Employees of the department for solving crimes in the field of high technologies of the Internal Affairs Directorate of the regional executive committee note that they have encountered such a statement for the first time in their practice. Law enforcement officers found out that the man decided to track the incoming and outgoing calls of his ex-wife, for which he found a special program on the Internet that allows you to listen to other people's phone conversations, read SMS messages, and correspondence on social networks.
The site stated that wiretapping violates the laws of almost all countries of the world and it is prohibited to use the program for secret surveillance. It was also noted there that all responsibility for the use will be borne not by the author of the software, but by the one who installed it. The man ignored this warning and registered on the site.
The ex-husband did not really hide the fact of wiretapping and boasted to his wife that he knew with whom she was in correspondence. He suspected her of communicating with other men. After the woman found out about the wiretap, she turned to the authorities, - said the head of the department for solving crimes in the field of high technologies of the Internal Affairs Directorate of the Mogilev Regional Executive Committee Vadim USTINOVICH.
The administration of the site, whose products were used for illegal purposes, went to meet law enforcement officers and provided all the details of the user. The suspect, summoned for a conversation, did not deny his actions.
The case was transferred to the Investigative Committee to resolve the issue of initiating a criminal case. Experts do not exclude that such actions may be qualified under the article of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus "Unauthorized seizure of computer information." A man can be punished up to restriction or imprisonment for up to two years.
The right to "surveillance"
According to the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus, everyone has the right to protection from unlawful interference in his personal life, including from encroachment on the secrecy of his correspondence, telephone and other messages, on his honor and dignity.
At the same time, according to the Law "On Operational-Investigative Activities", representatives of internal affairs bodies, state security bodies, border troops, the security service of the President of Belarus, customs bodies, foreign intelligence bodies of the Ministry can carry out operational-search activities, including auditory control. defense of the Republic of Belarus. However, only prosecutors of districts, districts in cities, cities, inter-district and equivalent transport and inter-garrison military prosecutors or their deputies can provide authorization to conduct auditory control.
How to understand?
Be that as it may, now not only the special services have the ability to wiretap telephones. There are spyware programs that are installed on mobile phones and allow other people, such as a competitor or jealous spouse, to spy on you, and parents to take control of their child. Moreover, all such activities are illegal.
It is usually very difficult to know if you are being tapped, but there are certain signs that may indirectly indicate this. For example, if your phone has spyware installed, it runs out of battery very quickly. Of course, the problem may be in the device itself, if it is older than a year, but it will not hurt to check it for spyware.
You should be on your guard if the phone spontaneously turns off or restarts. If, while talking with the interlocutor, you simultaneously hear extraneous sounds, noises or other people's voices, this may also be a sign that the phone is being tapped.
If you begin to notice that when you call someone, the connection with the subscriber takes a long time, this can also be a sign of wiretapping. The point is that spyware takes some time to "wedge" into a conversation.
It should also be a cause for concern that the phone lying next to the speakers is interfering when you are not using it.
The development of technology, the creation of new smartphones has led to the widespread use of mobile communications for communication and receiving information from the Internet, solving household issues, working and communicating with friends. In some cases, it becomes necessary to use control programs for the devices of employees, family members, elderly relatives. In order to check whether a mobile phone wiretapping is installed on your device, you need to know the main signs indicating its functioning.
How mobile phones are tapped
The more new mobile gadgets are created, the more methods, means of their control, wiretapping appear. Special services, the police have the ability to intercept, eavesdrop, record conversations, SMS, control the geolocation of subscribers through telecom operators. Permission for such control can be obtained with the legal sanction of the court. Such interception is impossible without special equipment. An easier way to eavesdrop on phones is to install spyware on them, which can remotely monitor all of the subscriber's activity.
Special equipment for signal interception
Mobile false base stations are operational means of intercepting mobile phone signals. If it is necessary to control a specific subscriber, his identifiers in the network are determined. Then the interception station is set up close to the location of the controlled object. A mobile phone, scanning the air, identifies this station as the nearest base station of its operator. Signals from nearby subscribers pass through it and are transmitted further to the cellular network. When the computer detects the necessary identifiers, the wiretapping of the mobile phone is turned on.
