Intercepting SMS/Text messages

I recently came across a company which claims to be able to provide a service to intercept text mesages from a specified number and pass on the details to a subscriber’s handset:

We can now install, remotely anywhere in the world onto their mobile phone (providing it is a compatible model) a program which when they receive or send a text, you will at the same time receive the exact same text with the number it is being sent to and received from… This feature is an extremely powerful and covert application that is 100% trace resistant.

In the light of recent data-mining controversies and security issues, I find this both worrying and intriguing. After searching elsewhere for verification, I have found that it is possible to do so on a CDMA mobile phone (this involves reprogramming the phone to the number you want to divert to), though in practise this would be highly illegal to do to another person’s phone without their permission. However, the company do have a disclaimer on their site which states that the use of such facilities is illegal in the EEC and warns against customer use in this region.

There is little information on the company’s website of the costs and implementation of this service, though I have requested more information and will post it on my blog as soon as I receive it. Until then, I won’t post details of this website (though it is relatively easy to find through Google).

There has been much controversy recently of government reforms in the U.S. and Australia which legalises the interception of phone calls, SMS and email in the interests of national security. Generally speaking, this data-mining is done through telecom providers who supply the required call detail records, or CDR’s (database entries that record the parties to the conversation, the duration of the call and so on), or intercept calls and SMS on the behalf of the police. However, this article demonstrates how this privilege may be abused.

Interestingly, I have found various sites which offer the sale of devices which offer passive monitoring systems for the encrypted GSM networks and allow interception within a “readable” area rather than to a specific phone.

• http://www.endoacustica.com/gsm_interceptor.htm
• http://www.chiare.com/products/spy/GSM900-1800e.htm

Of course, this “James Bond” gadget is hugely expensive and inaccessible to your average citizen. But it’s interesting to know what could be out there, monitoring our interactions!