A couple of years ago I happened to see an article about a secure cell phone. This seemed to be quite impossible considering phones can be simply be listened in with the correct equipment (frequency counter and scanner). This is not an impossible set of hardware equipment but if you are a government you have a mobile setup that simulates a tower service which allows you to place yourself directly into the target’s call.
It may be impossible to protect yourself 100% but unless your adversary is a nation state it is possible to protect yourself. Cell phone communication, just like computer communication can be protected with some encryption. Encrypting your communciations is possible but you will need to do some extra work, and for most people this is simply not worth the effort. A new company sprang up with the idea of providing this solution.
The phones that they were selling at that time we quite pricey if i correctly remember. It was about the price of a Samsung or Apple top end phone times two.
I was curious if this phone was still for sale even though this level of security is much higher than I need.
- Automatic message redactionMessages you send are automatically deleted on all devices after the burn timer has expired. You can adjust the burn time between one minute and 90 days.
- Delete messages from both sidesYou can select a message for immediate destruction at any time. Burning the message causes it to be deleted from all devices of all parties in the conversation.
- One touch voice memosSilent Phone makes it quick and easy to record and send a voice memo. These are great for sending quick thoughts when you’re out and about. Voice memos provide a secure alternative to voicemail.
- Delivery and read receiptsSituational awareness helps your team move faster. Silent Phone lets you know when your messages have been delivered and when they have been read.
Well, business must be good, or at least good enough as the company is still in business. Unfortunately the phones costs are not listed but rather you need to contact sales. I don’t know if some of this level of security should be built into every phone but based on the security features of this one manufacturer it seems like these phones in the hands of the unscrupulousness would be a nightmare for law enforcement.
However, I would imagine that this is not really a problem for law enforcement when compared to hundreds of millions of smart phone users having phones that are generally harder for the normal police to hack.
Well, that or stop installing free software of unknown origin on our smart phones and do use them for anything suspicious or illegal. That and don’t carry it around with you so your whereabouts are always known.