Program for wiretapping a mobile phone
A cheaper wiretapping of a mobile phone is possible if a special spy program is installed on it. To do this, an interested person needs to register on the website of this service, then download and install the spy utility on the controlled device. Now it is possible to choose a paid or free service. Free methods offer a modest set of controls. Paid services can offer a wide range of such parameters:
By phone number via the Internet
There are services with which you can listen to a mobile phone via the Internet. They provide the ability to control another mobile device over the Internet online. This requires a phone number to track. These services cannot intercept and listen to the conversation. Their action is based on the use of the capabilities of services such as GPS and WiFi. With their help, it is possible to track the location of the device and its movement.
What is phone tapping for?
Life often sets tasks that require additional control. This may be an industrial need to control the movement of transport in the city and country, the requirement to preserve the commercial information of secure facilities or innovative companies. At the household level, wiretapping of a mobile phone will help establish a child's social circle, prevent him from committing illegal actions. Family problems can make it necessary to obtain reliable information about the behavior of spouses outside the family.
Protection of commercial interests and corporate information
The use of wiretapping of the phones of company employees who have access to confidential information, technological innovations and financial secrets can really protect the interests of the business. Knowing about this opportunity, many employees will be more careful about their work, avoid overly frank topics in business conversations, especially those concerning areas of work vital for the company and classified information. Recording the process of communication between employees and clients, negotiations disciplines the staff.
Child control
The modern world is full of temptations for a child. At school, in the yard or educational institution, he may face aggressive peers, bad company, scammers, etc. Considering the fact that all school-age children have a mobile phone, it becomes possible to remotely control their actions and social circle. Wiretapping of a mobile phone, remote activation of the microphone, the ability to determine the coordinates of its location by GPS can save life and health in an emergency.
Wiretapping your wife's or husband's phone
Doubt or suspicion of infidelity can ruin the life of a spouse. If the situation reaches extreme tension, additional control or wiretapping of the mobile phone may be a possible solution. If doubts are dispelled, such control will lead to calmness in the family and the restoration of normal relations, which are possible only with full trust and respect for each other. It will not be difficult to install spyware on your spouse's device for a short period of time.
Help and protection of loved ones
Wiretapping and location programs can provide important assistance in critical situations with sick and elderly relatives. Such a program will be useful if your relative went for a walk and did not return on time, a patient with diabetes may become ill on the street, and passers-by will not understand what is happening to him. If such a person does not answer phone calls, using a spyware program, you can track his location, listen to the sounds around him and understand what is happening.
How to listen to someone else's mobile phone
To use the control service, personal registration is required on the program developer's website. When registering, you must remember your login, password to enter the service, confirm your email address. Spy programs differ from each other in their control functions, in the types of presentation to you of information "taken" from the controlled apparatus. This can be a screen screen, a table of calls, SMS, call records. The tracking software must be downloaded, installed, activated on the smartphone secretly from the user.
What programs can be used
Among the assortment of spyware on offer, there are free utilities that, when analyzed and tested, are ineffective. To obtain high-quality information, it is necessary to spend funds for collecting and storing photos, videos, audio information. After registering on the developer's website, the client receives a personal account indicating the connected control functions, collected information. The most common programs for different models of smartphones on the Android or iPhone system include:
Cell Tracking Software Features
Controlling the smartphone, the spyware implements the functions of tracking and logging all actions of the object. After collecting information, the utility is able to provide the following data:
- log of incoming, missed, outgoing calls;
- audio recordings of telephone conversations;
- list and texts of all sms, mms messages;
- photo, video information taken by the camera;
- the current location of the subscriber according to the base stations of the GSM operator or GPS navigation;
- the history of visits to the pages of the smartphone browser;
- accounting of downloaded, installed, used applications;
- remote control of a cell phone microphone can transform it into a real bug.
How to identify a cell phone wiretapping
Many wiretapping programs can hide their presence on the smartphone. They can exclude themselves from the list of applications, be inactive during periods of using the device. Many antivirus programs can detect such software. If there is a possibility of eavesdropping on your conversations, you should pay attention to the extraordinary behavior of your smartphone. Various signs of wiretapping of a mobile phone are possible, which, upon close observation, are easily recognizable to the owner of the smartphone:
- the battery is quickly discharged, the temperature of the battery rises, the backlight suddenly turns on;
- unexpected reboots, spontaneous shutdowns of the device;
- the presence of interference, crackling, extraneous noise during a conversation;
- large delay when calling a subscriber and establishing a connection.
