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UK Firm To Release 'Screaming' Cell Phone

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Tue Oct 03, 2006 02:32 AM
from the can-you-hear-me-now dept.
Security Hardware
rubberbando writes "Yahoo news is running a story about a plan by a UK cell phone company to help reduce cell theft. Apparently, this new cell phone can be sent a signal after its owner has realized that it has been lost or stolen. The signal tells the phone to wipe all of its data and begin emitting a very loud and obnoxious sound. The sound will only stop if the battery runs out or is removed, but it will begin again as soon as the battery is replaced or charged. Even replacing the sim card will not help."
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  • It sounds from the description that these phones will become functionally useless once you do this to them. What a fun prank to pull on your friends!

    • Re:Brilliant application of 'planned obsolecence' (Score:4, Insightful)

      by RsG (809189) on Tuesday October 03 2006, @02:40AM (#16288695)
      Even better, imagine what will happen if their system is less than secure. Try and think about the damage a script kiddie could do if he got ahold of a list of people's passwords and phone numbers.

      Or, even worse, if he found out how to send the signal to the phones sans password - after all, if the company is lazy, then maybe all they'd do is dial up the cell phone and send a general purpose "kill" signal. Figure out how to tell the cellphone that it's stolen while still in the possession of its owner, and you can make somebody very, very mad.

      • Re:Brilliant application of 'planned obsolecence' (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Jaruzel (804522) on Tuesday October 03 2006, @04:13AM (#16289129) Homepage
        The kill signal will probably be in the format of a special (Operator) SMS text message. Much in the same way your Internet settings can be sent by your provider over the air (OTA) to your phone.

        However, I had an app a while back that could 'build' Operator SMS messages and send them out to peoples phones, so yeah, unless the Operator takes serious steps to secure this system, it's gonna be hacked in no time. Once hacked, the concept will be useless, and the manufacturers will stop including the kill-system in the firmware...

        -Jar.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Itchy Rich (818896)

        Try and think about the damage a script kiddie could do if he got ahold of a list of people's passwords and phone numbers.

        I doubt they'll need script kiddies to screw this up for them.

    • THis was on the Reg a good while ago. It was even on the New Zealand news site by this morning.

      News is supposed to be new.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by joNDoty (774185)
      The article says the system also automatically backs up everything on your phone once per day. If your phone gets wiped, everything can be reloaded. I'm patting myself on the back now for reading TFA.

  • loud and obnoxious (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 03 2006, @02:35AM (#16288651)
    And I thought cell phones were already loud and obnoxious...

  • So basically... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Tuxedo Jack (648130) on Tuesday October 03 2006, @02:36AM (#16288663) Homepage
    There's a hardware GUID. Whoopdy-do; if there's a remote method to turn it on via software, there's a method to turn it off via software.
    • I pray the cell phone companies do this, then a virus gets a few million of them at once. I don't know who would scream louder, the phones or the owners.

    • Re:So basically... (Score:5, Informative)

      by BadAnalogyGuy (945258) <BadAnalogyGuy@gmail.com> on Tuesday October 03 2006, @02:42AM (#16288715)
      Not necessarily. If it writes an "I'm disabled" flag to some place in the onboard NOR flash, and the loader reads this to decide whether to proceed with a boot or not, you'd have to rewrite the loader or the NOR flash in order to turn it off. Pulling all the power wouldn't help since the flash is designed to hold data when the power is out.

      If you have the tools to rewrite the NOR flash, then you can indeed turn off the alarm with software. The software will be external to the phone and will have to use some hardware connection to it, though.

    • Phones already have a GUID !! (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Hi,

      Cell phones (GSM at least) Already have a GUID which is transmitted all the time while the phone is switched on.

      It is easy for operators to track the position of a stolen cellphone down to about a meter if they wanted to.

      They have used this to track down the polish kid who knifed someone to death over an iPod.

      If you have a cellphone and it's switched on, it's transmitting a guid and position continuously, always.

      This is why I think the spat in the UK about ID cards is silly, most people in the UK own a c
        • Depends what you mean by "activity." If the phone is on, it can be tracked.

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by Anonymous Coward
          Hi,

          > Also, a pay as you go SIM card normally isn't linked to an identity.

          It is very much linked to an identity when the phone spends 6-8 hours per day in the same house and spends workdays at same place of business.

          If you carry a cellphone for any length of time, your identity and position at any time are easy to deduce by anyone with access to operator logs.

