"World's smallest" GSM bug

from the seller's web site...
The PLM-JNGSMTX08 Micro GSM Listening Device is the pinnacle of GSM listening technology packed into an incredibly small package just 43 x 34 x 17mm. Just insert any SIM card, call the number and you will hear exactly what is going on in your absence.

UK customers can track its location at any time via the internet making it a compact dual purpose surveillance device. Supplied with mains charger and protective carry case. This is the ultimate micro miniature listening device! (more)
Why do I mention it?
So you know what you are up against.

FutureWatch - Eavesdropping on GSM Cell Phones

A web service that will make it easy and inexpensive to crack the GSM A5/1 encryption protocol, quickly enough for a call that is still in progress, is slated to launch at the end of April. Living right at the intersection of open hardware, open source software, software as a service, and cryptography, the service will reduce the cost and effort of cracking GSM call encryption by at least an order of magnitude.

The service is being developed by members of the GSM Software Project and demonstrates just how much things have changed in the world since the GSM system was designed. Various approaches to cracking both A5/1 (the European standard) and A5/2 (the weaker US standard) have been available for some time but this one is unique in that it should be available to researchers and hackers at the end of April in hosted api form instead of pdf.

Back in 1997, this overview of the GSM system declared that "Enciphering is an option for the fairly paranoid, since the signal is already coded, interleaved, and transmitted in a TDMA manner, thus providing protection from all but the most persistent and dedicated eavesdroppers." After all, such a radio encoding scheme made the signals invisible to typical radio band scanners.

Today, however, the availability of the Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP), an open hardware software defined radio that sells for about $700, combined with work being done at GNU Radio project to codify the GSM waveform (also targeted for the end of this month), makes this once reasonable point of view seem quaint. Good encryption is now a must and it appears that A5 no longer qualifies. (more)

Price Drop!!! GSM Bugs now on sale - $35.00

Alert - The hottest new bugging devices are now among the least expensive. GSM SIM bugs are like cell phones, but without the keypad. Eavesdroppers call and listen from anywhere in the world.

At one time these devices sold for $250.-$500. The price has plummeted to $35.-$55. Why? The same reason their sister product (the cell phone) is often a give-away item... Economy of scale; thus proving consumer demand is fueling mass production.

Corporate Concern...
At these prices, "salting" offices with bugs becomes practical. Imagine... Buy in bulk and get custom silk screening - "Air Quality Monitor - Do Not Disturb." Even if accidentally seen, it might be accepted - "Every office has one of these."

Corporate Solution...
Periodic Eavesdropping Detection Audits are now an integral part of corporate security. Not having an eavesdropping detection program is negligence.

from a seller's web site...
"The GSM SIM Bugs are advanced audio surveillance devices. The SIM spy ear comes with compact design and embedded microphone system. This audio surveillance listening system no need software and no configuration required. Very easy to use. The only one thing you need to do is insert a pre-paid GSM SIM card into SIM card slot of the spy sim bug. Then you could hide it in an inconspicuous location and starts excellent listening surveillance." (more)

Money Talks - Cell Phones Squawk

Spying programs for mobile phones are likely to grow in sophistication and stealth as the business around selling the tools grows, according to a mobile analyst at the Black Hat conference on Friday.

Many of the spy programs on the market are powerful, but aren't very sophisticated code, said Jarno Niemela, a senior antivirus researchers for Finnish security vendor F-Secure, which makes security products for PCs and mobile phones...

One of the latest tools on the market is Mobile SpySuite, which Niemela believes is the first spy tool generator for mobiles. It sells for US$12,500 and would let a hacker custom-build a spy tool aimed at several models of Nokia phones, Niemela said. (more)

Where do Spy Shops shop?

Bulk buy scary eavesdropping, wiretapping and recording gadgets - fast, easy and cheap! Where? Global Sources, of course.

