FYI - how NSA can turn on your phone (be inform) - Security Discussion

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
Even if you power off your cell phone, the U.S. government can turn it back on.
That's what ex-spy Edward Snowden revealed in last week's interview with NBC's Brian Williams. It sounds like sorcery. Can someone truly bring your phone back to life without touching it?
No. But government spies can get your phone to play dead.
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.
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 baseband 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 cybersecurity research at the CIA, said these methods -- and others, like physically bugging devices -- let the U.S. hijack and reawaken terrorists' phones.
"The only way you can tell is if your phone feels warm when it's turned off. That means the baseband processor is still running," said Pirc, now chief technology officer of the NSS Labs security research firm.
This isn't easy to accomplish. It's a highly targeted attack. But if you are really concerned about the government's ability to reawaken your phone, here are some things you could do.
Recovery mode. Put your phone on what's known as Device Firmware Upgrade (DFU) mode. This bypasses the phone's operating system. Every phone has a different approach for this.
It's fairly easy (albeit cumbersome) for iPhone users. Plug it into a computer with iTunes open. Hold down the Power and Home buttons for 10 seconds (no less) then let go of the Power button. Wait for an iTunes pop-up. That's it.
For Android users, recovery mode varies by model. Android Magazine has a great tutorial here.
Create a barrier. Use a signal-blocking phone case. You can buy them (Off Pocket, HideCell) or even make your own -- assuming you have the patience to do so.
Pull out the battery. Without a power source, the phone can't come back on. This is the best, most surefire option. It's also, annoyingly, no longer a choice on most top-of-the-line smartphones. The iPhone, HTC One and Nokia Lumia don't have removable batteries. Luckily, the Samsung Galaxy and LG G3 still do.
Silent Circle, a company that enables top-end private communication, kept these issues in mind when it co-created the Blackphone. It has a removable battery. It uses PrivatOS, a stripped-down version of Android that reduces tracking.
And because spoofed cell towers can target its antennae too, Blackphone's makers are working with chipmaker Nvidia to develop their own custom, more secure baseband chip.
Silent Circle CEO Mike Janke, a former Navy SEAL, said they designed the phone based on revelations that the NSA can find powered off phones and the FBI can tap their microphones.
You probably don't need to fear that the National Security Agency is using this strategy on your phone, Janke said. Those spies are focused on hunting down a specified list of terrorists and foreign fighters. But he noted that the FBI is using these kinds of surveillance tactics in the U.S. for all sorts of crimes.
Source - CNN
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Also look up on rt news
news/168228-hacking-team-smartphones-malware/
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Related

[App] Power Switch - save battery through brute force [19 July]

Power Switch
Power Switch is a tool for devices with cases - somewhat like the SmartCover, it will turn off the screen when you shut the case. If you have a device with poor battery life, Power Switch can save tons of juice by switching it off entirely after a given amount of time asleep.
Features:
- Sleep seconds after shutting case
- Automatic shutdown
- Set up a schedule using Night Mode
- Configure sensor sensitivity
- Facedown to turn screen off
- Persistent notification
- Uses almost no power
The app has gone through an extensive testing process here at XDA under another name. Thanks to everyone who helped make it happen, you're the best!
However, this testing showed that some features of that app were not all that useful, and some were conspicuously absent. To save both you and us a lot of grief, we made the second-generation Killswitch.
If you have any comments or suggestions, please use this thread. I daresay Im known as a kindly developer always open to suggestions.
Pro Market link:
https://market.android.com/details?id=fahrbot.apps.powerswitch.pro&feature=search_result
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Lite Market link:
https://market.android.com/details?id=fahrbot.apps.powerswitch.demo&feature=search_result
Thanks, another great one from you guys!
Use the "thanks" button
By the way, would it be possible to add full scheduling like in Root Call Blocker?
I guess it would, but why? Surely the light level doesnt change with the day of the week...
I would like it to turn my tablet off entirely on some days for example, when im working night shift.
Is it difficult?
No, its not difficult. Ill look into it but cant promise when. I dont expect this would be a feature many people need im afraid.
Updated with some tweaks to the dead sleep feature and awesome new icons!
I wish I could buy this app. Can't live with the timers and settings of the trial version. Why can't google accept anything other than stupid credit cards?
You can always just make a virtual credit card! Its so easy a child could do it. Just look online for an operator in your area!
ftgg99 said:
You can always just make a virtual credit card! Its so easy a child could do it. Just look online for an operator in your area!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My girlfriend allowed me to use hers Now I'm a happy customer. And one of the first as well, it seems
EDIT: Is it possible to inrease upper limit of the auto-shutdown timer? My Nook Color sleeps very efficiently, so the current maximum of 6h does not help much. It would probably only be triggered over night, which would mean that I will almost certainly be using it again within ~3h after it shut down. (Using my tablet is usually the first and last thing I do in a day). Booting the device up again would probably use more battery than those 3h have saved.
Setting it to something between 12h and 2 days would most probably ensure that I do not or cannot use my device at the time anyway, so it's safe to shut down
Consider it done. The feature was mostly for low quality tablets with bad sleep regulation, but if you find it useful, why not?
This is a most awesome app!
Thanks! Please leave a review or suggestions at the market!
Guys, I'd really like to hear some suggestions on how to make this app better, more useful.
Guys... it would be really helpful.
In any case, an update is on its way. No real new features because noone seems to want any!
Power switch and Killswitch the same?
Is the killswitch app you made the same as power switch? I bought killswitch when it came out and was wondering what happened to the updates in that app.
No, Killswitch has been discontinued. Power Switch has some, but not all the same functionality. It also has new features.
Any news on that update? I'd really love to have that extended timeout.
I dunno about other features, though. I promise to let you know when I come up with something

