, the easier it is to install malware on it.

How to protect yourself from telephone wiretapping

The first thing to do is to exclude or at least minimize the transfer of confidential information over the phone, such as card numbers, passwords, financial matters.

Mobile devices should not be used for conducting important tasks. Preference should be given to specially prepared telephones or spatial noise systems.

It is very difficult to intercept a conversation from a moving vehicle as the distance increases and the signal becomes weaker.

It is desirable to use mobile communication systems in which data is transmitted with automatic frequent frequency changes throughout the conversation.

If you want to keep your location a secret, you need to completely turn off the device and remove the battery. But when you feel that there is wiretapping of phones, how to check this fact? You can just leave the office or car for an important meeting without him.

Do not repair your device in suspicious, unverified workshops. You can also contact the police. They have special equipment that allows you to determine the wiretapping of the phone. But this possibility of verification should be used only as a last resort, if you are sure that you are "under the hood".

Programs for tracking telephone conversations

Conversations are recorded in the phone's memory in the form of *.mp3 files, and then they are transferred to a computer for study. To do this, a special program is secretly installed on the phone of the subscriber of interest. In the same way, you can control messages and others. At the same time, it is necessary to take into account the type of device that you want to listen to, its operating system, the availability of access to the global network and Bluetooth, and the amount of memory. As for modern devices, there are several such programs for them that listen to the device, transmit data and are able to locate the controlled subscriber. At the same time, surveillance data will be transmitted at the expense of debiting funds from the “affected” subscriber, which will significantly affect costs. Phones based on LOS JAVA Symbian do not have direct access to such wiretapping programs, but if you search carefully, you can probably find them. This method is the most accessible to the common man.

There is also a method of so-called conference calls. Since it gives a less successful result, this method is used extremely rarely for the purpose of eavesdropping, and besides, it is very imperfect.

But it is worth emphasizing that wiretapping is a rather rare occurrence, and the likelihood of surveillance is very small. If you still want to feel protected, then lock your device with a password and keep it with you at all times. And at a time when you are not using it, it is worth removing the battery from the compartment. After these simple steps, you will not be tormented by the question of how to check the phone for wiretapping. Naturally, you simply do not give attackers a chance.

Phone tapping - how to determine?

Absolutely any phone can be listened to if desired. Moreover, this can be done even if the device is in an inactive state, because the microphone can be turned on forcibly. This will allow you to eavesdrop on all conversations near the device. Digital models of the DECT standard have similar capabilities.

Unlike analog lines, where it is quite easy to establish organized interference, it is practically impossible to detect it in mobile devices without special equipment, since the technical principles of these networks exclude such a possibility.

How to find out the wiretapping of the phone? You cannot do this on your own, you can find out this fact only at the service center, because no additional icons will appear on the display, and this will not affect the quality of the connection.

It is important to understand one thing here: it is simply impossible to organize total surveillance, since there are neither human nor technical resources for this. In addition, the special services do not have such a need.

Confidentiality of a telephone conversation is part of the Constitution, which protects the rights of every person. If this part is violated, then the offender will face criminal liability. How to find out if the mobile phone of the husband, wife is tapped for free? Suddenly someone invades your privacy? How to remove wiretapping from a mobile phone iPhone or Android? There are a number of signs to understand that can indicate the presence of wiretapping. Let's take a look at the main ones.

Is the phone tapped?

Many are interested in this question, especially those who have any concerns. There are hundreds of professions where the activity is related to the transfer of such information, which is confidential. How to find out if your or someone else's phone was tapped, that your device is in the palm of a third party?

Important! There is a very simple way to check to determine wiretapping. Try to tell someone false information with provocations. If these words are repeated behind your back or in wider circles, then you need to become more attentive and begin to analyze the situation.

There are many signs of "espionage" by the secret services at a distance. Let's talk about each of them.

Extraneous noise or echo during a call

If during a call you are used to hearing some extraneous sounds, then it's time to be alert, check and listen. A variety of gurgles, clicks, an incomprehensible rumble, rattle or pops are all signs that there is a possibility of listening to the device.

Important! For detection, you need a sound sensor with low frequency settings. If the arrow of such a sensor goes off scale, then you have a reason for alarm.

Mobile device malfunction

Try to pay attention to the correct operation of your smartphone. If the cell constantly reboots, discharges very quickly or heats up, then you can try to resort to the following actions:

1. A 100% way to get rid of wiretapping is a Hard Reset.
2. Reboot the device and at the time of switching on, hold down the Power and Volume keys.
3. You will see the context menu of the operating system, in which you need to select the Reset item.
4. After selecting this item, all data will be deleted and the phone will return to factory settings.

Important! If you yourself want to follow your loved one or your child, but so that they do not suspect anything, so that there are no bugs and glitches after installing the spy app, then first figure it out.

How to turn off wiretapping of a mobile phone with other signs? Let's try to deal with them first.

A few more signs of wiretapping

There are a few other signs that indicate that there are more than two people listening to your telephone conversations. And it doesn't even matter what operating system your device is running on. Here is the list:

• The connection between two subscribers is established for a very long time.
• Turning off the device is delayed for several minutes.
• The smartphone installs third-party software on its own or reboots.

In this case, an antivirus program will help get rid of:

1. Go to the Google Play Market and download the antivirus utility. For example, Dr. Web or McAfee. Or choose another software from our separate pro review.
2. Launch the software and start OS analysis.
3. After analysis, the utility will display a list with all viruses and malfunctions, you just have to click “Clean”.

What other ways can you learn about the safety of confidentiality?

There are isolated cases when certain users received incomprehensible SMS messages with strange character sets, letters and codes. This is explained by the fact that hacker programs use the principle of injection and can, without your knowledge, exploit any device services for their own purposes. Check your internet and communication bills - you may have been overpaying for a long time.

How to remove wiretapping from a mobile phone? You can try to resort to other methods, which are outlined below.

Special applications

You can equip your mobile device with special software that can detect the presence of wiretapping:

• The most popular program for this area is SpyWarn. You can download this application from the official website of the utility manufacturer.
• Also on the open spaces of Google Play you can find two more good applications for this business - Darshak and EAGLE Security. These utilities are able to distinguish between real stations and false ones, which helps a lot in disabling such a function as wiretapping.

Why not contact your mobile operator?

If you are already firmly convinced that your device is listening, then what to do? The most effective method is to contact your mobile operator. A team of specialists have the appropriate gadgets and tools to detect "espionage". They will analyze the line, and the results of the procedure will be provided to you after a while. If they are positive, then seek help from the master.

• Just don't use your cell phone to exchange sensitive information. Do not use it for commercial or personal negotiations. No information - nothing to listen to.
• You can also purchase a “cryptophone”. Such gadgets have everything you need to encrypt all the information. The only thing is that the purchase of such a device will cost a large amount.
• You can put special encoders. Such equipment is fixed on the body of the mobile device and encrypts all calls.

footage

As you can see, finding out the presence of “left ears” and eliminating their access to your confidential information is real. How exactly to act now is up to you!