A security researcher in the United States has constructed a device for about $1,600 that can detect mobile calls and record every second of a conversation.
Chris Paget demonstrated his gadget at the DefCon Conference in Las Vegas, and said the project shows just how weak GSM communications technology is.
Paget demonstrated how he could intercept calls and then find out what was said. But he also said the problem is that criminals could be doing the same thing.
Paget said that if you’re speaking on an iPhone, or any other type of 3G phone, you’re usually protected. But phones which don’t specify what networks they are using could be vulnerable to these types of attacks.
The device itself uses a technology that fools a mobile handset into thinking the gadget is a legitimate phone tower, and therefore actually connects the call itself.
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
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