Hackers can SPY your Phone calls,texts,location & others just by knowing your Phone Number

The famous ‘60 Minutes’ television show shocked some viewers Sunday evening when a team of German hackers demonstrated how they spied on an iPhone used by U.S. Congressman, then recorded his phone calls and tracked his movement through Los Angeles.

Hackers leverage a security flaw in SS7 (Signalling System Seven) protocol that allows hackers to track phone locations, listen in on calls and text messages.

The global telecom network SS7 is still vulnerable to several security flaws that could let hackers and spy agencies listen to personal phone calls and intercept SMSes on a potentially massive scale, despite the most advanced encryption used by cellular networks.

All one need is the target's phone number to track him/her anywhere on the planet and even eavesdrop on the conversations.

SS7 or Signalling System Number 7 is a telephony signaling protocol used by more than 800 telecommunication operators around the world to exchange information with one another, cross-carrier billing, enabling roaming, and other features.

Hackers Spied on US Congressman's Smartphone

With US Congressman Ted Lieu's permission for a piece broadcast Sunday night by 60 Minutes, Karsten Nohl of German Security Research Labs was able to intercept his iPhone, record phone call made from his phone to a reporter, and track his precise location in real-time.

During the phone call about the cell phone network hacking, Lieu said: "First, it's really creepy, and second, it makes me angry."

"Last year, the President of the United States called me on my phone, and we discussed some issues," he added. "So if hackers were listening in, they'd know that phone conversation, and that is immensely troubling."

What's more awful is that the designing flaws in SS7 have been in circulation since 2014, when the same German researchers' team alerted the world to it. Some flaws were patched, but few apparently remain or intentionally left, as some observers argue, for governments to snoop on its targets.

The major problem with SS7 is that if any one of the telecom operators is hacked or employs a rogue admin, a large scale of information, including voice calls, text messages, billing information, relaying metadata and subscriber data, is wide open to interception.

The weakness affects all phones, whether it's iOS, Android, or whatever, and is a major security issue. Although the network operators are unwilling or unable to patch the hole, there is little the smartphone users can do.

How Can You Avoid this Hack?

The best mitigation is to use communication apps – that offers "end-to-end encryption" to encrypt your data before it leaves your smartphone – over your phone's standard calling feature.

Lieu, who sits on House subcommittees for information technology and national security, also argues for Strong Encryption that, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), make it harder to solve crimes.

Lieu strongly criticized the United States agencies, if any, that may have ignored such serious vulnerabilities that affect Billions of cellular customers.

"The people who knew about this flaw [or flaws] should be fired," Lieu said on the show. "You can't have 300-some Million Americans—and really, right, the global citizenry — be at risk of having their phone conversations intercepted with a known flaw, simply because some intelligence agencies might get some data."

Windows 10 - started showing FULL screen Ads on Lockscreen - here is how to turn it OFF

If you've upgraded your older version of Windows OS to an all new Windows 10 operating system then you may have noticed an advertisement appearing on your desktop or laptop’s lock screen over the past couple of days.

Yes, this is what Microsoft has chosen to generate revenue after offering Free Windows 10 Download to its users: Monetize the Lock Screen.

Thanks to Windows 10's new Spotlight feature that usually shows you clean and beautiful photographs and fun facts on your lock screen, but now started displaying advertisements to over 200 Million devices running Windows 10.

Some Windows 10 users have reported seeing ads for Rise of the Tomb Raider with links to Windows Store from where users can purchase the video game. Microsoft started selling the game last month.

Although the ads are not as annoying as the Windows 10 privacy concerns related to the way Microsoft collects your personal data, the good news is that you can turn the ads OFF.

Here's How to Turn the Ads OFF

The advertisements are because of the Windows Spotlight feature in your Personalization settings.

If you don't want to see these intrusive ads, follow the steps given below to disable Windows Spotlight:

• Open the Start Menu and look for 'Lock Screen Settings.'
• Under 'Background,' Choose either 'Picture' or 'Slideshow,' instead of Windows Spotlight.
• Now, Scroll down to 'Get fun facts, tips, tricks, and more on your lock screen' and uncheck this box.

The advertisements are turned ON for your lock screen by default, which is definitely a clever way to offer companies to reach their customers, without mentioning the word 'advertisements' to the Windows users.

As I previously said: Nothing comes for Free, as "Free" is just a relative term. Everything comes with its own price.

As warned last year, Microsoft also started pushing Windows 10 upgrades onto its user's computers much harder by re-categorizing Windows 10 as a "Recommended Update" in Windows Update, instead of an "optional update."

Microsoft Will inform If you have been spying/hacked by Government

Following in the footsteps of Twitter, Facebook and Google, Microsoft promises to notify users of its e-mail (Outlook) and cloud storage (OneDrive) services if government hackers may have targeted their accounts.

The company already notifies users if an unauthorized person tries to access their Outlook or OneDrive accounts. But from now on, the company will also inform if it suspects government-sponsored hackers.

Ex-Employee: Microsoft Didn't Notify When China Spied Tibetans Leaders

The move could be taken in the wake of the claims made by Microsoft's former employees that several years ago Chinese government hacked into more than a thousand Hotmail email accounts of international leaders of Tibetan and Uighur minorities, but the company decided not to tell the victims, allowing the hackers to continue their campaign.

Instead of alerting those leaders of the hacking attempts, Microsoft simply recommended them to change their passwords without disclosing the reason, after an internal debate in 2011, Reutersreported.

However, Microsoft announced Wednesday that if the company strongly suspects that your account is being hijacked or targeted by hackers working in the interest of a nation-state, it will notify you via an email.

Here's what Microsoft Vice President Scott Charney writes:

"We're taking this additional step of specifically letting you know if we have evidence that the attacker may be 'state-sponsored' because it is likely that the attack could be more sophisticated or more sustained than attacks from cybercriminals and others. These notifications do not mean that Microsoft's own systems have in any way been compromised."

Just last week, Yahoo promised to alert its users whom it suspected were being spied on by state-sponsored hackers. Other big tech companies including Twitter, Facebook and Google, had previously assured their users that they would notify them of any potential government spying.

And now Microsoft is the latest company to join the list.

Government: We'll Sue You if You Do That!

This is a good news for Microsoft users, but it seems that the United Kingdom is not happy with this decision by all the major tech firms, because the country seeks access to personal communications in order to fight terrorism and protect national security.

The UK government is pushing a new Investigatory Powers Bill that will take the bosses of any company that warns its users that security organizations, such as GCHQ (the Government Communications Headquarters), MI5 and MI6, are spying on them.

Specifically, UK ministers want to make it a criminal offence for Twitter, Google and other tech firms under which they could face up to two years in prison.