Fast battery discharge
The remote control algorithm assumes making hidden calls to the phone during periods of inactivity. At the same time, the device does not give any signals, but it secretly processes these commands, spending a certain amount of electricity on it. Each smartphone has a battery. If you clearly know for how long a full battery charge is enough for you, and you notice a sharp decrease in operating time, you should check your smartphone for the presence of unauthorized applications.
Unexpected phone restart
One of the events that confirms the presence of spyware in a smartphone can be unexpected reboots. This can happen when you try to uninstall questionable applications. By switching to restart, dangerous programs can disguise themselves as system utilities, informing you that you do not want to delete them. The easiest way to get rid of the suspicions that have arisen is to reinstall the operating system. Do not forget to save your contacts in cloud services before this procedure.
Availability of new applications
If you suspect spyware is present, it is worth checking the list of applications. Installation of such applications is possible by changing the system setting of the smartphone in the application management. Check the status of the Allow Downloads from Unknown Sources option. If it wasn't you who changed it, it means there was an intrusion of outsiders. If you find an unknown application, find its name on the Internet, find out its purpose. Many spyware utilities disguise themselves in the list of applications, so it makes sense to contact a specialist to find them.
Interference and noise during conversation
One of the ways in which external interference with a smartphone or its wiretapping can be manifested is the appearance of additional crackling or noise during a conversation. One of the manifestations of wiretapping is the appearance of an echo - the repetition of your words with a time delay. When such effects appear, it makes sense to end the conversation, call back your subscriber from another device.
It takes a long time to establish a connection with the interlocutor
To understand whether the device is being tapped or not, an analysis of several components is required. Among such manifestations, there may be an increase in the time to establish a connection with a subscriber after the termination of the ringing tone. Such a delay may mean that the recording equipment is triggered when the system detects a controlled identifier.
Anti-eavesdropping methods
If you have any suspicions of external control and for preliminary protection against eavesdropping, it is worth updating the operating system of your smartphone, setting a password for the entrance, installing antivirus and antispyware programs. If you want to protect yourself from wiretapping, changing the SIM card will not help you - when registering in the GSM network, the phone identifiers are used. Changing the device, SIM card, you will not knock an experienced specialist off the scent - by 10-15 points of geolocation of the old smartphone, the computer identifies you. As protective equipment against wiretapping, you can use:
- voice distortions make your voice unrecognizable, the recorded information will be difficult to show you as evidence;
- scramblers - encrypt a conversation to different sounds, but it is necessary that your interlocutor also has a similar scrambler;
- cryptotelephone - a device with built-in conversation encryption;
- use the Global Secure GSM system, which requires the purchase of a special SIM card that does not have permanent identifiers, and communication is carried out through a server with call-back functions, voice distortion, protection from false base stations.
Video
The networks of mobile operators and Internet providers have generated widespread resonance. We are looking into how things are going with the observation of citizens in Belarus and other countries.
Belarus: for the purpose of operational-search activities
To begin with, let us remind you that the obligation of operators and Internet providers to provide access to personal information of subscribers is not new. This norm is governed by the Law "On Operational Investigation Activities" (last edition of July 15, 2015 No. 307-З), which all companies, without exception, must comply with.
In particular, it says that listening, viewing messages, as well as obtaining other information about a subscriber's activities on the Web is possible if there is such a need for operational-search activities:
Control in telecommunication networks is the receipt, transformation and fixation using technical means of data and messages in telecommunication networks, interruption of connections in telecommunication networks with the simultaneous establishment of subscriber numbers and (or) unique identification codes of subscribers and (or) their location in order to obtain information required to perform the tasks of operational-search activities.
The law also provides that control in telecommunication networks "is carried out using the forces and means of the internal affairs bodies of Belarus, state security bodies and the Operational Analytical Center (OAC) under the President in accordance with legislative acts on operational search activities."
USA: wiretapping at the highest level
The US authorities also allow themselves to be monitored and eavesdropped on citizens, arguing its need for anti-terrorist considerations. The scale of such wiretapping was shown by former NSA employee Edward Snowden.
The National Security Agency (NSA), according to The Wall Street Journal, can track up to 75 percent of all Internet traffic in the United States. The American intelligence services have access to all the correspondence of American citizens, as well as the ability to listen to calls made, including through the Internet.
