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May 20, 2010 9:49 pm US/Central
Is Your Cell Phone Spying On You?
Reporting
Jack Fink
RICHARDSON (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
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You may consider your cell phone or smart phone a life-saver, bringing instant communication at your fingertips. But your cell phone can also be used to spy on you, without you even realizing it.
A Richardson man named Jamie, who doesn't want to reveal his full identity, says someone is using his cell phone to spy on him. "I had no idea that this was even capable of going on."
He says the person not only intercepted his calls, but listened to his conversations. "The only person who knew was the person I was talking to in the room without the phone being on or the phone was on but I wasn't using the phone."
Jamie says it happened even during some of the most private times. "Some of the intimate situations in my bedroom have been heard."
He says the person who is doing this sent him text messages the next morning. "Hope you guys had fun last night." So how is this all possible?
A spyware or malware program sold on the internet can be downloaded onto your cell phone with a web browser and a smart phone.
Professor Murat Kantorcioglu, who teaches cyber security at UT Dallas, says the more advanced the phone, the more spying that can be done. "Remember, this is a computer that does phone calls. So when you have malicious software it will be able to access all information."
Experts say of the estimated 200 million cell phones in the U.S., up to six million of them could be infected.
Kantorcioglu says as more people buy smart phones, the more common the problem will become. He says, "I think it's emerging and will be bigger and bigger."
Eric Robi is president of Elluma discovery, a computer forensics firm in Los Angeles. He says it "could be anybody's cell phone."
Robi says spyware can get onto your phone through an email or text message with a trojan horse that hides the program or through a computer connected to your phone when you're not looking. "You can get someone's text messages. Do GPS tracking and you can get their emails."
After Robi downloaded the spyware onto his blackberry, he sent an email to his co-worker John.
Minutes later, that email showed up on the spyware's webpage. "This is the entire content of the email, so it's pretty scary."
Robi says there may be a tell-tale sign your phone is being spied on, "For example, four letters like TBGA or some other combination."
The spyware doesn't stop there.
When Robi called a third employee, Alex, John intercepted it. Robi says, "There's no indication that there is a three way call going right now and that's exactly what's happening."
And the spyware can even turn on your cell phone's microphone and allow someone to listen in to your conversations with someone else in a room -- even when you're not on your phone. Robi says, "John is listening in right now, and we can see that he's listening in and he's nodding his head that he's hearing."
And unless you're looking at your phone constantly, you may not even realize what is happening. Robi says, with some phones, "The only indication is that there's anything going on that's unusual at least on this particular phone, the red light flashes twice."
Experts say some spyware programs will even activate your cell phone's video camera, allowing someone to watch and record everything you're doing.
The spyware is often marketed to people who want to spy on their spouses or their children.
Dallas attorney Stephen Fox says while it is a violation of privacy, it's still legal because the phone is often considered family property. Fox says a boss can also check on an employee who uses a company cell phone as long as the business tells employees they're being monitored.
But Fox says it's a different story, "When there's not an employer-employee relationship, or a familial relationship, it's a friend or an acquaintance, or a stranger, that installs the spyware on the cell phone, and then begins to eavesdrop on the person's device, that conduct is illegal."
Anyone caught he says could be charged with eavesdropping or wiretapping, and if they're convicted, he says they could face prison and fines.
But there are ways you can protect yourself. Anti-spyware programs are sold on the internet and in some stores that are designed for cell phones.
Robi downloaded an anti-spyware program from 'S Mobile' designed to protect the Blackberry. He says the program didn't allow the spyware to work.
Blackberry's maker, Research In Motion says its phones are designed with a number of application controls to make it more difficult for spyware to placed on its phones.
MacAfee says it makes anti-spyware designed to work on all types of cell phones.
Kaspersky and Symantec both make anti-spyware programs designed to protect phones that use a windows-mobile operating system.
If you haven't installed one such program, and you believe your phone is infected with spyware, experts say you can have a security wipe done on your phone's operating system.
As for Jamie, he's changed his phone number and reported his case to police, but he says they told him, "It's almost impossible to catch this person." when he heard that, Jamie says he thought of the next best thing, "I want to throw the phone into the trinity."
He says if his wireless carrier will let him out of his contract, he may switch to a tracphone.
Experts say there are some other warning signs you can look out for that may indicate your phone is infected with spyware: if your battery is warm even though you haven't been using it, or the battery is wearing down faster than normal.
Experts also suggest you treat your cell phone like your computer: use a password and don't download programs or emails you don't know.
Another recommendation, treat your phone like your wallet and never let it out of your sight.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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