Google Android mobile operating system has been the constant target of the hackers and Google's team has worked hard to patch all possible holes. However, there are perhaps several workarounds in Android that are not publicly talked about. Now according to a report of The Wall Street Journal , a former US Government official said that the Federal Bureau of Investigation uses sophisticated tools that can remotely activate the microphone on the Google Android based devices.
As per the report, the FBI uses some internally developed tools to collect information from the cyber space, computers and even mobile phones with the help of some private companies.
There are tools that can remotely activate the microphone on any Android OS running smartphone and the conversations can be recorded. This can be done remotely and the user would have no clue about it. This is just one of the methods that have been revealed. It is quite possible that any legitimate third party app can access the data on the phone and pass it on over the mobile internet without the knowledge of the user. Everything lies deeply under the permissions allowed to particular app.
The spying techniques are employed only on target basis, when the FBI finds something suspicious and aims to seek more information on the same, added the report. Unlike the NSA, the FBI claims it only uses surveillance and hacking in specific cases.
The use of sophisticated technology has grown as agents seek to keep up when tackling organized crime, counter-terrorism and child pornography suspects who use cutting-edge technology.
The tools it uses are both internally and externally sourced, with some coming from the private sector. Hacking at the FBI under court order has gradually increased, as law enforcement officials try to find ways to circumvent new communication tech that’s more resistant to traditional surveillance methods like wiretapping. The specifics of its methods are not generally brought to light in public, but a warrant from earlier this year revealed that one request involved using a computer’s built-in camera to take photos of a suspect without their knowledge. The request in that case was denied.The tools used to gather the data are often installed remotely, using essentially phishing style links that injects essentially Trojan software when clicked by a suspect under surveillance. They can also be installed via physical access and a USB drive, the report says, and in all cases the FBI tries to ensure only “relevant data” are gathered by its hacking efforts, through the use of a screening team that checks for relevancy before handing information off to investigators working the case.
The bureau is investing heavily in recruiting hackers in order to improve its surveillance capabilities to catch terrorists and criminals in the act.
The FBI is supposed to have a warrant in order to carry out such surveillance techniques, but sources familiar with the FBI say these new methods are increasingly seen as a way of getting round having to apply for a warrant in some cases.
The FBI is investing heavily in recruiting hackers in order to improve its surveillance capabilities to catch terrorists and criminals in the act
However the ex-FBI official told the WSJ that the tools are only used when other surveillance methods won't work. ‘When you do, it's because you don't have any other choice,’ they said.
The concept of remotely forcing a cellular mic to eavesdrop isn't entirely new.
The FBI's so-called ‘roving bugs’ were used against alleged mobsters in 2004, and in 2002 the FBI kept tabs on supposed criminals using the microphone in a vehicle's emergency call system.
What is new is that the FBI now has a dedicated hacking group - the Remote Operations Unit.
‘[The FBI] hires people who have hacking skill, and they purchase tools that are capable of doing these things,’ said the former FBI official.The news that the FBI employs hacker tactics on occasion to gather data about potential suspects is not new, but the specifics of how it goes about it, and how it might be able to employ a user’s own hardware to record conversations remotely is definitely going to raise some eyebrows, especially in light of the attention now focused on digital rights and privacy thanks to the leaks around the NSA’s PRISM and XKeyscore programs. In theory, the devices could even be activated to eavesdrop on an in-person conversation with a potential suspect who doesn’t even own an Android device, perhaps from the pocket of a friend who does. PRISM reportedly involves a number of prominent Internet companies, and Xkeyscore seems to allow the U.S. security agency unprecedented access to information about emails, chat history and more, according to information leaked by former U.S. government security contractor Edward Snowden.
In this case, it sounds like the FBI’s tools might involve Android and desktop PC malware, so Google wouldn’t need to be complicit for claims about using Android device mics remotely to be accurate.
Neither the FBI nor Google, the tech giant behind Android, has commented on the allegations.
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