          If you carry it anywhere near security cameras, the position, time and date result in a picture!
    • Its a nice idea but many of the previous attempts to disable or block phones that were stolen are easily worked around. Most stolen phones that are blocked can easily be reenabled by flashing them with a new firmware which changes the phones IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number. This unique number is is used for among other things identify phones that are reported stolen. Blocking the SIM card is easily circumvented by changing the SIM. Unless phones are designed with the IMEI set at the

  • Obnoxious? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Fembot (442827) <ajw05@noSPam.aber.ac.uk> on Tuesday October 03 2006, @02:36AM (#16288669) Homepage
    The thing I don't get is how exactly they expect this to be any more loud and obnoxious than all these damn ringtones are already!

  • Another deep thought... (Score:4, Funny)

    by mctk (840035) on Tuesday October 03 2006, @02:38AM (#16288679) Homepage
    If cell phones could scream, would we be so cavalier about smashing them on the ground? We might, if they screamed all the time for no good reason.

  • i can only wait (Score:5, Funny)

    by macadamia_harold (947445) on Tuesday October 03 2006, @02:39AM (#16288685) Homepage
    The signal tell the phone to wipe all of its data and begin emitting a very loud and obnoxious sound.

    Isn't this what happens if Paris Hilton calls you?
  • "We also then set a small bomb off, if you like, that completely wipes the data...

    As well as the ear and most of the face of the thief? Seems a little harsh.
    • As well as the ear and most of the face of the thief? Seems a little harsh.
      /insert standard Sony laptop battery joke here/

      Actually it reminded me of something I was talking about just yesterday, a funny scene from the BBC series from the 1980s, 'The New Statesman'. The main star (Rik Mayall) is held up at knifepoint, and quickly hands over his wallet when it's demanded. The theif runs off, at which point the star smiles, pulls out a little remote from his breast pocket, flips a switch and presses the red button. You hear an explosion and a scream in the distance. Great stuff!

  • Who cares if the phone becomes unusable (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Vihai (668734) on Tuesday October 03 2006, @02:42AM (#16288713) Homepage
    I would prefer if the phone could silently send me a usage report so that I could track who stole it and kick him in the a....
    • What good would the usage report do? You may be able to see what the thief did, but how would you track the mobile phone? Now, if it sent a GPS signal to you, that'd be different.
    • Actually, if your phone is GSM, then you can already do that.
      First and foremost, you must write down your IMEI number [wikipedia.org]. Simply type *#06# into your cell phone. It may look like: AA-BBBBBB-CCCCCC-D . That is the serial number of the phone, and it will not change if the SIM is changed. Write it down into a safe place.
      When your phone is stolen, report that number to the police. They will report it to the providers, that will lock down the cell phone [gsmworld.com] for good; moreover, if the phone is ever turned on, they may be able to track the thief whereabouts, using standard cell tecnology; that, and an identikit, may actually help them arrest the thief.
      A friend of mine, (who is in IT business) did all of the above, and she really had the thief arrested and prosecuted.

      • awesome! (Score:5, Funny)

        by commodoresloat (172735) * on Tuesday October 03 2006, @04:44AM (#16289251) Homepage
        First and foremost, you must write down your IMEI number. Simply type *#06# into your cell phone. It may look like: AA-BBBBBB-CCCCCC-D . That is the serial number of the phone, and it will not change if the SIM is changed. Write it down into a safe place.

        Excellent! I am writing the number down right now in the memo pad application on my cell phone!

        • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

          by REBloomfield (550182)
          Their are posters from the Met Police all over London telling people to write down their IMEI numbers and report them in the instance of theft. They're making more effort than they were.

  • Stolen phones == customer fraud (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Let's face it, a good proportion of "stolen" phones are people that want a free upgrade from the network. Oh look, they don't make that model any more, and coincidentally I was mugged today. Like the person that rung from the phone that was being reported stolen.
  • The police used to do this in the Netherlands; when a phone was reported stolen, it would be sent an SMS every five minutes, saying: 'this phone is stolen'. That would require the thief to change the SIM card, which would make his action less than free (gratis).

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by cynicalmoose (720691)
      But as anybody can locate a SIM in the cell to which it transmits, sensible thieves replace SIMs anyway.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by hankwang (413283) *

      in the Netherlands ... would require the thief to change the SIM card, which would make his action less than free (gratis).

