it's a crafty hack. You press the button. The device buzzes. You see
the usual power-off animation. The screen goes black. But it'll secretly
stay on -- microphone listening and camera recording.
How did they get into your phone in the first place? Here's an explanation by former members of the CIA, Navy SEALs and consultants to the U.S. military's cyber warfare team. They've seen it firsthand.
Related: Google testing super-secure email
Government spies can set up their own miniature cell network tower. Your phone automatically connects to it. Now, that tower's radio waves send a command to your phone's antennae: the base-band chip. That tells your phone to fake any shutdown and stay on.
A smart hack won't keep your phone running at 100%, though. Spies could keep your phone on standby and just use the microphone -- or send pings announcing your location.
John Pirc, who did cyber security research at the CIA, said these methods -- and others, like physically bugging devices -- let the U.S. hijack and reawaken terrorists' phones.
Related: Cybersecurity: How safe are you?
"The only way you can tell is if your phone feels warm when it's turned off. That means the base-band processor is still running," said Pirc, now chief technology officer of the NSS Labs security research firm.It used to be that way, but no longer. They run RFID spy chips added on to the case of smart phones which require NO POWER from the battery to enable the system circuitry to be operational.
How did they get into your phone in the first place? Here's an explanation by former members of the CIA, Navy SEALs and consultants to the U.S. military's cyber warfare team. They've seen it firsthand.
Related: Google testing super-secure email
Government spies can set up their own miniature cell network tower. Your phone automatically connects to it. Now, that tower's radio waves send a command to your phone's antennae: the base-band chip. That tells your phone to fake any shutdown and stay on.
A smart hack won't keep your phone running at 100%, though. Spies could keep your phone on standby and just use the microphone -- or send pings announcing your location.
John Pirc, who did cyber security research at the CIA, said these methods -- and others, like physically bugging devices -- let the U.S. hijack and reawaken terrorists' phones.
Related: Cybersecurity: How safe are you?
"The only way you can tell is if your phone feels warm when it's turned off. That means the base-band processor is still running," said Pirc, now chief technology officer of the NSS Labs security research firm.It used to be that way, but no longer. They run RFID spy chips added on to the case of smart phones which require NO POWER from the battery to enable the system circuitry to be operational.
