Questions tagged [phone]
A telephone, or phone, is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are not in the same vicinity of each other to be heard directly.
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How to deal with unused smart phones safely [duplicate]
I have several old smart mobile phones that are not going to be used anymore, most of them have run out of battery and I cant remember whether I have any sensitive data on them. How should I deal with ...
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Is it possible to trace a virtual number back to its service provider? [duplicate]
If a virtual number is only used to send and recieve messages, is it possible for somebody who know the number to trace it back to its service provider and somehow seize the number? (perhaps buying ...
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Is Android SOS being used as privilege escalation or settings bypass?
I have been getting random SOS countdowns triggered on my phone. Every time this happens, a pop-up appears telling me that unknown numbers have been temporarily unblocked. The most recent instance was ...
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Can a bad guy ever get access to my gmail account using ONLY the 2fa app or ONLY the recovery phone (plus username)?
Let's say X is a malicious person.
Let's say I have a gmail account with a recovery phone and with 2fa
enabled. Let's say X knows the username but not the password. X doesn't have any other ...
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Is a mobile phone number in itself an information that can be utilized by hackers etc? [duplicate]
I recently installed Tinder, and I saw that the app warns about sharing your phone number to avoid being hacked.
I also noticed certain obviously fake profiles pressing for getting a phone number or ...
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Do car Bluetooth FM transmitters allow others to eavesdrop on the hands-free phone calls that I make?
My car's entertainment system is only able to play audio CDs and receive AM/FM radio. I am thinking of getting a Bluetooth FM transmitter so that I could use my car's speakers to play my smartphone's ...
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Prevent device from seeing WiFi networks for geolocation
This is something I was wondering while trying to improve my privacy.
Mobile devices tend to use geolocation based on WiFi networks they find available (thanks to evil Google...).
One could use ...
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Can my infected phone’s hotspot infect my outdated computer?
Knowing that anything is possible for the many ways a hacker can break into a system, is it also possible that if I have an infected phone acting as a hotspot, my outdated computer could get infected ...
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If I smash this phone into a million pieces is it secure?
This phone that I am using has some very sensitive info on it. I am wondering if it will be secure if I take a hammer and smash it into many pieces, and if I take the pieces and throw them out at ...
user285665
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Is it worldwide standard that incoming phone call numbers can be faked?
I am living in Germany and here attackers can fake the incoming phone number when you get a phone call.
For example you can get a call from 110 (police telephone number) although it is not the police ...
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Privacy and GrapheneOS [closed]
I am planning to purchase Google Pixel 7 Pro assuming that the Pixel lineup will continue to be the device of choice for GrapheneOS developers.
Here are some of the constraints that I have to work ...
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How does phone tracking by police work?
For android phones in India
can police get a phone's IMEI number just by using that phone's number?
also suppose if a phone was moving around within few miles radius for few days and it was turned ...
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Older Phone Models Less Secure?
Are older phone models inherently less secure than newer ones assuming you're still able to run the latest software?
I am pecifically curious about older models of iPhones (e.g. ~2015 ish)
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Are there any security benefits to enabling the PIN on an eSIM?
For physical SIMs, I'm aware of a number of security benefits to enabling the SIM PIN, because for an attacker with access to a lost or stolen SIM, a PIN prevents transferring the SIM to a different ...
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How is the stream cipher key shared on GSM?
I read that phones encrypt communication (GSM as implemented in 2G,3G..) - particularly voice as SMS are unencrypted - using a stream cipher.
Symmetric Stream ciphers use the flip-flop machinery to ...
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Receiving phishing text messages
I get a phishing messages on SMS every now and then. I'm not sure if it's from anyone that knows me.
What information can I get about the sender of the SMS?
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Is it possible to inject code using physical memory access to jailbreak phones?
Is it possible to inject code into RAM using physical access? For example desolder the RAM chips, solder something between the original RAM chip and the phone motherboard, and use that to directly ...
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Can dumb-phones be turned into bugs?
Is it possible for an advanced attacker to use a dumb-phone (such as, say, Nokia 105) to spy on its owner through the microphone?
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Do you need physical access to hack a BT land line before an outgoing call is made (dialing tone)
Do you need physical access to hack a BT land line before an outgoing call is made (dialing tone)? I understand if you have physical access you could just put something in another phone socket. But, I ...
user274770
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What equipment would an attacker need to infect a SIM card?
I'm aware that SIM cards can store malware according to this question but what equipment would be needed to do such an attack? For example, would you need a Computer and a SIM card reader or could it ...
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Effective ways to hash phone numbers?
Suppose a company wants to implement 2FA for it's users using phone number OTP system, but does not really want to store their phone numbers as it could get breached and phone numbers are considered ...
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What is the impact of someone accidentally getting my IMEI number from my Android phone? [duplicate]
I have a concern regarding how risky it is if someone knows or has the copy of my 2 IMEI numbers. As we all know, on Android phones, the IMEI are at the back cover of the phone like a sticker.
So, my ...
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Is there any truth to the (to me) bizarre idea that you can "track" a phone call better depending on how long it goes on? [duplicate]
I have heard many prank calls from ~2004-2007. In many of them, completely different people all mention the same thing about them "tracking the pranker", clearly in an attempt to scare the ...
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How can you spoof you caller id but not using a voip (your carrier instead)?
My research:
I found this security stackexchange post but it didn't answer my question.
I know that you can do similar things using astresik with voip provider.
I came up on o blog that explain that ...
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Is there some way to "fully delete" received and sent SMS messages (and any other "deleted" data") on my cellphone?
I have a cheap cellphone bought about ten years ago. It has a physical SIM card. I have in-phone "deleted" all sent and received messages, but very strongly suspect that these are still ...
