How to find out if your mobile phone is tapped. Fake base station. Protection of commercial interests and corporate information

Numerous scandals in recent years related to the wiretapping of citizens' cell phones by intelligence services clearly demonstrate the ephemeral nature of the concept of “private life” in the modern world. However, today's technologies allow not only specialists, but also ordinary users to gain access to a specific phone. At the same time, easily accessible spyware makes it possible to hack almost any popular phone model. The above is true even for the most famous brand: wiretapping an iPhone mobile phone is not something overly complicated.

Why might you need access to someone else's phone? The reasons are different for everyone, and very often people are guided by fairly understandable motives. Let's look at typical options for using phone wiretapping by ordinary people.

Why do you need to intercept iPhone calls and text messages?

Here are the most common situations when a program is used to record telephone conversations and read messages:

Monitoring a child from a distance. Modern parents have less and less time to raise their children. How can you keep your teenage son or growing daughter under control and protect them from serious mistakes and dangers in the world around them? With the help of wiretapping an iPhone mobile phone, parents can be aware of the child’s interests and hobbies, his experiences, social circle, and events happening to him. In addition, you can always find out the real location of the child at the moment using the GPS coordinates of the phone.
Protection of family and friends. Using call recording on iPhone, you can protect loved ones from scammers and other criminal elements, and help a loved one in a critical situation. And a phone tracking program that allows you to determine the coordinates of the device is great for those who care for elderly or incapacitated relatives.
Wiretapping a wife or husband. If there are serious suspicions that one of the spouses is cheating, wiretapping the “suspect”’s phone becomes an effective way to find out the truth. To do this, the entire range of possibilities is used: recording incoming and outgoing calls on the iPhone, reading online correspondence, determining the coordinates of the phone, wiretapping the surrounding space.
Protection of business interests. In a corporate environment, employees are often wiretapped to prevent the leaking of important commercial information. It is not uncommon for the phones of competitors or even partners to be wiretapped. And this is quite understandable: timely access to reliable information often becomes perhaps the main factor of business success.

As you can see, intercepting calls and SMS on an iPhone can be relevant in a wide variety of life situations. However, how far do modern spy apps extend?

What can a call recording program for iPhone do?

A good one provides the user with very wide functionality:

call recording and access to the log of incoming, outgoing and missed calls. You can listen to the conversation in real time or listen to its recording on a special Internet site;
interception of SMS messages (incoming, outgoing), emails;
access to correspondence in online messengers (iMessage, WhatsApp, Viber, Skype and others);
access to the contact list with the ability to edit;
control of multimedia files (photos, videos, music);
control of online activity (browser browsing history, bookmarks on websites);
tracking iPhone location by phone number (GPS);
remote management of software settings using your personal account on the website.

Obviously, the user of the listening program has at his disposal the widest range of tools for telephone surveillance. The main thing is to choose the right software and install it correctly on the desired phone.

Features of installing wiretapping: jailbreak

The procedure for flashing an iPhone or “hacking,” called “jailbreaking,” allows you to get rid of numerous software restrictions of the licensed iOS operating system. At the same time, jailbreaking makes it possible to install on your phone not only spy applications, but also many useful and harmless programs that are rejected by iOS. In practice, flashing the firmware increases the functionality of the phone, since the user gains access to previously closed settings.

Let's figure out what useful features jailbreaking an iPhone will add:

Installing a program for listening and recording calls on iPhone, reading SMS messages, etc. This could be the phone number of a child or another loved one who interests you.
Installing useful applications, previously blocked by iOS. Apple takes the security of its devices seriously, placing extremely high demands on third-party software. As a result, many great apps are missing from the Apple Store catalogs.
More functional lock window. Given iOS system limitations, the window only displays time and notifications, but after flashing, much more options appear.
Customizing the device control center, i.e. its reconfiguration to suit the tastes of a specific user. By properly setting up the control center, for example, you can speed up the transition to the necessary pages.
Avoid annoying iOS updates. You will have complete control over the process, eliminating many of the inconveniences familiar to every iPhone user.
Installing applications that help in case of theft or loss of the device. You will be able to search for your lost phone using GPS coordinates.

