cellphones – Page 2 – SSL and internet security news

Recovering Smartphone Typing from Microphone Sounds

April 1, 2019 infossl

academicpapers, cellphones, phones, pins, Security technology, sidechannelattacks

Yet another side-channel attack on smartphones: “Hearing your touch: A new acoustic side channel on smartphones,” by Ilia Shumailov, Laurent Simon, Jeff Yan, and Ross Anderson. Abstract: We present the first acoustic side-channel attack that recovers what users type on the virtual keyboard of their touch-screen smartphone or tablet. When a user taps the screen … Read More “Recovering Smartphone Typing from Microphone Sounds” »

Security Vulnerabilities in Cell Phone Systems

January 10, 2019 infossl

cellphones, eavesdropping, economicsofsecurity, lawenforcement, nationalsecuritypolicy, Security technology, securityengineering, vulnerabilities

Good essay on the inherent vulnerabilities in the cell phone standards and the market barriers to fixing them. So far, industry and policymakers have largely dragged their feet when it comes to blocking cell-site simulators and SS7 attacks. Senator Ron Wyden, one of the few lawmakers vocal about this issue, sent a letter in August … Read More “Security Vulnerabilities in Cell Phone Systems” »

Using a Smartphone’s Microphone and Speakers to Eavesdrop on Passwords

September 5, 2018 infossl

authentication, cellphones, hacking, passwords, phones, Security technology, sidechannelattacks

It’s amazing that this is even possible: “SonarSnoop: Active Acoustic Side-Channel Attacks“: Abstract: We report the first active acoustic side-channel attack. Speakers are used to emit human inaudible acoustic signals and the echo is recorded via microphones, turning the acoustic system of a smart phone into a sonar system. The echo signal can be used … Read More “Using a Smartphone’s Microphone and Speakers to Eavesdrop on Passwords” »

Defeating the iPhone Restricted Mode

July 18, 2018 infossl

apple, cellphones, cryptanalysis, cryptography, iphone, Security technology

Recently, Apple introduced restricted mode to protect iPhones from attacks by companies like Cellebrite and Greyshift, which allow attackers to recover information from a phone without the password or fingerprint. Elcomsoft just announced that it can easily bypass it. There is an important lesson in this: security is hard. Apple Computer has one of the … Read More “Defeating the iPhone Restricted Mode” »

Traffic Analysis of the LTE Mobile Standard

July 2, 2018 infossl

academicpapers, cellphones, encryption, phones, Security technology, trafficanalysis, vulnerabilities

Interesting research in using traffic analysis to learn things about encrypted traffic. It’s hard to know how critical these vulnerabilities are. They’re very hard to close without wasting a huge amount of bandwidth. The active attacks are more interesting. Powered by WPeMatico

Accessing Cell Phone Location Information

May 16, 2018 infossl

cellphones, lawenforcement, privacy, searches, Security technology, surveillance, tracking

The New York Times is reporting about a company called Securus Technologies that gives police the ability to track cell phone locations without a warrant: The service can find the whereabouts of almost any cellphone in the country within seconds. It does this by going through a system typically used by marketers and other companies … Read More “Accessing Cell Phone Location Information” »

Russia is Banning Telegram

April 23, 2018 infossl

backdoors, cellphones, encryption, jamming, russia, Security technology, securitypolicies

Russia has banned the secure messaging app Telegram. It’s making an absolute mess of the ban — blocking 16 million IP addresses, many belonging to the Amazon and Google clouds — and it’s not even clear that it’s working. But, more importantly, I’m not convinced Telegram is secure in the first place. Such a weird … Read More “Russia is Banning Telegram” »

GreyKey iPhone Unlocker

March 23, 2018 infossl

cellphones, iphone, lawenforcement, reverseengineering, Security technology

Some details about the iPhone unlocker from the US company Greyshift, with photos. Little is known about Grayshift or its sales model at this point. We don’t know whether sales are limited to US law enforcement, or if it is also selling in other parts of the world. Regardless of that, it’s highly likely that … Read More “GreyKey iPhone Unlocker” »

Cellebrite Unlocks iPhones for the US Government

February 27, 2018 infossl

apple, cellphones, dhs, fbi, iphone, israel, locks, phones, Security technology

Forbes reports that the Israeli company Cellebrite can probably unlock all iPhone models: Cellebrite, a Petah Tikva, Israel-based vendor that’s become the U.S. government’s company of choice when it comes to unlocking mobile devices, is this month telling customers its engineers currently have the ability to get around the security of devices running iOS 11. … Read More “Cellebrite Unlocks iPhones for the US Government” »

Warrant Protections against Police Searches of Our Data

November 29, 2017 infossl

cellphones, courts, police, privacy, searches, Security technology

The cell phones we carry with us constantly are the most perfect surveillance device ever invented, and our laws haven’t caught up to that reality. That might change soon. This week, the Supreme Court will hear a case with profound implications on your security and privacy in the coming years. The Fourth Amendment’s prohibition of … Read More “Warrant Protections against Police Searches of Our Data” »