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Inside a low-budget consumer hardware espionage implant

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Re: Inside a low-budget consumer hardware espionage implant

#11

Post by samstave »

carbocation wrote: post #9
Oxitendwe wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it would be pretty easy actually, to keep up with the data - you could just get a Bluetooth headset and set your phone to automatically accept calls from your spying device, then listen in while you go about your day.

Or hook it up to a Twilio and receive text notifications when a new recording is available. Optionally auto-transcribe and do topic modeling to extract only discussions of interest.

+1 for the thought -100 for the thought...

But at the end of the day, we dont want to encourage the deep surveillance state... but we techie always look at this sort of thing and then say "hmmm... wouldnt it be interesting if..."

Re: Inside a low-budget consumer hardware espionage implant

#12

Post by Oxitendwe »

new299 wrote: post #10

I wonder what voltage is required to kill the Mediatek chip? Maybe a simple jig that put -24v through it could fry it? Of course, if you're expecting it, this device should be relatively simple to stop. I can imagine more stealthy variants however.

If you already know it's there, you probably don't need to go through the trouble of destroying it, unless you just want to fry random USB devices.

Re: Inside a low-budget consumer hardware espionage implant

#13

Post by toomuchtodo »

QAPereo wrote: post #4
zbentley wrote: post #3

What's especially creepy is that many devices (e.g. laptops) with USB ports continue sending power to those ports even when the device is off . So someone bugged with something like this implant could fully power off their laptop when discussing sensitive information, and if they left a bugged USB drive plugged in, they could still be compromised.

Bug or feature?

Configurable option. Charge my iPhone, don’t power a bug.

Re: Inside a low-budget consumer hardware espionage implant

#14

Post by Oxitendwe »

samstave wrote: post #11
carbocation wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or hook it up to a Twilio and receive text notifications when a new recording is available. Optionally auto-transcribe and do topic modeling to extract only discussions of interest.

+1 for the thought -100 for the thought... But at the end of the day, we dont want to encourage the deep surveillance state... but we techie always look at this sort of thing and then say "hmmm... wouldnt it be interesting if..."

I don't think products like this encourage the "deep surveillance state" - if anything, they weaken it by loosening their monopoly on high-tech covert surveillance. These things can be used for good as well as evil - you could spy on a corrupt official or catch someone cheating just as easily as anything else.

Re: Inside a low-budget consumer hardware espionage implant

#15

Post by avian »

QAPereo wrote: post #4
zbentley wrote: post #3

What's especially creepy is that many devices (e.g. laptops) with USB ports continue sending power to those ports even when the device is off . So someone bugged with something like this implant could fully power off their laptop when discussing sensitive information, and if they left a bugged USB drive plugged in, they could still be compromised.

Bug or feature?

Feature. It allows, among other things, for a computer to be woken up via the (USB-connected) keyboard.

Re: Inside a low-budget consumer hardware espionage implant

#16

Post by vpribish »

new299 wrote: post #10

I wonder what voltage is required to kill the Mediatek chip? Maybe a simple jig that put -24v through it could fry it? Of course, if you're expecting it, this device should be relatively simple to stop. I can imagine more stealthy variants however.

or you could unplug it, take it home and keep it as a pet

Re: Inside a low-budget consumer hardware espionage implant

#17

Post by yborg »

blunte wrote: post #7

This is obviously not good, but I'm not sure it is particularly useful for something "important". Any target of high value will be pursued and observed by trained humans with advanced tools. The amount of data collected, I suspect, would be less but more accurate. A device like this just lowers the bar (really low) on tracking. However, it increases the noise/inaccuracy. If combined with some key logger and other dev…

The use case for this is going to primarily be someone who suspects their partner is cheating. This isn't for Jason Bourne.

Re: Inside a low-budget consumer hardware espionage implant

#18

Post by toyg »

samstave wrote: post #11
carbocation wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or hook it up to a Twilio and receive text notifications when a new recording is available. Optionally auto-transcribe and do topic modeling to extract only discussions of interest.

+1 for the thought -100 for the thought... But at the end of the day, we dont want to encourage the deep surveillance state... but we techie always look at this sort of thing and then say "hmmm... wouldnt it be interesting if..."

As others pointed out, this is unlikely to be used by "the deep state" - would you ever get a USB data cable from a public officer of any sort?

This is for jealous spouses.

Re: Inside a low-budget consumer hardware espionage implant

#19

Post by blunte »

carbocation wrote: post #9
Oxitendwe wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it would be pretty easy actually, to keep up with the data - you could just get a Bluetooth headset and set your phone to automatically accept calls from your spying device, then listen in while you go about your day.

Or hook it up to a Twilio and receive text notifications when a new recording is available. Optionally auto-transcribe and do topic modeling to extract only discussions of interest.

But the low quality audience for this device is likely incapable of doing such a thing. Now, a company with questionable ethics could facilitate this for clients...

Re: Inside a low-budget consumer hardware espionage implant

#20

Post by [deleted] »

vpribish wrote: post #16
new299 wrote: post #10

I wonder what voltage is required to kill the Mediatek chip? Maybe a simple jig that put -24v through it could fry it? Of course, if you're expecting it, this device should be relatively simple to stop. I can imagine more stealthy variants however.

or you could unplug it, take it home and keep it as a pet

[deleted]
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