So, using spyware you can record phone calls on iPhone and intercept SMS. However, installing such applications usually requires jailbreaking your iPhone. And this is where the above list of advantages of a reflashed phone comes in very handy. After all, any of the items on the list can become a reason to reflash the device, for example, for a teenage child. And at the same time, secretly install a tracking program on the device that records calls to the iPhone and much more.

The development of technology and the creation of new smartphones have led to the widespread use of mobile communications for communication and obtaining information from the Internet, solving household issues, working and communicating with friends. In some cases, it becomes necessary to use programs to monitor the devices of employees, family members, and elderly relatives. In order to check whether mobile phone wiretapping is installed on your device, you need to know the main signs indicating its operation.

How mobile phones are tapped

The more new mobile gadgets are created, the more methods and means of monitoring and wiretapping appear. Intelligence agencies and police have the ability to intercept, listen in, record conversations, SMS, and control the geolocation of subscribers through telecom operators. Permission for such control can be obtained by legal authorization of the court. Without special equipment, such an interception is impossible. An easier way to listen to phones is to install spyware on them, which can remotely monitor all subscriber activity.

Special equipment for signal interception

The operational means of intercepting mobile phone signals are mobile false base stations. If it is necessary to control a specific subscriber, its identifiers in the network are determined. Then the interception station is installed close to the location of the control object. The mobile phone, scanning the airwaves, 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, wiretapping of the mobile phone is activated.

Program for wiretapping a mobile phone

Cheaper wiretapping of a mobile phone is possible by installing a special spy program on it. To do this, the interested person needs to register on the website of this service, then download and install the spy utility on the controlled device. Now you have the opportunity 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 opportunity to control another mobile device via the Internet online. To do this, you need a phone number that needs to be tracked. These services cannot intercept or listen to a conversation. Their action is based on the use of services such as GPS and WiFi. With their help, it is possible to track the location of the device and its movement.

Why do you need to tap your phone?

Life often poses challenges that require additional control. This may be a production need to control the movement of transport around the city and country, a requirement to preserve commercial information of sensitive facilities or innovative companies. At the everyday level, wiretapping a mobile phone will help establish a child’s social circle and prevent him from committing illegal actions. Family problems may make it necessary to obtain reliable information about the behavior of spouses outside the family.

Protection of commercial interests and corporate information

Using 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 possibility, many employees will be more careful about their work and avoid overly frank topics in business conversations, especially those related to areas of work that are vital for the company, and classified information. Recording the process of communication between employees and clients and negotiations disciplines the staff.

Child supervision

The modern world is full of temptations for a child. At school, in the yard or educational institution, he may encounter aggressive peers, bad company, scammers, etc. Considering the fact that all school-age children have a mobile phone, it becomes possible to remotely monitor their actions and social circle. Wiretapping a mobile phone, remotely activating a microphone, and the ability to determine its location using GPS can save life and health in emergency situations.

Wiretapping a wife's or husband's phone

Doubts or suspicions of infidelity can ruin the life of spouses. If the situation reaches extreme tension, a possible solution may be additional control or wiretapping of a cell phone. If doubts are dispelled, such control will lead to peace in the family and the restoration of normal relationships, which are possible only with complete trust and respect for each other. Installing spyware on your spouse’s device for a short period of time is not difficult.

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 goes for a walk and does not return on time, a person with diabetes may feel ill on the street, and passers-by will not understand what is happening to him. If such a person does not answer the phone, using spyware 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 on the program developer’s website is required. When registering, you must remember your login and password to enter the service, and confirm your email address. Spy programs differ from each other in their control functions and the types of presentation of information “taken” from the monitored device to you. This could be a screenshot, a table of calls, SMS, call recordings. The surveillance program must be downloaded, installed, and activated on the smartphone secretly from the user.

What programs can you use?

Among the range of spyware programs offered, there are free utilities that, when analyzed and tested, turn out to be ineffective. To obtain high-quality information, it is necessary to spend money on collecting and storing photos, videos, and audio information. After registering on the developer’s website, the client receives a personal account indicating the connected control functions and the collected information. The most common programs for different models of smartphones on the Android or iPhone system include:

Software capabilities for cell phone tracking

By monitoring the smartphone, the spy program implements the functions of tracking and logging all actions of the object. Having collected 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 camera;
current location of the subscriber using GSM operator base stations or GPS navigation;
history of visiting smartphone browser pages;
accounting of downloaded, installed, used applications;
Remote control of a cell phone's microphone can transform it into a real bug.

