Pocket Spies (Yon on smart phone dangers)

Michael Yon "Dispatches" ^ | November 17,2011 | Michael Yon

[Travis McGee]

17 November 2011

We know the Internet has dangers. Everything we put onto the information superhighway should be considered chiseled into marble. Meanwhile, those smartphones that so many of us carry are tantamount to carrying hostile spies in our pockets. If the battery is charged and in the phone, the phone is a homing beacon whether it’s on or off. Now add services such as Facebook, and those excellent phone cameras with geotagging, and there is a combination for disaster.

This has relevancy for our troops in Afghanistan. During certain missions, I would not even take my smartphones. On or off, I did not want to take the chance. Probably made no difference, but it’s better safe than to get our people hurt. It is important that troops make sure that journalists and Interpreters do not take smartphones during certain sorts of missions. Also, if you get blown up, that smartphone might go sailing through the air and be found by the enemy. If they crack into it, they might have a treasure chest. The last unit that I had the honor to cover was 4-4 Cav. They were good about reminding about the smartphones but some other units don’t pay attention.

My Facebook has more than 48,000 readers. They come from just about any country imaginable, and many walks of life. A few days ago, I was browsing through the menus trying to learn more about Facebook, which amounts to a passive intelligence agency of sorts. This is especially true if you have Facebook (or other similar services) on your smartphone.

And so, with my iPhone4s using a Facebook app, I touched the tab called “Nearby.” An incredible amount of “actionable intelligence” scrolled on. One friend was at the Sheraton at the Pentagon. Another was at the Pentagon. I emailed to her and she confirmed. Another was at the VA Hospital in Long Beach. Ruby Tuesday. iHop. Starbucks Fort Polk. Times Square. Pacific Grill. Home sweet home. Octapharma Plasma. China Café. FBI Academy. Tahlequah Dialysis Unit. Columbus State University. AJ’s Pizza. Farelli’s Pizza. Palladium Theatre. Home. Crossroads Christian Church. 24 Hour Fitness – Mission Valley California. The Exchange Hotel.

And on and on. With my iPhone, I could track their smartphones in real time.

Some people were also typing entries (just got on the train) and they were being tracked. One young Thai woman was typing entries and finally posted she was home at her condo in Bangkok. At the same time, another was 12 time zones away at X-treme Rockclimbing Gym in Miami, Florida.

Touch one button and GoogleMaps instantly appears showing the precise location. Touch one more button and there is a choice: “Open in Maps,” “Get Directions,” “Cancel.”

(Read the rest at the link. I'm not "blog pimping" for Michael Yon, but I don't want to rip him off by posting it all here. If you are not familiar with Michael Yon, you should be.)

[Travis McGee]

CW2 Ping

Why a CW2 ping for a tech story? Because I'm convinced that the most critical "battle space" of any CW2 will be cyber space. To that end, I've made the use and misuse of the internet, cell phones and smart phones a key part of my novels.

Too many folks are preparing for some kind of guerrilla warfare in the woods, and they have every bit of tactical gear imaginable.

But the real front in CW2 will involve locating enemies via the internet and this type of tracking technology, and then "disappearing" or "accidenting" or otherwise disposing of them.

Folks, please carefully consider the cyber front in your CW2 thinking.

[Joe 6-pack]

"Because I'm convinced that the most critical "battle space" of any CW2 will be cyber space."

Agree with you wholeheartedly. It adds a fourth dimension that can only be ignored at one's own peril.

[PA Engineer]

Important post. Thanks for the ping.

[MountainDad]

The last unit that I had the honor to cover was 4-4 Cav.

Hey! That's my sons' unit!

[Lurker]

Wow. Just wow.

Thanks very much for posting this. When the balloon goes up Step 1 will be finding ways to take advantage of this technology for my purposes. Remember my friend, if they can do it to us, we can do it right back to them.

How hard would it be to duct tape a smart device to a vehicle and track that sucker where ever it goes? Just a thought...

[Loud Mime]

Methinks it is proper to teach our children Morse Code, short wave and semaphore.

I need to brush up on mine.

[PapaBear3625]

How hard would it be to duct tape a smart device to a vehicle and track that sucker where ever it goes? Just a thought...

My smart phone comes with an option for tracking kids. It reports back on where they are (or at least where the phone is). There's also this special purpose device.

[Joe 6-pack]

"Methinks it is proper to teach our children Morse Code, short wave and semaphore."

I'm thinking Navajo...

[TomGuy]

we can do it right back to them.

Until some loudmouth politician runs to the media cameras to announce to the world we are tracking such-'n-so [bin Laden, for example] by his satellite phone.

Chunk.....Clunk............[silence]

[vanilla swirl]

” How hard would it be to duct tape a smart device to a vehicle and track that sucker where ever it goes? Just a thought...”

While updating Facebook with “going to visit grandparents in Fla” while actually heading to the bunker in Montana.

All kinds of ways to screw with them.

[mouser]

Methinks it is proper to teach our children Morse Code, short wave and semaphore

you should look at packet using programs like fldigi instead of sending code for minutes you send a packet with all the info in seconds

with a modern hf vhf uhf such as the yaesu ft-897 a tnc and a laptop you are set

now days a ham license no longer requires code test are not that hard to pass

[Paine in the Neck]

Yes, it is becoming increasingly hard to go “dark”.

How do we jiu jitsu these electronic intrusions?

btw, just last night I saw the first commercial for Gov’t Motors’ “OnStar for everybody” system. You can now pay Obama to have yourself surveilled 24/7.

[fremont_steve]

yeah - but I think the original poster was making the point that going back to the old ways was a better way of keeping things local (though short wave doesn’t do a good job of that?)

Morse and Semaphore are going to give you line-of-site. Don’t want to broadcast to everyone! If you were a Scout in the 70’s or earlier - you likely have a rusty version of these skills!

[mouser]

Semaphore would give you line of sight but morse is usually sent over radio waves or by flashlight at night sitting on a hill with a light flashing out code will attract more attention than a short burst on the two meter band (144 mhz) or 70 cm band (440 mhz)

[US_MilitaryRules]

It would be hard at all to put on a car or whatever, but how are you going to keep it charged up? The cig lighter under the fender well?

[xp38]

Nothing beats the Semaphore Version of Wuthering Heights http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqiUGjghlzU

[CodeToad]

The second I believe we are in a world of sh*t is the moment I cancel my involvement with the Internet and cell phone services. I’ll keep the Internet as far as it stays on for reading purposes, but I won’t be posting anywhere on unsecured web sites. I have other means of communications past cell phones that would be much more beneficial.

[ctdonath2]

Quite.
Just turning FR off would be a serious disruption, never mind cell phones being a “where is X now” service.

[mewzilla]

=8-0

Bump for later....