Really cool NFC Ring!

Really cool accessory for the S6 or for any device using Android Lollipop for that matter. It's the Smart Lock feature that allows you to set up a few different ways of locking/unlocking your phone. The first is Trusted Devices.. more on that in minute. The second is Trusted Places, the third is Trusted Voice and the last is On-body Detection.
Now I'm not going to go deeply into what each of these features do but the basic is that with Trusted Places, which I was using before would work on location services.. using GPS to determine your location and keeping the phone unlocked. Works great.. however there may be an incorrect GPS reading and thus lock your phone while you are at the place you thought it should keep it unlocked. As you can imagine the GPS polling will reduce your battery some.
Trusted Voice, I have not used and quite frankly not sure how well it would work if you had to whisper in the middle of the night.. but I guess in that situation it would be more useful to just enter the unlock code than speak.
On-body detection is neat. It works. It works so well that I forget once I sit my phone down that it detected no movement and thus I found myself unlocking it every time I picked it up from a charge. That's ok because that's exactly what its design for. Keep in mind this feature doesn't engage in lock mode if someone just so happens to snatch it from you as you are carrying it.. example like in a purse.
My favorite right now... Trusted Devices. Now this is a really cool feature. Trusted Device uses either NFC or Bluetooth as a means of keeping the phone locked until it detects a trusted device that you have registered with. In my case.. an NFC Ring. And let me tell you.. this thing works perfect! My phone is always locked and as soon as I tap my ring against the back of my phone it unlocks it immediately. The particular ring I purchased has two NFC receivers built in so you can set up an additional action item. If interested this is where I purchased it however you can get them on Ebay too. Since it's NFC and Bluetooth tech you can pretty much go with any device that's always on your position for your own convenience.
A couple of shots of the ring:
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Thanks for checking it out!
s-one
This is probably a good idea for a lot of phones, but why bother using it with the S6 when it has a fingerprint scanner?
Also, if I'm not mistaken, the screen has to be on for an NFC tag to work, right? So you have to wake it up, then tap it to unlock? Cool if you've rooted and can get your phone to recognize NFC tags even when the screen is off, but otherwise we're looking at an extra step compared to the fingerprint.
Well from what I've read the fingerprint scanner doesn't always register the scan well. I've also read that hackers can/have created exploits to lift your fingerprint details from phones. In this case an S5. Anyhow when your phone is charging and you disconnect it from the source (in my case a wireless charger) it wakes to the lock screen.. therefore I simply NFC tap. One step. If I pull it out of my pocket, then yes I would either press the home or power button then tap. This may not be cool for "everyone" but dang-it.. friggin cool to me.
I recently lost my replacement wedding ring (still have the original, I'm shrinking) this looks similar and would be put to great use!
I tried something similar with my last phone. It was very glitchy. The ring had to contact the phone at the perfect orientation. Sent it back.

Titanium Backup made out of dog poo!