How to detect wiretapping of a mobile phone

Many wiretapping programs can hide their presence on a smartphone. They can exclude themselves from the list of applications and not show their activity during periods of using the device. Many antivirus programs can detect such software. If there is a possibility of your conversations being intercepted, you should pay attention to the unusual behavior of your smartphone. There are various possible signs of wiretapping of a mobile phone, which, with careful observation, can be easily recognized by the owner of the smartphone:

the battery discharges quickly, the battery temperature rises, the backlight suddenly lights up;
unexpected reboots, spontaneous shutdowns of the device;
the presence of interference, crackling, extraneous noise during a conversation;
long delay when calling a subscriber and establishing a connection.

Rapid battery drain

The remote control algorithm involves making hidden calls to a phone during periods of inactivity. In this case, the device does not give any signals, but it secretly processes these commands, spending a certain amount of electricity on it. Every smartphone has a battery. If you clearly know how long a full battery charge lasts for you, and you notice a sharp reduction in operating time, you should check your smartphone for the presence of unauthorized applications.

Phone reboots unexpectedly

One of the events that confirms the presence of spyware on a smartphone can be unexpected reboots. This may happen when you try to remove questionable applications. By switching to a reboot, dangerous programs can disguise themselves as system utilities, informing you that it is undesirable to remove them. The easiest way to get rid of any suspicions that arise is to reinstall the operating system. Before this procedure, do not forget to save your contacts in cloud services.

Availability of new applications

If you suspect the presence of spyware, you should check the list of applications. Installation of such applications is possible by changing the system setting of the smartphone in application management. Check the status of the Allow downloads from unknown sources setting. If it was not you who changed it, it means there was an intrusion by outsiders. If you find an unknown application, find its name on the Internet and find out its purpose. Many spy utilities disguise themselves in the list of applications, so it makes sense to turn to specialists to find them.

Interference and noise during conversation

One of the ways that external interference in a smartphone or its wiretapping can occur is the appearance of additional crackling or noise during a conversation. One of the manifestations of wiretapping is the appearance of an echo - repetition of your words with a time delay. When such effects appear, it makes sense to stop the conversation and call your subscriber back from another device.

It takes a long time to establish a connection with the interlocutor

To understand whether the device is wiretapped or not, an analysis of several components is required. Such manifestations may include an increase in the time it takes to establish communication with the subscriber after the call has stopped ringing. Such a delay may mean that the recording equipment is triggered when the system detects a monitored identifier.

Ways to protect against eavesdropping

If you have any suspicions about external control and for preliminary protection against wiretapping, you should update your smartphone’s operating system, set a login password, and install anti-virus and anti-spyware programs. If you want to protect yourself from wiretapping, changing the SIM card will not help you - when registering in a GSM network, phone identifiers are used. By changing your device or SIM card, you will not throw an experienced specialist off the scent - the computer will identify you using 10-15 geolocation points of your old smartphone. The following can be used as protective equipment against wiretapping:

voice distorters make your voice unrecognizable, making the recorded information difficult to present to you as evidence;
scramblers - encrypt a conversation using different sounds, but it is necessary that your interlocutor also has a similar scrambler;
cryptophone – a device with built-in conversation encryption tools;
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, and protection against false base stations.

Video

Useful tips

There are some very powerful spyware programs that can track mobile phones. But why would anyone spy on you?

Wiretapping can be carried out for various reasons, and its victims can be not only ordinary people, but also influential politicians and businessmen.

If you find that your cell phone battery is quickly losing charge or your Internet data traffic has increased dramatically, then you may be being spied on.

Spy surveillance program

Why spy on me?

Maybe you have information that someone else wants to get their hands on. If you work in business, this could be information about sales strategies, new product development, and so on. Maybe someone wants to find out if the person is cheating.

If you send your phone in for repairs, for some reason they may install spyware to copy your data or track your location via GPS.

That being said, it is worth knowing that there is a whole huge and thriving industry whose sole purpose is to spy on others using spy software. Moreover, this industry may be completely legal.

But no matter how smart spyware is, there are ways to understand if it is on your cell phone.

