Conspiracy theorists have something new.
According to publications from researchers Kaspersky and Citizen lab, there's a new type of malware designed to give police access to a suspect’s phone. The crazy part? They don’t even have to be near the suspect to implant the device. A tool called the Remote Control System (RCS) can be controlled through an infected link or network traffic injection, meaning we're all one click away from being tapped. And in the case that doesn’t work? The system can still be implanted physically through a USB or SD card.
iPhone users can breathe a little easier than Android users since the device is said to work best on Google's OS, however the RCS can be used on jail broken iOS software. The result? Not only would police then have access to your data, but they could then track your location, record audio from your phone's mic, and even take pictures your camera.
The new technology comes courtesy of Hacking Team, a Milan-based company that sells surveillance software to police "on six continents" all over the world. For now, nobody knows for sure where exactly RCS is being used. However, theories are spreading that the malware is currently being rolled out in the Los Angeles area as Hacking Team’s presentation of their product shows an LA County Sheriff’s office as a default location.
Hacking Team may be on thin ice as Reporters without Boarders have already dubbed the company an “Enemy of the Internet”. Hacking Team makes it a point to state that it will not sell its products to governments that are blacklisted by NATO, although that does little for innocent users in countries such as the United States. With this kind of technology making way through our government, there’s no telling if anyone will have much privacy soon.
[via The Verge]
