-Ed
http://infoworld.com/d/security-central/att-wont-stop-black-hat-demo-cell-phone-eavesdropping-949
AT&T won't stop Black Hat demo of cell phone eavesdropping
By Nancy Gohring and Robert McMillan
Created 2010-07-28 05:20AM
AT&T says it won't interfere with a highly anticipated talk on
intercepting cell phone calls at the Black Hat conference this week,
even though rumors are circulating that it will do just that.
Last week, hacker Chris Paget said he plans to demonstrate how to set
up what's essentially a fake cell tower that lets him listen in on
nearby mobile calls. His talk is scheduled for Saturday.
But Tuesday, he wrote on his blog that he had "heard that AT&T may be
considering suing me to stop my talk."
AT&T, however, insisted it has no plans to interfere with the talk.
"That is absolutely false. We are taking no such action," AT&T
spokesman Mark Siegel said.
Operators could have reason to be concerned about Paget's talk,
particularly if his demonstration interferes with the 911 system. But
Paget says he has that covered.
"If you're in the room, need to dial 911 and you have a GSM phone, you
can just raise your hand and shout. In the extremely unlikely
situation that someone near the room with a GSM phone connects to my
demo network and also needs to dial 911, I am taking the extra
precaution of ensuring that that person will be connected to someone
local who can call for or send help," he said in his blog post.
In planning his talk, Paget says he consulted legal experts at the
Electronic Frontier Foundation. He plans to put up prominent signs to
warn people about his demonstration, and he's taking precautions to
make sure no data from intercepted phone calls is stored, he said.
Jennifer Granick, civil liberties director at the Electronic Frontier
Foundation, wasn't surprised that AT&T said it won't try to block the
demonstration. "Of course they would do nothing. It's totally
legitimate," she said.
Received on Sat Mar 02 2024 - 00:57:22 CST