Phone spying software: How to find out if it exists?

Unusual sounds during calls

If there are clicks during calls or distant voices (or chunks of someone's voices) coming through your phone, this could be a sign that you are being monitored. This is not normal for today's phones. This is a thing of the past and is associated with old analogue networks.

Reduced battery capacity

Another sign of a faulty cell phone is decreased battery performance. If a cell phone is tapped, it records your activities and transmits them to a third party. This leaves a mark in the form of increased battery usage and as a result the battery drains faster. A cell phone can also continuously record conversations in a room, even when it is in standby mode.

Of course, this all leads to rapid battery drain. You can check this by using your battery in another phone of the same model and comparing the results.

Your phone shows activity when you're not using it

Does your phone make noise or the screen turns on when you're not using it? Calls and message alerts should be silent when not in use. Does your smartphone restart without any reason? If the answer is YES, then someone has remote access to your device.

Your phone takes a long time to turn off

Before the smartphone turns off, it must close all programs that it is running. If your phone is transferring data to someone else, it will take longer for them to complete a particular process. If your device takes longer than usual to turn off, especially after a call, SMS, email, or web browsing, it may be sending information to a third party.

How to check your phone for wiretapping

Battery temperature is high

Avoid playing games or actively using your phone for a while. After that, touch it from the battery side. If you feel warm, it may be secretly used to transmit data. However, this is not always a clear sign of surveillance.

Receiving unusual messages

Are you receiving strange text messages containing random numbers or symbols? The spyware's remote control feature sends secret text messages to your phone, and in some cases this can be seen, especially if the phone's software is not working properly. If this happens regularly, then you may have a spy app installed on your phone.

Increasing the amount of data used

Some of the less reliable spy apps use additional data to send information collected from your phone, so pay attention to any unexplained increase in monthly data usage. More advanced spyware has significantly reduced the amount of data used and is almost undetectable. However, older programs can still be discovered thanks to a significant increase in monthly traffic volume.

How to detect spyware on your phone (Android and iOS)

Spy program for Android (Android)

Spyware on Android can be detected by looking at the files on the phone. Open "Settings" - "Applications" - "Manage applications" or "Start services" and you can detect suspicious files. Good spyware usually disguises file names so they don't stand out, but sometimes they may contain terms like spy, monitor, stealth, and so on. Some of the less advanced programs are still quite easy to detect.

Don't worry - if you're just looking for confirmation of spyware, you won't damage the phone, but it's best not to delete files you don't recognize. If you find suspicious software, it is recommended that you take your device to someone who knows what they are doing and can help explain the presence of certain programs.

Spy program for iPhone

Typically, if you have an iPhone and someone wants to install spyware, they will first need to hack your phone. These vulnerabilities have been discovered in the past, allowing someone with access to the network used by the device to download a significant amount of personal data. These gaps have been fixed, but you can never be too sure that your device is completely secure.

Sometimes you may find software on your iPhone that you don't remember downloading. You can check the Apple store and see if the app is available there. If not, your phone has most likely been hacked.

Digging deep into an iPhone is more difficult than an Android, but there is an easy way to remove spyware from it. Simply update your software to the latest version via iTunes. The update will remove spyware and any other externally installed software. But before you do this, be sure to back up important data on your phone.

Cell phone wiretapping

Reset to factory settings

Resetting your phone to factory settings, be it Android or iPhone, will remove any spyware, but again be sure to back up your data such as contacts, photos and music, otherwise you will lose it.

If you do this, you will also need a secure passcode to prevent future unauthorized access to your device. For Android devices, you can also install an app like AppNotifier, which will email you a notification that all programs are downloaded to your phone, alerting you if someone is trying to do something they shouldn't.

Have you just discovered that someone is spying on you?

This may come as a shock. Most victims are not even aware that this type of software exists. If you notice unusual behavior on your phone, then it's worth at least checking it. Remember, there are many very powerful spyware programs available today.

In business it’s like in war!

Be prepared for the fact that as soon as you start to really succeed in something, there will always be people who want to lay their paw on your work.

The wave of contract killings of the early 90s, thank God, has sunk into oblivion; today they prefer to act in other ways. Raider takeovers and the use of administrative resources are the realities of today's life. Information gathering and espionage have become everyday occurrences.

