[HACKED] Is Someone Listening to Your Calls? - Comments Page 1

yes spelling counts it's Hamburg not Hamberg

What GCAI said (roflmao).

I think you exposed the crux of the issue when you wrote: "FCC is in no hurry to fix the SS7 flaw is that it is very, very useful to the FBI, NSA, and other law enforcement snoops" That's exactly the case; they have no incentive to fix the "flaw" because it isn't really a flaw at all. It's a peeping hole. Note that when the 60 Minutes story wrote, you didn't hear a peep from the policy/military or intelligence communities.

This is one of the times I really don't care. If the NSA is interested when I call my wife to ask her to pick up milk at the grocery store, I say let 'em snoop.

I don't do cell phone banking or "wave my phone" credit card transactions, and even if I did, the NSA will hardly be interested in my grocery list.

I do all my transactions with a credit card, not debit card, and my bank flags and calls me for suspicious transactions.

In theory, I'm concerned, and Congressmen should be concerned, but hardly me.

Could the reason the FCC is not doing anything about SS7 being "riddled with security holes" be that the NSA needs and uses this "backdoor"?

I agree with KRS. I don't have anything to hide. I use my phone in emergency, or call my wife to pick up grocery. If they want to pay for the grocery that would be cool.

In short, the same flaw telephones have had since Alexander Graham Bell -- you could listen in on them. I guess you could have encrypted calls in the old days, but I never heard about it.

I treat email and cell phones like postcards. Someone isn't likely to read your postcard, but they can. Same with email and phone calls. Truly secure communication is an illusion unless you go to a lot more trouble than I ever feel the need to.

Activate The Dome of Silence - if you need secure communications.

Here's the problem - "Your cell phone knows more about you than you do". I don't know about link rules here, but here's what CGP Gray has to say about the subject:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-ZpsxnmmbE

It's well worth the 2-3 minutes to give you a clue why that statement is true. Laws written, as he points out, 200 years ago may NOT apply to *all* things in our modern culture.

Why does the NSA need programs like Prism if they have SS7? I am sure the government is still bound by privacy laws and can't just listen in when they like, but SS7 worries me because of hackers. With a bit of social engineering and flaws like SS7 they could own your whole life, whether or not you "have anything to hide". I will be contacting my congresspeople.

If the NSA or any other snoop wants to record my conversations, have at it, but they're just wasting their time. Many people believe that the Constitution endows rights, but I believe that if these so called "rights" were real, no law or government organization could take them away. Felons can not own or possess a weapon. A violation of Due Process at trial is allowed if considered harmless error. There are many other instances that can be sited; however, my point is that since we can lose our "rights" under certain circumstances, they are not rights at all, but simply privileges granted to citizens. Of course, I could be wrong, but that;s how I see it.

Edward Snowden mentioned the capabilities that Mr Nohl demonstrated, so it seems the NSA is fully aware of the flaw and is actively exploiting it with government approval.

Signal for Android encrypts VoIP calls on on phones but not tablets; if you can use WiFi to make a call, this will work. https://goo.gl/0CCSL

Kryptotel is another for Android. https://goo.gl/l6BXF8

Both provide some privacy protection even if only one party to a call or message has the app installed.

Never copy a foreign city's name from a news article found on the Web without verifying spelling. :-)

Even if someone says they have nothing "important to say," they should still be concerned about the privacy aspect of cell phone communications for all cellphone users. Knowing that some hacker can listen in on our private conversations is downright scary.

Granted, most of us have mundane chats more than 95% of the time, but there may be times when the average Joe, or even celebrities, need to discuss something personal and private - giving out credit card, SSNs or other account numbers, for business purposes, or passing along personal information during a personal crisis. With landline telephones, at least there was a real sense of privacy.

I'm sure guys like Buffet, Zuckerberg and Bezos (Amazon), and others, often discuss business on their cell phones, possibly more than 50% of the time. They need privacy from hackers, who may uncover and post on-line, proprietary information or business dealings, such as possible mergers or divestitures which could seriously affect the national economy or the stock market.

I suspect the only way this privacy issue will be changed is when member of Congress or the FCC get hacked, and have their private information exposed for all to see.

If this flaw is only there if traffic is between different networks arrange your 'secret' calls with whomever you really want to be secret using phones with the same network. Job done.

I also, agree with KRS. My cell phone is turned off except when I leave my property. I only use it for infrequent calls home (grocery shopping) or in an emergency. It is a Tracfone and I have accumulated over 1800 roll over minutes. I costs me just under $8.00 a month. Every thing is paid with one of 2 credit cards - checked daily and balances paid off every month. As an aside, my wife and I are debt free with our mortgage on our home on seven acres paid off.

But if emails can be read, the encryption of WhatsApp won't help, will it? Is there any way to secure emails received and sent on, say, an iPhone?

The casual attitude of many readers here about this security hole is disturbing. The information that others can get with hacked phones is precisely what can lead to devastating identity theft. And being able to track where you are allows a thief to know when to strike your home, etc. It takes only a little imagination to see how much harm can be done through this kind of information loss. Readers need to think more and be less apathetic about the risks they face. The day they wake up with nothing left in their electronic accounts will be too late to start thinking about security.

Was not aware of these ramifications of SS7, but did shoot an email to my congressman ... interesting to see what the response will be.

Hi Bob,
Interesting, will using a VPN help?