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Is there a thing as a small bag which BOTH blocks signals AND sound for securing a mobile phone on the go? [closed]
I've been hunting for this for a long time. I've been able to find "Faraday" bags that (allegedly) block signals to/from the surveillance unit (phone), but they never mention anything about ...
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Is it normal/safe/justifiable that a bank asks me for my full login details (account id and PIN) when calling via mobile phone?
I am calling my bank via mobile phone (in Germany) and the electronic voice asks me to
type in my account access id (via the number pad), and like-wise,
type in my account PIN, all the numbers, not ...
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Any plans/research for SSL-like method in telephony?
I have recently read about attacks using Caller ID spoofing technology. Criminals used it to impersonate bank or police employees and asked to install malware or transfer money to a given account. A ...
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WhatsApp message from own number + 1 [closed]
I got a WhatsApp message from a number which is exactly mine but the last digit is increased by one (5 instead of 4).
It was just a "Hi" and and a photo of a random guy. I asked who it is ...
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Is the "trusted phone number" inside your Apple ID a security flaw?
Imagine your iPhone gets stolen or seized. Inside this iPhone is your SIM-Card. That SIM-Card is your only SIM-Card and it is enlisted as "trusted phone number" in your Apple Account. The ...
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My iPhone XS called someone today without my interaction
Yesterday, I was sitting at the computer and noticed that the phone is making the "calling" sound (that usual beep). I unlocked the phone and did not see any activity like I would call ...
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What makes this cellphone (and the weird instructions) so privacy-friendly?
I stumbled upon this weird product in a webstore primarily selling Cannabis-related products (not the actual herbs): https://smoketower.com/nyheter/Anonym-3310-mobiltelefon
I've manually translated ...
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Can I determine whether my phone probes base transmission station (BTS) without a SIM card?
This question is related to another inquiry on this site: Can Android phone running without SIM card be tracked (localized) by police?
Accepted answer claims that:
Without a SIM, your cell phone ...
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How can I test if/how STIR/SHAKEN is working on my incoming calls? Both for detecting spoofed caller ID AND [bad sources]
How can I test if/how STIR/SHAKEN is working on my incoming calls? Both for detecting spoofed caller ID AND calls from disreputable (NON-'A' attestation) service providers/carriers/sources.
I'm ...
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Can a SIM card lock be circumvented?
If so, how would one go about that, and realistically, how long would it take?
Is there something we can do proactively to make this more difficult?
This seems more relevant than ever since we would ...
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Does replacing the SIM card mitigate any threats after a serious data breach?
I recently heard that a telephone company (a mobile network operator) was hacked and lots of data was stolen, maybe affecting up to a million customers. It sounds like the leaked data is already ...
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Can an android phone that is flashed to a trusted safe rom still be malicious?
I'm in the market for a new phone. The cheapest ones with decent specs are from China. Unfortunately I've read articles of phones sending data back to China for spying purposes.
The phone I am looking ...
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Real life examples of malware propagated by SIM cards?
The laptops in use at my company have SIM card slots, which are actually used by some of our users. I am threat modeling our devices, so I was wondering if there are any realistic exploits that can be ...
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Does factory resetting a phone erase spyware?
I thought that there was spyware on my phone so I did a factory reset.
Would the spyware be gone or it will still exist even after a factory reset?
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What are the privacy implications of the "Your Phone" app on Windows?
I'm trying to decide whether or not to use the Your Phone app on Windows, and not finding much information on it.
It requires a Microsoft account, but I don't really see why that should be necessary ...
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Did fraudsters access my SMS verification code?
A very strange sequence of events resulted in some unknown person gaining access to my online banking (with CIBC). I've since recovered my account, but I am very eager to understand what happened:
I ...
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Retrieving a No Caller ID phone number? [closed]
I got a call from an unknown number, more specifically, a no caller ID number. I’m not the guy who gets a lot of calls from a no caller ID phone number, and usually, when I got one is typically the ...
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Is it reasonable to type a bank password in a phone call to the bank? [duplicate]
Recently my friend called their bank (via a normal phone call) to perform an operation with her account and she had to type her password during the call. Everything worked fine, the operation was done ...
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'Removing' telecom provider from my phone
Baseband Processors have very weak overall security(closed-source firmware, no audits etc.)
It also gives the telecom operator very high privileges on a mobile device.
So, now I use 2 phones. First ...
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Danger of making calls after unknown random number called through
I recently received a call from a number I didn't know to my mobile, answered it anyway. I didn't say anything, when it is a number I don't know I let the other person speak first.. after a few ...
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Can WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram be hacked through a SIM SWAP attack?
In Cuba the telecoms/ISP monopoly, Etecsa, works with the political police to spy on dissidents, journalists and others.
A common attack in Cuba is therefore SIM Swapping which is easy for them. It is ...
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Calling from mobile phone without using the cellular network
This has been in the news:
https://www.wired.com/story/fcc-fines-wireless-companies-selling-users-location-data/
Is there a way to make calls without using cell towers?
Also in this context: is it ...
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Is phone number verifications with SMS magic HTTP links less secure than OTP?
I want to verify phone number ownership with specially crafted and encrypted payload within an HTTP hyperlink callback through SMS as opposed to sending an SMS OTP code and writing it back in server ...
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How does a company check the password received from your phone keypad during a call? [duplicate]
I had to call customer service recently regarding my 401(k) and robo call in the beginning asked me to enter my social security number using the keypad followed by a # and then asked for my account ...
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Is inputting credit card numbers over a mobile phone secure?
I'm in the UK. In order to top up a pay-as-you-go SIM card, I had to first ring the mobile network to associate my bank card with the SIM before asking them to credit £10 to it (future top-ups don't ...
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