It doesn't work.
I want to back up to drive, then download to another identical phone. Moto X 2013 xt1052
It keeps saying:
"NETWORK ERROR, THE DEVELOPER REALLY DOESN'T KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING. They are on drugs. Probably."
That's exactly what google said on my phone.
That and some crap about a network error.
And a server error
SERVER ERROR? ARE THEY ON DRUGS? Wimbledon is in June, not Jan, so I hardly think anyone will be serving on centre court.
I just want it to work.
I press a button and I expect it to just work.
I don't know computer phone stuff, and a nandroid is a flavour of an ice cream? yes?
Tell titanium to just make it work.
Tossers.
It's uploading in bits before falling over.
Just up loaded another 24% so I'm just waiting for google or titanium to **** up and make me start screaming.
Again.
How difficult is it to make a backup app that backs up
and if there is a problem with the app or network, or connection or google servers
it just chills and goes into a holding pattern with an explanation as to why
and then fix/repair/carry on.
The developer shouLd fix this and if it is google, make titanium compatible with it
and if they need to talk it through with google, ****ing phone google up and MAKE IT WORK!
Google invented Android phones specifically so people can phone up google directly.
They should put me if charge
Of this or the Launch codes.
I'm easy on either option.
32%. Still uploading.
Clearly threats of a tactical nuke strike have the desired threat.
Why don't they just make it work properly?
ALSO
TITANIUM IS VERY VERY HARD TO USE,
it is not intuitive at all.
They should make it easy to use for non-tech types {like me}
as well as techies {Like my ex g/fnd}. She writes programs for banks.
I watch television programs. I am in the larger group that Titanium need to address when
creating a back up App.
We don't understand
And when we do, it often stops working properly. (The internet is full of posts by cleaver people with the same googledrivetitaniumbackupscncrap that I'm writing about).
...40% still going
But I still hate this app.
Make it easy to use
and just make it work!
If I lived in the USA I would buy some big guns, get drunk, then make a youtube video
of me shooting up my (totally not at fault) phones.
Hate is a terrible thing.
46% ...grrrrrr
79% Really?
I've upload is 7mbs which is pretty decent.
What's it waiting for? (next) Christmas?
Grrrrr.
100%
Titanium Backup Pro
Upload to Google Drive finished.
Make it work faster and make it easier to use.
BTW, I've not got to get it put on the other mobile (another motox 2013 xt 1052)
But we all KNOW this will not be the easy to do thing it should be.
It's taken hours,
the second drive backup I created is empty despite downloading my phone into it...
This does not work.
Can I buy a cable, connect the two phones and use titanium copy the whole phone onto the other phone?
Same make, model and android 5.1 so no conflict.
I have spent a day doing this.
Also I manufacture drugs. {Crystal Meths}
I am typing this while sitting in a desert in a beat up RV, in a full bio suit {Trad.}
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My drug cooking recipe is on one phone but i need it on the other.
Both phones have dbrand skins; one is bamboo, the other is blue carbon fibre.
Obviously to get blue crystal meths, I need to read the recipe off a blue coloured phone.
Oh, I also bought a gallon of methylated spirits as that's prob an important ingredient....
How do I move the entire phone onto the other, by pressing one button
or two at the most?
I don't have time for this, I need to be stealing box sets off Piratebay.
I just want it to work.