I offer you a translation of an article from the Makeuseof.com portal, with the help of which you can determine whether you are “under the hood” or not.

Each of us has a cell phone. Can you remember the last time you left home without a mobile phone? Most likely it was an accident. We use the phone so often that we have actually become completely dependent on it.

I don't want to scare you, but do you know how easy it is to get access to your phone from the outside? If someone wants to listen to your conversations, read SMS messages and track you using GPS, rest assured, they will do it.

There are many reasons why a person wants to eavesdrop on someone else's telephone conversation. This could be a nosy boss, a competitor, a jealous spouse, a burglar, or a telephone bully.

Fortunately, there are ways to, if not prevent the invasion of your privacy, then at least give you the appropriate signal.

Of course, it's illegal to spy on someone's phone without the owner's permission, but it happens. This doesn't necessarily happen to you, but if you suspect someone is reading your SMS messages, here are some helpful tips on how to spot the bad guy.

Battery temperature

One of the likely indicators of the presence of wiretapping is the battery. Feel your phone when you're not using it - if it feels warm or even hot, it means it's still in use. Keep in mind that heat comes primarily from overuse. The battery can only be hot if the phone has been used for a while.

The phone runs out of charge very quickly

Charging your mobile phone more often than usual is another sign of a potential threat. If you haven't used the device more than usual, it is possible that your phone has been used by someone without your knowledge. When a mobile phone is tapped, it loses battery power much faster. A tapped cell phone is constantly recording conversations in the room, even if it looks like it is lying idle.

Note: mobile phones tend to lose their maximum battery level over time. If your phone is more than a year old, the battery capacity will steadily decrease depending on the amount of use.

Shutdown delay

When you turn off your phone and notice a lot of lag, the backlight staying on for a long time, or the phone simply refusing to turn off, then it's quite possible that you're hooked. Always be aware of unusual phone behavior. Although, it is possible that the problems described may be caused by glitches in the phone's hardware or software.

Strange activity

Does it happen that your phone’s backlight suddenly lights up, some applications are installed on their own, or it turns off spontaneously? Strange behavior could be a sign that someone is controlling the device remotely. By the way, this can also occur due to interference during data transmission.

Background noise

When you are talking, a wiretapped phone may cause interference. Something like echoes, electricity, clicks - these sounds can be caused by the environment, connection interference... or someone listening to you. If you hear a pulsating noise coming from your phone when you're not using it, it could be a serious problem.

Interference

If you use your phone in close proximity to other electronic devices (like a TV) and it interferes with them, then this may be due to the presence of foreign devices in the mobile phone case. In most cases, interference is normal, but if it happens when you are not using your phone, then this may well mean that you are “under the hood”.

Become a disinformer

If you suspect that your phone conversation is being listened to or recorded by someone you know, you can try to misinform the spy to confirm this suspicion for sure. Tell someone you trust your “secret” personal information over the phone. If you find out later that others have found out, then the answer may be yes.

Get Help

If you have reason to believe that your mobile phone is being tapped, seek help. The police or the police are also an option, since they have equipment that can be used to check the phone, but you should only go this route if you are absolutely sure that you are being monitored

Conclusion

Let me emphasize once again that the chances of someone being “on the hook” are very small. Most of the problems described above can most likely be explained by a poor connection, an old battery, or firmware glitches - but there are also signs that are worth paying attention to in any case.

If you want to be safe then you should lock your phone with a password And keep it with you all the time. If you are not using it, remove the battery from the compartment to be sure that you are not being tapped.

Of course, in 99% of cases all your fears are pure paranoia,
but still remember: Forewarned is forearmed!

The most obvious way is official wiretapping by the state.

In many countries around the world, telephone companies are required to provide access to telephone wiretap lines to competent authorities. For example, in Russia, in practice, this is carried out technically through SORM - a system of technical means to ensure the functions of operational-search activities.

Each operator is required to install an integrated SORM module on its PBX.

If a telecom operator has not installed equipment on its PBX to wiretap the phones of all users, its license in Russia will be revoked. Similar total wiretapping programs operate in Kazakhstan, Ukraine, the USA, Great Britain (Interception Modernization Program, Tempora) and other countries.