      Well, they used the IMEI [wikipedia.org] number of the phone that is tied to the hardware, although someone with the rights skills might be able to change the flash memory where it's stored. (By the way, you can see the number by typing *#06#). It requires cooperation of the mobile phone providers though, that should have a blacklist of stolen IMEI numbers and take appropriate action as soon as a sto

  • It makes me think of... (Score:3, Funny)

    by d3m0nCr4t (869332) on Tuesday October 03 2006, @02:51AM (#16288761)
    Screaming Jay Hawkins... "I put a spell on you, cause you're mine."

  • How long till... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by KTheorem (999253) on Tuesday October 03 2006, @02:57AM (#16288785)
    How long will it be until something like this is implemented to "punish" those that are late on paying their bill or for people who decide they want to switch service providers?
  • Given the incredible security with cells these days, I can't wait for the next time I get pestered by some godforsaken ringtone in the movies and being able to replace the audible pollution with something else. Maybe more annoying, granted, but I do trust the owner that he will quickly shut down the phone. If not, he'll be removed from the theatre.

    I call that a win-win.
  • Can you imagine all the chaos that these screaming cell phones would cause in an airport or airplane? Terrorists will no longer need to physically blow up a plane to disrupt air traffic with these screaming babies going off.

  • Who do the police arrest? (Score:5, Funny)

    by badfish99 (826052) on Tuesday October 03 2006, @03:09AM (#16288819)
    So someone stole a phone, and now it is making a very loud unpleasant noise. So they have dumped it near my house and it is still making the noice and I am very annoyed. So I hit it with a brick until it stops.

    Question: who gets taken to court? The phone manufacturer, for creating a noise nuisance? Or the thief, for stealing the phone? Or me, for damaging someone else's property?

    I know the answer: it will be me, won't it?
  • I lost my mobile 3 times over a period of a few years. Yes the same one. Every time some saint returned it to the local police station and I'd get it back. Quite amazing considering the inner city area I live in Sydney.

    But I can just imagine them feeling all gooey inside about the good deed they are about to do ... then suddenly this phone starts screaming like a Blitzkreig air raid, and in the panic they stomp my phone into a fine power and run off traumatised !! Fat lot of good THAT feature would do me
    • Your phones were lost, not robbed. If someone points a gun at you and demands your phone, you're not going to expect it to be returned by some saint, are you?
  • The estate of Edvard Munch plans to sue for breach of copyright.

  • Too late! (Score:4, Funny)

    by Toreo asesino (951231) on Tuesday October 03 2006, @03:19AM (#16288865) Journal
    This isn't innovation! Anyone that lives in the UK will know that not only was this done yonks ago [wikipedia.org], but it even made it into the Top of the Pops [crazyfroghits.com] when it came out.
  • i am assuming that once a cellphone is stolen, they alert the cell provider to send the phone a signal. the provider probably just has a database and a set of commands to send

    so can you imagine the mischief if that provider's system is gamed/ hacked? and the mischief makers initiate a "call all cell phones" iteration?

    depending upon the percentage of cell phones that have this feature, you could cause mass havoc across the entire country
  • Screaming not annoying enough for you? The next version will randomly spew a stream of urine.
  • The system also automatically backs up data held on a device once a day, meaning users can re-load their information onto a replacement handset.

  • a time to trot out my connections, and link to my friend's startup [tencube.com] that provides a similar solution.

    Here's the clincher, though: they even have a beta.

    • It looks like your mate uses a J2ME solution, which is really not up to scratch. It is so easy to stop j2me software from running, just press hangup. I am not sure that this will be able to disable the phone. I am hoping the article describes a hardware solution, much better option.

  • Good feature (Score:3, Insightful)

    by pryonic (938155) on Tuesday October 03 2006, @05:32AM (#16289485)
    It would be handy if I could remotely set this off for people who feel it's necessary to play tinny RnB MP3s through their phones on long train journies. The scream would probably sound better than that noise, or may convince them just to turn the damn thing off.

    Am I the only person that finds this new 'trend' amongst teenagers on trains antisocial and inconsiderate?

    • What kind of business idea is this? What are they gaining out of this? Essentially if a cell phone is lost or stolen then it is as good as gone.

      You miss the point. People are robbed, sometimes violently, for their phones everyday. If all phones had a system like this, there would be no point in robbing people of them.

      Police around the world are concerned about the value of the goods we are carrying. For the past ten years or so it's just really been cash, credit cards and mobiles that folk carried. Cas

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