Free Republic

Exclusive: Whistleblower’s data suggests millions of tracking requests sent over four-month periodSaudi Arabia appears to be exploiting weaknesses in the global mobile telecoms network to track its citizens as they travel around the US, according to a whistleblower who has shown the Guardian millions of alleged secret tracking requests. Data revealed by the whistleblower, who is seeking to expose vulnerabilities in a global messaging system called SS7, appears to suggest a systematic spying campaign by the kingdom, according to experts. The data suggests that millions of secret tracking requests emanated from Saudi Arabia over a four-month period beginning in November...

“German researchers have discovered security flaws that could let hackers, spies and criminals listen to private phone calls and intercept text messages on a potentially massive scale – even when cellular networks are using the most advanced encryption now available,” Craig Timberg reports for The Washington Post. “The flaws, to be reported at a hacker conference in Hamburg this month, are the latest evidence of widespread insecurity on SS7, the global network that allows the world’s cellular carriers to route calls, texts and other services to each other,” Timberg reports. “Experts say it’s increasingly clear that SS7, first designed in...

I am a long time telephone company COT (central office tech). I have some insight into our government's Homeland Security call "tapping" and I am getting more and more frustrated at people throughout the political spectrum who have stong opinions about it, yet they are uninformed. The equipment used to "tap" phones resides in telephone central offices and within the last few years I have seen equipment labelled CALEA. I knew from the location of the equipment that it is associated with the SS7 network and was told that it was Homeland's spy gear. This information was already enough for...