The corruption of government officials and intelligence officers is well known to everyone. If they have access to the system in "god mode", then for the right price you can have it too. As in all state systems, in the Russian SORM there is a big mess and typical Russian carelessness. Most technical specialists actually have very low qualifications, which allows unauthorized connection to the system without the notice of the intelligence services themselves.

Telecom operators do not control when and which subscribers are listened to on SORM lines. The operator does not check in any way whether there is a court sanction to wiretap a particular user.

“You take a certain criminal case about the investigation of an organized criminal group, in which 10 numbers are listed. You need to listen to a person who has nothing to do with this investigation. You simply get this number and say that you have operational information that this is the number of one of the leaders of a criminal group,” say knowledgeable people from the website “Agentura.ru”.

Thus, through SORM you can listen to anyone on “legal” grounds. This is such a secure connection.

2. Wiretapping through an operator

Cellular operators generally look at the call list and movement history of a mobile phone, which is registered in various base stations according to its physical location, without any problems. To obtain call records, like the intelligence services, the operator needs to connect to the SORM system.

For Russian law enforcement agencies, there is little point in installing Trojans, unless they need the ability to activate a smartphone’s microphone and record, even if the user is not talking on a mobile phone. In other cases, SORM does an excellent job of wiretapping. Therefore, Russian intelligence services are not very active in introducing Trojans. But for unofficial use it is a favorite hacking tool.

Wives spy on their husbands, businessmen study the activities of competitors. In Russia, Trojan software is widely used for wiretapping by private clients.

The Trojan is installed on a smartphone in various ways: through a fake software update, through an email with a fake application, through a vulnerability in Android or in popular software like iTunes.

New vulnerabilities in programs are found literally every day, and then they are closed very slowly. For example, the FinFisher Trojan was installed through a vulnerability in iTunes, which Apple did not close from 2008 to 2011. Through this hole, it was possible to install any software on behalf of Apple on the victim’s computer.

It is possible that such a Trojan is already installed on your smartphone. Have you ever felt like your smartphone battery has been draining a little faster than expected lately?

6. Application update

Instead of installing a special spy Trojan, an attacker can do an even smarter thing: choose an application that you yourself voluntarily install on your smartphone, after which you give it full authority to access phone calls, record conversations and transfer data to a remote server.

For example, it could be a popular game that is distributed through “left” mobile application catalogs. At first glance, it’s an ordinary game, but with the function of wiretapping and recording conversations. Very comfortably. The user manually allows the program to access the Internet, where it sends files with recorded conversations.

Alternatively, malicious application functionality may be added as an update.

7. Fake base station

A fake base station has a stronger signal than a real base station. Due to this, it intercepts subscriber traffic and allows you to manipulate data on the phone. Fake base stations are known to be widely used by law enforcement agencies abroad.

In the USA, a model of fake BS called StingRay is popular.

And it's not just law enforcement agencies that use such devices. For example, merchants in China often use fake BS to send mass spam to mobile phones that are located within a radius of hundreds of meters around. In general, in China the production of “fake honeycombs” has been ramped up, so in local stores it is not a problem to find such a device, assembled literally on your knees.

8. Hacking a femtocell

Recently, some companies have been using femtocells - low-power miniature cellular stations that intercept traffic from mobile phones within range. Such a femtocell allows you to record calls from all company employees before redirecting the calls to the base station of cellular operators.

Accordingly, to wiretap a subscriber, you need to install your own femtocell or hack the operator’s original femtocell.

9. Mobile complex for remote wiretapping

In this case, the radio antenna is installed close to the subscriber (operates at a distance of up to 500 meters). A directional antenna connected to the computer intercepts all phone signals, and when the work is completed, it is simply taken away.

Unlike a fake femtocell or Trojan, here the attacker does not have to worry about getting into the site and installing a femtocell, and then removing it (or removing the Trojan without leaving any traces of hacking).

The capabilities of modern PCs are enough to record a GSM signal on a large number of frequencies, and then crack the encryption using rainbow tables (here is a description of the technique from a well-known specialist in this field, Carsten Nohl).

If you voluntarily carry a universal bug with you, you automatically collect an extensive dossier on yourself. The only question is who will need this dossier. But if he needs it, he can get it without much difficulty.