May I ask , however, for a small clarification ?
What exactly do you mean by ""dedicated" modified firmware " ?
You mean a program written specially for this type of cellphone and for this particular purpose(spying)?
thank you in advance wink
Hi Searchlight.
Do you think that data is being illegally extracted from the Sony Handset by a third party?
I understand that there are ways to this including copying the SIM card to make a clone and using the clone in a second handset. It is much harder than making a forensic clone but it can be done apparently
There is also a link for you that may help
http//
I have never tried any of the techniques but I believe there are techniques to extract data if a third party can gain access to the phone.
If this had been done I would expect that there would be traces of the spyware prorgam if a physical image of the phone is examined.
Personally I would try and compare a physical image of the suspect handset with one from a 'clean' handset and see what differences there are.
Hallo my friend )
I was mostly worried about eavesdropping and data theft and
in particular the stealing of sms and conversation content
As for the techniques you've mentioned , I believe I have read about them
but not being an expert, there's no way I could possibly evaluate them.
I do know that in most cases the software must be manually installed in the phone
and I can remember a couple of times when my phone was left unattended.
The via bluetooth installation also crossed my mind especially when I found my phone's bluetooth
turned on when I was more than certain that I had it turned off.
Personally, I was concerned about the possibility of spyware being installed in the phone through an mms file
or from an "infected" phone (mine supposedly) to someone else's, again with the use of an mms file.
I know that last one is a long shot but I have found a report in pdf clearly mentioning the mms as a malware vehicle.
Of course as I said , I am not an expert and I could have misread but I think I can produce the link.
I know that all must seem exaggerated , but I felt that I had to ask.
Please let my know your opinion wink
Hi Searchlight
I believe it is possible to infect a phone in the way you suggest with an mms.
It may be possible to work out how it was done particularly if you know the dates when the phone could be accessed via the offender.
However, it would probably not help in proving who did it, if it was successful or the extent of the data that may have been compromised.
I would reccommend searching for a file on the physical image that lists all the devices that your handset has linked with via Bluetooth. If you find a device that you do not recognise it may help you.
I don't know……
I cannot find anything in that file other than a blootooth handsfree clip ….
My concern is whether the mms method works on my phone or not.
I had the idea that this certain type the sony/ericsson k750 are somehpw safer…
as jaclaz pointed out above
"It is not (no offence intended) a "smartphone", i.e. it doesn't run a "real" OS,"
however this tiny particle of doubt always lurks x
even our friend jaclaz implied that when he wrote that
It is very unlikely that someone has written a "dedicated" modified firmware for it.
See …..not a definite No
I just don't know
If you have any other ideas please share ?
I saw a demonstration a few years ago and the phones that were hacked via bluetooth were not very sophisticated.
Here is a link to a video made in 2005 that showed it being done.
http//
Thank you friend
Another thing to worry about hahahaha…just kidding 8)
I still wish we could find something on the mms issue
I hope for something reassuring but I don't set my hopes too high (
Anyway
thanks again for your reply
So in answer to this question
but you have not set out why you 'suspect' this particular mobile phone may contain spyware?
your response is
I was mostly worried about eavesdropping and data theft and in particular the stealing of sms and conversation content
We all have data and sms on out mobiles as well as having conversations; but do not naturally suspect our data or conversations are being obtained illicitly. What you are not identifying, searchlight, is what you have noticed about your phone (and phone usage) that makes you 'suspect' or 'worried'. There needs to be a cause for you having these concerns?
Can you help us understand exactly what you have noticed that is out of the ordinary with your mobile phone e.g. what is the phone is doing that it doesn't normally do?
I very much apologize for the delay
Well to be completely honest I am not really sure if
certain small , let's say ,malfunctions of the device could actually qualify for what
one may call suspicious sign. As I pointed out I am not an expert.
Plus back then i didn't pay any real attention because I thought that this whole thing was mostly an urban legend.
I don't know…..the bluetooth was turned on even though i don't use bluetooth
small sounds during conversations….
battery indicator sometimes seemed inconsistent….
profile adjustments seemed to auto rearrange…..
of course none of the above were severe enough so that I wouldn't attribute them to the device, to bad signal reception or to me accidentally hitting a key ?
And as for any data theft I cannot document and prove anything .
However I don't think that this makes my question pointless and unreasonable.
Had I found actual evidence i would have gone to the authorities , I wouldn't
have been trying to gather information on my own !
Please don't get me wrong , don' t want to sound disrespectful, but the main reason
is that ,not being an expert, I cannot evaluate most of the answers I get .
As to what caused my concerns, well , I don't think I can share that information
in a public forum because it is of personal nature..|
My main concern is mostly whether spyware can be spread to other devices via mms
e.g. my phone contains malware , I send an mms to someone , he opens it and
his phone get infected as well .e.t.c
thanks in advance
|
As to what caused my concerns, well , I don't think I can share that information
in a public forum because it is of personal nature
This is OK, I didn't want to know that part. I wanted to know information about how the phone was operating without putting ideas in your head. That way you have provided some information in your response.
I don't know…..the bluetooth was turned on even though i don't use bluetooth
Well there was back in 2005-2008 a series of attacks and malware downloaded via bluetooth for sonyericsson. You say the bluetooth was turned on, but not whether you turned it on or whether it was turned on by some other means? None of us remember exactly every minute-by-minute, every day-by-day how a mobile was used over the last six months thus a potential act may exist that you may have forgotten - someone pinged your phone using bluetooth and you accepted to connect and an exchange took place thereafter?
As an alternative having bluetooth switched on (and assuming it was constantly scanning) this can drain the battery in idle mode and even more so when resources are actively being used such as phone conversation. This could indicate why the battery indicator being inconsisent, if you had charged the handset battery and it used charge more quickly that you expected.
This by itself doesn't suggest you have spyware on you phone or spreading spyware. However, bluetooth transfar can contain spyware if you transfer files this way.
small sounds during conversations….
There is spyware which allowed a perpetrator to listen in on conversation but was a slightly buggy malware and the perp had to mute the phone at their end as the target user would hear conversations in the back ground whilst on the phone. However, this spyware was not used with SE (sonyericsson).
It could be your earpiece may have developed a fault overtime or interference in the radio reception. Moreover, I believe in Greece the authorities do not allow enabling of GSM voice encryption, which is switched off (A5/0), this can impact on reception during conversations.
battery indicator sometimes seemed inconsistent..
Apart from above, poor radio coverage drains the battery. Spyware/malware are known to drain the battery and it is known the handset become very warm due to battery usage as genuine and rogue tasks compete to use limited handset resources.
profile adjustments seemed to auto rearrange…..
Downloading jar files etc and executing them can do that. What profile adjustments can you recall which were changed?
My main concern is mostly whether spyware can be spread to other devices via mms
e.g. my phone contains malware , I send an mms to someone , he opens it and
his phone get infected as well .e.t.c
This was not the basis to your original post as you didn't mention sending mms. Has the mms notion come about because another post mentioned it? By way of illustration, would it be equally relevant to consider that you have a virus/spryware on a laptop/pc to which you and another person have connected? Could the laptop/pc be the common source for the spyware (if there is one at all) and not mms?
To investigate further can you provide to me some more details for your SE K750i from what is recorded in the 'model info', 'software info' and 'configuration' folders. Also, and do this privately if you want, the IMEI of your handset. There is nothing surreptitious in my requests. It is a combination of this information which can be used to assist whether spyware could even operate on the particular handset you are using.
Finally, during the lifetime of the handset, did you ever update the firmware?