Cracking GSM encryption just got easier

by Michael Kassner...
For all intents and purposes most everyone including the GSMA—an organization representing most of the mobile phone operators—considered and still considers GSM very secure. In reality A5/1, the technology used to encrypt GSM communications has been vulnerable for at least a decade. The sense of security seems to be based on the fact that the original attack venues require a great deal of computing power, time, and therefore money to accomplish the crack. So an organization would have to be particularly motivated to even want to crack GSM traffic. Care to guess who has enough motivation?

It appears that researchers David Hulton and Steve Miller have recently developed techniques to greatly reduce the time and required computing power needed to crack A5/1 encryption. The two researchers have even patented their work personally. The efficient modifications of the original crack open all sorts of doors making it easier for both black and white hat types to decode GSM conversations. (more)

Executive Briefing - "Wiretapping Made Easy"

from forbes.com...
Silently tapping into a private cellphone conversation is no longer a high-tech trick reserved for spies and the FBI. Thanks to the work of two young cyber-security researchers, cellular snooping may soon be affordable enough for your next-door neighbor.

In a presentation Wednesday at the Black Hat security conference in Washington, D.C., David Hulton and Steve Muller demonstrated a new technique for cracking the encryption used to prevent eavesdropping on global system for mobile communications (GSM) cellular signals, the type of radio frequency coding used by major cellular service providers including AT&T (nyse: T - news - people ), Cingular and T-Mobile. Combined with a radio receiver, the pair say their technique allows an eavesdropper to record a conversation on these networks from miles away and decode it in about half an hour with just $1,000 in computer storage and processing equipment...

Who will be the customers for their innovative espionage technique?
Hulton and Muller say they aren't sure yet. (more)

FutureWatch - New technology spells end for wiretapping

It's the stuff the best spy stories are made of, the broadsheets this week had a small story in their technology sections about the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) National Institute for Electronics and Encryption Research (UEKAE) having developed a completely original software package that allows mobile phones to be encrypted.

This makes it possible for mobiles to be safe enough to discuss national secrets without fear of interception. This type of protection is, officials at TÜBİTAK say, especially vital in the field of military communication when phone calls intercepted by foreign agencies could have potentially fatal consequences for soldiers in the field.

According to TÜBİTAK's February press statement, they have been working on the technology for 20 years and it will be offered first to Turkey's army and then to the public and private companies. This software, they say, will put Turkey in the top league of countries for protecting information and privacy. There will be many for whom the encrypted cell phone has come not a moment too soon and others who are already regretting the development. (more)

GSM Bug Picture Frame

(From the seller's website...)
This larger sized picture frame (which you can add your own picture to [you Trojan Horse, you]) may be hung on a wall in a room of your choice.

You can then dial the number of the GSM bug built into the rear of the frame - the call will connect silently after two rings and you will be able to hear whats going on in the room...from anywhere in the world!

The sound quality is truly excellent.

Battery life on standby is two weeks, this will be shortened depending on how long and how often you dial in. (Honey, why do you keep adjusting the picture?)

Supplied complete with SIM card. Please note that frame sizes may vary slightly from that shown. (more)

Why do I mention it?
So, you know what you're up against.

Analysis: New technology means that bugging is as easy as a walk in the park

UK - Anything divulged inside a building or a private car is potentially open to an extraordinary array of electronic bugging devices or telephone intercept systems. Bugging is a fine art, and the technology has leapt forward in recent years.

The electronic bug allegedly used by the police to eavesdrop on the conversation between Babar Ahmad, suspected of having links to terrorist organisations, and Sadiq Khan, his constituency MP, during a meeting in Woodhill prison in Milton Keynes, was probably the conventional type.

The basic form of bug requires someone to listen in from several hundreds yards away, or to have a recording system hidden nearby that can store many hours of conversation.

However, the latest electronic listening device is known as the GSM bug. Michael Marks of Spymaster, a company that supplies surveillance equipment, told The Times: “With one of these new bugs, all you have to do is place it covertly under someone’s desk. It’s like a miniature cellular phone. You can ring it from thousands of miles away, it answers silently and you can listen in on conversations. The GSM bug could be in an office in London but the person listening to the conversations could be in Australia.” (more)