Heard on the radio this morning that snowy said the NSA are tapping your phones when they are off

[snooper2]

Powered off...LOL...

Did he really say that? He didn't did he, tell me he didn't


I've been in telecom over 20 years now and this low level IT DBA really should spend more time on the googles finding out how phone networks actually work. I wish somebody would ask him some basic questions. Maybe like, Hey Snowy, what is the difference between CDMA and 4G? How does the NSA get around SRTP encapsulated in a private MPLS VPN? Yo Snowy, for $100 what is Quantico?


BONUS QUESTION! without looking it up with your android, how does this work! Don't just read it and say it is a tap, tell me, how does it work and would you consider it a passive or active device! Fucking Snowy

[DesMoinesDem]

1. Step 1: Don't watch interview

Step 2: Make a fool of yourself on a discussion forum.
Step 3: ????
Step 4: Profit!

[snooper2]

3. so did he say it or not? I was a little busy getting three GIGE cut to a new co-lo

I wonder if Snowy ever even touched a piece of fiber?

Another good question for him! Explain Singlemode vs. Multimode fiber!

[DesMoinesDem]

4. Why don't you watch the interview and find out what he said

instead of starting a thread on something you are completely ignorant of? Do you always prefer to remain ignorant?

[snooper2]

7. I prefer for you to answer my direct question, PLEASE! I heard it on the radio

so it must be true right!

Radio > Intertubes

[DesMoinesDem]

8. So you prefer to be ignorant.

That's not surprising.

[snooper2]

10. sure nailed me LOL, I'm sure I'll learn something new today, Ciena guys are here again

We have a lot of their gear in our netowrk but they always have new cool toys...

When I pulled up I got to see this taking up 20 parking spaces in the parking lot

[DesMoinesDem]

11. Ignorance is bliss.

[DesMoinesDem]

18. The Ciena FutureLab doesn't list any stop for today.

Hmmmmm.

http://www.ciena.com/connect/future-lab/north-america/

[snooper2]

20. You want me to take a picture LOL

[DesMoinesDem]

21. Yep. Where are you?

[snooper2]

23. you want a street address :), in DFW area

FYI,

Vendors usually don't announce to the World when they are visiting their customers

[DesMoinesDem]

25. This truck lists its stops publicly.

[snooper2]

26. PM me your phone number I'll send you at picture :)

They have our name splashed on the side so I took a picture from the front angle...

Bad ass rig by the way

[DesMoinesDem]

27. No, I'm not going to give my phone number to a random person on the internet.

[snooper2]

30. FINE!

screw it, just sent it to my PC and uploaded it...

Some people don't lie on the intertubes

[DesMoinesDem]

34. OK, I'll believe it.

Next challenge: watch the interview.

[uponit7771]

33. You prefer obfuscations, the affirming question is valid ... baselining is normal conversation

[DisgustipatedinCA]

2. The FBI was doing this in 2006. Why wouldn't the NSA be doing the same now?

You seem to believe you have special knowledge that invalidates Snowden's claims. You do not.

[snooper2]

5. Well, I've actaully tested CALEA functionality with Quantico as part of my job

You know,

When we, a carrier, get an actual warrant signed by a judge and then send JUST that traffic to the feds? Kind of why equipment manufacturers are required to have lawfull intercept capabilities on their gear. Like SONUS, Acme Packet, Siemens, Avaya, etc, etc, etc,

[DisgustipatedinCA]

9. Your OP insinuates that it's not technically feasible to tap a powered off cell phone

In this reply, you've changed tack and you're talking in legalities. Fine, so long as we've established that cell phones can be tapped when powered off. Of course, this begs the question, what's the point of your OP if not to make fun of Snowden's claims? What did he say that was so worthy of your derision?

[snooper2]

12. I guess "tap" has a different meaning to Snowy than I have

Can I find the location of a cell phone that is powered off, yep-

Can I "tap" into it, not really

[DisgustipatedinCA]

13. I know you already know this, but I'll post it anyway.

Cell phone users, beware. The FBI can listen to everything you say, even when the cell phone is turned off. A recent court ruling in a case against the Genovese crime family revealed that the FBI has the ability from a remote location to activate a cell phone and turn its microphone into a listening device that transmits to an FBI listening post, a method known as a "roving bug." Experts say the only way to defeat it is to remove the cell phone battery. "The FBI can access cell phones and modify them remotely without ever having to physically handle them," James Atkinson, a counterintelligence security consultant, told ABC News. "Any recently manufactured cell phone has a built-in tracking device, which can allow eavesdroppers to pinpoint someone’s location to within just a few feet," he added. THE BLOTTER RECOMMENDS Federal Source to ABC News: We Know Who You’re Calling FBI Secret Probes: 3,501 Targets in the U.S. Click Here to Check Out the Latest Brian Ross Investigates Webcast on CIA Secret Prisons According to the recent court ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan, "The device functioned whether the phone was powered on or off, intercepting conversations within its range wherever it happened to be."