HTC ONE | S-OFF Developement | SunBurn

Sunshine seemingly monopolized the s off game with outrageous prices. Let's just say I nearly lost my lifeline over this nonsense and have a hard on drive to annihilate the enemy efforts.
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If people ever wondered what those abundant permissions included in sunshine were for, it is in fact to intentionally brick your phone, track your IP address, reset your device and change your wallpaper to a whole lot of balony saying how hard they worked to make hacking responsible and costly and that they will not hesitate to take your only lifeline while you sit there and accept the fate that you will have to spend your pizza money on them and starve for a week under a bridge while people look at you in awe because they've never seen a homeless, beerless, computer geek.
Back to my point.
I have a rooted HTC One m9. I am getting into development. Can people help me with understanding what all the s-on feature restricts besides the band partition and any info we can dig up on that and maybe some on the reverse engineering on how HTC implements this feature? Links, source code, feedback, relative topics, suggestions, and furthermore questions are encouraged. Let's start hacking.
My devices are an HTC One m9 and an HP zbook 15 running Zorin (Linux) OS.
What can we do.
Let's bring hacking back.
Let's be a team of developers in one thread.
Alixbot said:
Sunshine seemingly monopolized the s off game with outrageous prices. Let's just say I nearly lost my lifeline over this nonsense and have a hard on drive to annihilate the enemy efforts.
If people ever wondered what those abundant permissions included in sunshine were for, it is in fact to intentionally brick your phone, track your IP address, reset your device and change your wallpaper to a whole lot of balony saying how hard they worked to make hacking responsible and costly and that they will not hesitate to take your only lifeline while you sit there and accept the fate that you will have to spend your pizza money on them and starve for a week under a bridge while people look at you in awe because they've never seen a homeless, beerless, computer geek.
Back to my point.
I have a rooted HTC One m9. I am getting into development. Can people help me with understanding what all the s-on feature restricts besides the band partition and any info we can dig up on that and maybe some on the reverse engineering on how HTC implements this feature? Links, source code, feedback, relative topics, suggestions, and furthermore questions are encouraged. Let's start hacking.
My devices are an HTC One m9 and an HP zbook 15 running Zorin (Linux) OS.
What can we do.
Let's bring hacking back.
Let's be a team of developers in one thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can see that you created a duplicate thread, I'm guessing by accident but I've deleted that one and left this one open
Regards
Sawdoctor
#noobfriendly
Lol, sounds like my days in Alaska. xD.
The network band & the aboot partition bud.
My HTC got smashed so this is my reason for taking so long to update. I need to get it fixed.
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app

Replacement for security updates

As my phone (Pixel 3) no longer receives security updates, I'm wondering if there are any security apps that could serve the same function. My parents both have Pixel 3a, and I'm hoping to not have to replace their phones in a few months also. I hate to consider it, but I'm thinking about moving to iOS, possibly the new SE rumored to be coming out in the next few months.
Any recommendations for android apps that could provide sufficient protection? I'm willing to pay for one that keeps me from having to change phones just to be secure.
Correct. Google's support for Pixel 3 phones only was given until end of 2021.
Yes, just wondering if there's an app that could provide a similar level of protection
jlmoon said:
Yes, just wondering if there's an app that could provide a similar level of protection
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not really. If you're on Android 9 or higher you're reasonably secure if you don't do stupid things.
You can scan with Malwarebytes (free).
You can scan suspect files, apps and such with online Virustotal.
Be careful what you install and download. Use Brave browser. If on Android 9 use Karma Firewall. Know the vulnerabilities of your current system and adjust accordingly. Avoid using wifi especially if you have a good data plan. Turn off bluetooth when not using.
The Note 10+ I'm using has been running on 9 for over 2 years. It's current load will be 2yo in June.
Security is not an issue. Over 1 5 years ago I had one malware jpeg that caused minor damage in the download folder, my bad I downloaded it, it was successful deleted. Had one trojan preloader that slipped by the Samsung browser in spite of setting, spotted by Malwarebytes, it died before it got its payload
Check download folder daily, delete anything you didn't download. Open jpegs you did download and take action if unusual behavior occurs as a result. Vet everything before moving it out of the download folder. If you stumble into a bad website try to back out without clicking anything other than nav buttons. Close the tab otherwise and/or browser.
If unusual browser continues clear its cache or if you must data.
Zero tolerance for any malware; if you can't erratic it and repair the damage in 2 hours, factory reset. Reset Google account password afterwards.
Always redundantly backup all critical data to at least 2 hdds that are physically and electronically isolated from each other and the PC.
Use this settings mod to globally block ads and some known bad websites:
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Thank you for the detailed recommendations, but I can guarantee my parents won't be up for that much work. I wish I had a better feeling for how much of a big deal this is - some of the articles I've read make it sound like the end of the world.
jlmoon said:
Thank you for the detailed recommendations, but I can guarantee my parents won't be up for that much work. I wish I had a better feeling for how much of a big deal this is - some of the articles I've read make it sound like the end of the world.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not good. If they don't have a certain level of wherewithal and interest eventually something nefarious from that phone will reach out and touch them. Updates may help but don't eliminate the threats.
I've run unpatched Android OS's for years with very few issues. However there are things I do to mitigate the risk both in setup and while using.
Literally the first word I said as a baby was "No!".
Turned out to be a really useful word to this day... don't be easy.

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