Phone Eavesdropping

The truth is that it’s possible to listen in to any phone conversation, regardless of whether it’s traditional, mobile, or VoIP.  Generally speaking, governments have the technology to easily listen in to any phone call desire. The legal concern is beside the point, of course. Generally, this is illegal, but that hasn’t always stopped government or corporate entities from hearing what you say over a phone anyway.  And this is exactly the same when it comes to VoIP calls. The main difference is that you may not need the resources of a huge corporation or government to do it.

VoIP Security Concerns

The main thing is that when you’re using a VoIP call, you’re using the Internet. This means that all of the problems that plague computers and the Internet in terms of security could also plague you. A VoIP call can be intercepted at any point on its journey from your computer or smart-phone to the recipient on the other side. And generally, this journey is quite a long one with a lot of stops. But intercepted phone calls on the Internet are just data. What matters is the interpretation. This means that encryption comes in to play.

Encryption

Essentially, if you have a VoIP provider that encrypts calls, then anyone who intercepts them will just have a big lump of data that they can’t do a single thing with. They won’t be able to hear anyone’s voice or do anything with the information besides stare at it. Some providers encrypt their communications at various levels, such as a 256-bit AES encryption, which is an example of one that’s strong enough that it’s pretty extremely unlikely anyone will be able to break through.

Weak Links

Another important fact to consider is that any part of the chain between your computer or phone and the device used to interpret the call on the other side can be a weak link, allowing outsiders the ability to compromise the security. For example, if your computer has a virus or other bit of malware on it, then people could listen in on your calls without even having to break encryption. They can essentially listen to your calls the same way you do: by using your computer.

Summing Up

Overall, there’s no such thing as a perfectly secure phone, regular phones can be tapped, and mobile phones can have people listening in via satellites, and so on. When it comes to VoIP phone calls, the important thing is to have something called a hosted PBX service that focuses on security and keeping your VoIP call safe.

This is a guest post by Lindsey McMahon, a freelance tech writer who enjoys sharing advices about tech solutions.

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Google filed a legal challenge today against gag orders that come with the FISA court orders it receives from the FBI and NSA, on grounds that the silence orders impinge on the company’s First Amendment rights to speak freely about …

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A federal hearing today on NSA surveillance programs leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden produced some interesting numbers about the scope of the data collections and other issues. We’ve produced a roundup below of some of the interesting stats …

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The NSA Hearing, by the Numbers

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Yahoo is the latest tech company to disclose the number of government requests for data over the past 18 months after the NSA spying scandal. The NSA’s recent admission to tapping phone conversations and PRISM scandal has led many tech companies to disclose the number of US law enforcement requests. Yahoo has joined the ranks of other companies and has recently revealed the number of requests for data in the span of 18 months. According to a statement co-signed by Marissa Mayer and Ron Bell, Yahoo received 12,000 to 13,000 requests from Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and US law enforcement agencies during this time period. The majority of these requests concerned fraud, kidnapping and other criminal investigations.

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Russia’s main social networking site vKontakte is an absolutely massive operation. It is the second most visited site in Russia and the 19th most popular site on the planet. The site, which has around 40,000,000 users every day, is also a huge thorn in the side of the recording industry. VKontakte allows its users to upload music to their accounts for anyone to play and as a result the site has become one of the largest repositories of unlicensed music anywhere in the world. The site’s operators insist that the responsibility for uploading infringing music lies with its users but music industry groups like IFPI see that as shifting the blame. IFPI insist that something must be done to stop businesses being built on the back of unlicensed content. …

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If you’re a Verizon customer and your Netflix experience is sub-par, with regular buffering, SD-quality video that stutters or tears, you can likely blame your provider, as Verizon seems to be deliberately hindering the quality of Netflix streams – some say, because it has a large stake in rival service, Redbox. The problem all stems from Verizon’s practice of “peering,” which as GigaOm points out, is a technological practice that see providers sharing bandwidth with one another. One arrangement Verizon has, is peering with Cogent. Bandwidth is shared between the companies in equal measure, with the crossover point between company technology being maintained at below 50 per cent capacity, to ensure steady stream quality for customers.

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Verizon Letting Netflix Streaming Quality Slide

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We already got you used to us scooping the file-sharing scene for bits of info, news and releases from ‘the big names’ and gather them all up here in one place to make it easier for you to stay updated properly as a genuine file-sharing freak, music & movie lover and tech geek. So here comes a new treat courtesy of BitTorrent’s blog: With the summer release of Man of Steel, we can’t help but wonder how the latest Superman, played by Henry Cavill, stacks up against his predecessors. For decades, it seemed that Christopher Reeve was the perfect archetype for Kal-El, son of Jor-El. But a generation before, the small screen had the popular black-and-white TV series starring George Reeves. More recently, TV offered us Tom Welling of Smallville, who had been the first TV Superman since Dean Cain in the 90’s. Of course, we can’t forget that this all started with comic books, where there have been several incarnations of Kal-El, including a Superman that had a boxing match against Muhammad Ali – IN SPACE! …

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Following a hacking-related trial in Sweden last month, Pirate Bay co-founder Gottfrid Svartholm is now expected to go through the same process in Denmark. The Nacka District Court has decided that Gottfrid can be extradited to the neighboring country where he is accused of hacking into the mainframes of CSC, a Danish IT company working with the Government. Speaking with TorrentFreak, Gottfrid’s mother Kristina Svartholm confirmed that her son will indeed be extradited. When this will take place is yet to be announced as the 28-year-old must first await the verdict in his Swedish trial which is expected to be handed down later this week. The accusations of the Danish authorities are very similar to those leveled in Sweden. Both cases involve security breaches of IT companies that work for the government. …

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Skype has announced that their video messaging features is now ready for release on Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android and Blackberry. Although one of the most popular VoIP service, Skype continues to improve their features in order to keep customer retention high. The newest addition is the much awaited video messaging feature. This feature had been available by beta since February, but after testing and feedback, Skype has finally announced the official release. The video messaging feature allows users to record a message for a contact that they can view later on. A sort of video voicemail so to speak.

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Russia has long struggled with its reputation as being soft on piracy. Unauthorized websites offering all types of media are perceived as operating with impunity which has led to the country being chastised by foreign rightsholders, particularly those from the United States. In response, Russia has delivered a draft bill detailing the most draconian anti-piracy legislation seen since the demise of the Stop Online Piracy Act. The proposed law is so tough it’s no surprise that critics are labeling it Russia’s SOPA. One of the main concerns is how the law places site owners in a vulnerable position should copyright-infringing material be found on their services. The draft envisions copyright holders filing lawsuits against sites carrying infringing content. Site owners are then expected to remove unauthorized content or links to the same within 72 hours. …

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Legislation protecting email under the Fourth Amendment was written in a time when server storage was limited. Back then, an email user was expected to permanently download his or her email, so the 180 day rule made sense, because email …

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