Techies Help! How Easily Can One Monitor Cell Phones?

[HornBuckler]

I Know That Analog Phones Are Easily Intercepted By An Inexpensive Radio, But My Question Is On Digital Phones. I've Read Privacy Reports Etc From The Phone Companies Saying "Digital Monitoring Is Possible By Law Enforcement With SOPHISTICATED (meaning expensive right?) Equipment."

Seems To Me, Law Enforcement Isn't The Only Group With This Kind Of Equipment.

Is This Something One Could Put Together With 100 Bux And A Nearby RadioShack?

[DBoon]

1. I'd guess

a few thousand and a degree in electrical engineering. I doubt that any consumer electronic device would take more than this to break its security

Major problem would be following conversations between cells.

See http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,2676,00.html for a 1997 article about flaws in the encryption.

[htuttle]

2. Yes, it appears all you need a digital scanner and a PC

Even to listen to the so called 'secure' digital phones:

Digital Cell Phone Crypto Cracked
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,2676,00.html

[HornBuckler]

4. Thanks Mate

Appreciate The Link.

[ParanoidPat]

3. Click.....

.....Here! :evilgrin:

Google is your friend! ;-)

[Florida_Geek]

5. There is a Swiss company that makes a secure Cell

but you probably do not want to know the price

[TreasonousBastard]

6. I don't think you need worry...

since even though the encryption may be less than stellar, whoever wants to listen to you has to...

find YOUR phone to listen to

figure out if it's tdma or cdma, or something else.

filter out your conversation from possibly hundreds of others on that cell

figure out whether it's voice or data transmitted over the web-enabled picture cellphone

decrypt in real time your conversation compressed into millisecond chunks

It takes more than a scanner and a laptop to do all of this, and someone really, really, has to want to listen to you. Like the NSA, or someone with a warrant.