The ability to carry out such a large-scale surveillance of the Internet activity of its own citizens of the NSA provides close cooperation with the largest Internet providers and operators. All control functions are carried out by the NSA completely legally on the basis of legislative acts and orders adopted after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Americans can afford to wiretap not only ordinary citizens, but also top officials of other countries. Remember the control of the conversations of the heads of France, Germany and three dozen other countries
Russia: "Yarovaya law" and not only
Just yesterday, Vladimir Putin signed the amendments to the anti-terrorist legislation proposed by the deputy Irina Yarovaya, the so-called “Yarovaya law”. The famous whistleblower, former NSA officer Edward Snowden, has already called the signing day a black day for Russia. And that's why.
The law obliges operators and Internet companies to store text messages, voice information, images, sounds, videos, and other electronic messages of users for up to six months. Telecom operators will also have to store information on the facts of receipt, transmission, delivery of messages and calls for three years, Internet companies - for a year.
Amendments on the facts of making calls / receiving messages should come into force as early as July 20 of this year, on the content of calls and correspondence - from July 1, 2018.
However, the special services could "listen" to the Russians before.
According to the federal law "On operational and investigative activities" (everything is like ours), wiretapping of telephone conversations, e-mail perlustration and tracking the activity of people on the Internet cannot be carried out without a court order and a criminal case.
However, as experts explain, in fact, this ban is easily circumvented with the help of gaps in the law itself. The fact is that the control over whether the special services have court sanctions is carried out by the special services themselves.
In Russia, like ours, the SORM system (System of Operational Search Measures) operates. Russian mobile operators and Internet providers traditionally install equipment and connect it to this system on their own. And this does not surprise anyone.
Poland: "anti-terrorist" total wiretapping
In the summer of 2014, Wprost magazine published recordings of illegally tapped conversations of high-ranking Polish officials in restaurants. Among those who were tapped were the former head of the Polish Interior Ministry Bartlomej Sienkiewicz, the chairman of the National Bank Marek Belka and others.
A year later, the scandal flared up again. This time, 2.5 thousand pages of materials appeared on one of the social networks on a high-profile case of wiretapping, which is being conducted by the prosecutor's office of one of the districts of Warsaw. Among them are the testimonies of witnesses and the accused and their personal data, including addresses and phone numbers, and even some material evidence. Intelligence officials have confirmed that this is the largest leak of investigation materials in the history of the country.
Immediately after that, three ministers, a number of deputy ministers and Marshal of the Seimas Radoslaw Sikorski resigned.
And just a month ago, the Senate of Poland (the upper house of parliament) adopted a new anti-terrorist law, which had previously been approved by the Polish Sejm (lower house). At the same time, according to the Polish opposition, the law violates civil rights.
The document presupposes a significant expansion of the powers of the special services. In particular, it provides for the possibility of wiretapping, surveillance and wiretapping in premises, as well as checking correspondence and parcels of foreigners as part of operational actions to combat terrorism.
Ukraine: "You Can't Hide From Special Services"
Ukrainian special services wiretap citizens if they arouse their interest, ex-SBU Deputy Chairman, Lieutenant General Oleksandr Skipalsky said back in 2013.
“Remember, for reconnaissance, if the task is set, there is no word 'impossible' ... If the goal is set, then the technical possibilities of listening are there. At every step, we know that our citizens are being tapped both here and abroad. It all depends only on whether it is of interest to the secret service or not ", - said Skipalsky.
According to him, 99.9% of Ukrainian citizens are not interested in the special services, since they are law-abiding. However, the lieutenant general stressed, if a certain person is interested in the relevant department, then "you cannot hide from the special services."
Macedonia: scandal with wiretapping of 20 thousand citizens
They listen to their citizens in other European countries. For example, in Macedonia, protests have hardly stopped since the beginning of 2015, when the leader of the Social Democratic Union Zoran Zaev announced that the Macedonian authorities were tapping more than 20 thousand citizens of the republic.
The refusal of the authorities to prosecute officials suspected of organizing wiretapping added fuel to the fire. The demands to investigate the wiretapping case were supplemented by demands for the resignation of the country's president and prime minister, an investigation into government corruption and an end to the violation of the rights of the Albanian population.
The authorities, which are also under pressure from the European Union and the United States, are reluctant to meet the opposition and in response accuse them of cooperation with foreign special services.
Scandals related to wiretapping of citizens periodically arise in different countries. So last year, the head of the National Intelligence Service of South Korea admitted that his department bought spy software from the hacker group Hacking Team to gain access to messages in popular instant messengers (for example, Kakao Talk).