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2006/12/can_you_hear_me/

[tkmorris]

28. No response to this post I see

Busy taking pictures of a truck I'm guessing.

[snooper2]

32. You are correct ROFL

See above

[okaawhatever]

29. I think the difference lies in the fact that the FBI or whomever has to turn the phone on before it

can "bug" anyone. It seems like both Snowden and the ABC article don't necessarily explain that. They say

... from a remote location to activate a cell phone and turn its microphone into a listening device that transmits to an FBI list

What Snooper2 heard on the radio sounded like Snowden was saying the FBI could listen while your phone was off. They can turn it on and then listen with a warrant. That is why you see all the criminals in the movies take out the battery.

[hootinholler]

14. Exactly

Plus I don't think Snowden was a DBA low level or otherwise. He was a sysadmin which is what gave him access to many things that would otherwise have been stovepiped.

[yallerdawg]

6. And they can watch us on our webcam with the computer turned off!

Oh wait, that's just total strangers on the internet.

I'm sure the NSA doesn't have this technology or did Snowden mention it?

[Swede Atlanta]

15. Whoever said Snowden said they could tap the phone when it was off...

was not reporting what Snowden said.

Again, you really should listen/watch the interview so you have first hand information rather than relying on a sound byte on a radio. Didn't you ever play the game as a child where you had 4 people and the first person would tell the 2nd person a single sentence and then at the end have the 4th person say what they thought the first person said? The differences are startling.

What Snowden actually said was that not only the NSA but also other intelligence agencies have the ability to turn on a targeted cell phone and once it is on the ability to engage the camera and/or microphone. He did NOT say they could use the camera and/or microphone with the phone turned off.

I think anyone knows if the device isn't even booted up and running none of the peripherals or applications would work.

Whether or not that is the case I don't know. I obviously care but I don't know.

But either you incorrectly reported what you heard on the radio or the person on the radio incorrectly reported what Mr. Snowden (his name is not Snowy) said.

I thank God for Snowden and his like to expose the lawless nature of our government.

[PowerToThePeople]

16. You could monitor traffic sources trying to call you. n/t

[CK_John]

22. Just like your TV is never really off, just running at a very low voltage.

[yallerdawg]

24. Subliminally broadcasting?

Fox News at the foot of my bed all night?

[dballance]

31. Right. Just like they're not watching you on your camera when it is "off." Oh, but they are.

You are so wrong. Phones that are powered "off" still have a battery in them servicing functions like keeping track of time. Keeping track of the GPS of your phone is also rather common when a device is "off." Off doesn't quite mean today what it used to mean.

Perhaps you should disclose your professional "title" in comparison with the "low-level DBA" if you wish to actually make a point based on facts and not your opinion and just being generally disparaging to DBAs.

Perhaps you have some extensive background in telecom on the back end. You have not provided your credentials that make you an expert on cellular. Probably because you used all the acronyms you know in your rant and were out of knowledge beyond those. I'm not easily fooled by technical talk.

"How does the NSA get around SRTP encapsulated in a private MPLS VPN?" Wow, nice use of terms that almost no one can understand in your rant where you try to look educated and professional. If you really cared about making your argument convincing you would not have resorted to industry terms no one outside the industry can understand. You would have presented facts in the most understandable way. How does the NSA get around encryption? I think given the recent articles on the HeartBleed weaknesses in OpenSSL are a pretty good guide to how the NSA, and more concering others, can exploit weaknesses in supposedly secure systems.

It disgusts me that people use acronyms that no one can understand in their arguments in support of a position in order to look "smart" or "superior." TALK to PEOPLE if you want to convince them of something.

[2pooped2pop]

35. police can track em when they are off

unless the battery is removed.

[snooper2]

36. tracking a phone is different from tapping a phone