And in China, you will not surprise anyone with total control over the communication of citizens. In this country, we are talking not just about the ability of special services to use the logs of providers, but about constant total control and strict censorship.
According to a study published by the PIR Center, the Golden Shield project (unofficially known as the Great Firewall) is being successfully implemented in China, within the framework of which a sophisticated system for filtering Internet content has been created.
In 2005, anonymous communication was banned in China, mandatory registration of sites was introduced, and a series of raids were carried out on the owners of illegal Internet cafes. Since 2006, a special police agency has been operating in China to monitor the Internet.
It's no secret that wiretapping of cellular networks and tracking of correspondence in messengers is officially conducted at the state level in many countries of the world. Good or bad is the tenth question, but the state wiretapping of a mobile phone almost never turns into disclosure of confidential information, but attackers can use the data obtained in this way for their own ends: blackmail, theft, and so on. That is why the question of how to check the phone for wiretapping is relevant.
Attackers can use various tricks to implement their ideas: the so-called "bugs", virus software on the phone, "holes" in the security of mobile operators, social networks, instant messengers and others. It is because of the large number of methods that it is so difficult to know for sure whether the phone is being tapped.
How to find out if wiretapping is in progress
Depending on the eavesdropping method, it can be very easy or almost impossible to find out what is responsible for the "leak" of data. That is why you will have to act by brute force, using various methods and focusing on all the signs at once.
Indirect signs of wiretapping of a mobile phone
In this paragraph, we will talk about how to find out if your phone has become a target for wiretapping.
Search and neutralization of the source of wiretapping
To begin with, it is worth highlighting the most likely way of eavesdropping - these are malicious applications in the device's memory. The fact is that it is much easier for cybercriminals to embed a Trojan into a pirated smartphone video game or other application than to hack into the networks themselves. Therefore, you should find out if there are suspicious applications in memory.
- Download and install a program for monitoring system processes. We will be using OS Monitor.
- Open the list of connections made by device processes.
- Check all that raise suspicion.
- Search the internet for names. Surely you will be able to find messages from users who have encountered such a problem.
Also, it will not be superfluous to get an antivirus, of which there are many in Google Play. 
If you were unable to detect malware in the device memory, then proceed to the next steps.
- Save important information from your phone to a separate medium and reset the device to factory settings. Then you can start the smartphone by first inserting a SIM card with a zero balance there. Without turning on the Internet, try using an application for monitoring processes to track the activity of programs that are installed on your smartphone. The target can impersonate themselves with suspicious activity or even an error message if they're lucky. The next step is to delete the files associated with the target process. If it does not work, then try to search for information specifically about your virus on the Internet.
- If we are not talking about a virus, but about hacking the network (which is unlikely, but still), then use the Eagle Security application or its equivalent. The principle of operation is as follows: the program warns the user if he is connected to a fake base station of a mobile operator. In addition, you will be able to view a list of applications that have access to the microphone. Perhaps you will find several perpetrators of wiretapping at once.
Another option is bugs for wiretapping a mobile phone. Open the back cover of your smartphone and look for an item there that is not part of the device. It may not even be connected, but simply glued. For reliability, compare your phone with a photo from the Internet - an extra detail will be found right away.
Prophylaxis
At this point, we will talk about how to protect a mobile phone from wiretapping using simple rules.
- Do not download applications from third-party sources, and also be careful with applications from little-known developers from Google Play, as the likelihood of getting a virus from there is also not zero.
- Do not give your phone to strangers.
- Call over the Internet more often than through mobile communications, since almost every messenger has a decent security system, and therefore, even having access to your traffic, attackers are unlikely to be able to overhear the conversation.
- Avoid using neighborhood or other unverified Wi-Fi, as attackers can use modified access points to intercept your traffic.
- Check your smartphone regularly for viruses. For example, you can turn on the check at night, and in the morning you can charge your smartphone to 100%.
- Install an application to monitor the activity of the mobile network. For example, GSM Spy Finder detects SMS sent without the user's knowledge, and also gives some information about the degree of network security.
Conclusion
In our time, it is very difficult to maintain the confidentiality of correspondence and conversations, since threats to the inviolability of personal data come from the state, and from the side of intruders, and even from private companies - Google, FaceBook and others. Even operating systems can use the microphone of a smartphone or PC to create targeted ads. The best way to keep secrets would be a private conversation, but in the case of mobile communications and the Internet, it is guaranteed to be protected only from intruders, observing quite simple security rules.
