The need to record an Android conversation may arise for various reasons. For example, you have an important call coming up, the details of which you want to save. Modern mobile devices are equipped with functional software that allows you to record telephone conversations without installing additional applications.

Automatically record android conversations

On an *android* phone, recording telephone conversations* is easily implemented using standard options. Not all owners of devices on the Android platform know that absolutely all telephone conversations can be recorded.

Let's take a closer look at how to do this:

• Select the desired subscriber from the list of contacts or enter the person’s number manually;
• Activate the call;
• Immediately after the call is made, an additional “More” menu will open on the screen, open it;
• Select the "Dictaphone" command.

After a series of these simple steps, automatic recording of the conversation will begin. After pressing the end call button, the recording stops.

How to listen to recorded phone conversations

As practice shows, difficulties can arise not only with the creation of a sound file, but also with its search. There are two options for listening to the recording. The simplest one is to open the recent call log and click on the special icon that marks all recorded conversations. The audio file will open automatically.

But this method is not always convenient to use, especially if you need to find a recording of a telephone conversation that took place a long time ago. To find the information you need, go to the “Tools” menu section and select “My Files.” In the audio folder you can find the file you need. Another saving path is a folder "Android" - Call Recording.

A file with a recording of a telephone conversation can later be moved from the device’s memory to a memory card and can be sent to another user.

Phone wiretapping - the best spy software

Phone wiretapping - the best spy program - is a smartphone tracking program. This spy program is compatible with Android 2.2 (Android 2.2) and higher, as well as with iPhone and iPad (iPhone/iPad). For iPhone, you need to install Phone Wiretapping - the best spy program - if you have Jailbreak.

Phone tapping - the best in spyware - works unnoticed and is focused on low battery consumption. This phone wiretapping is great for listening to an employee's phone or tracking your child's phone. Mobile Spy can also be used to backup/back up data and to track the phone in case of theft. At the same time, this tracking program cannot be used for spying directly. You are obliged to inform the owner of the phone that he is being monitored.

All logs are sent to our server via the Internet. We do not forward messages. The user can view the logs from a distance using our website.

Guide to installing Mobile Spy or how to listen to your phone:

You must install the tracking program Phone Wiretapping - the best spy program - on the phone you plan to monitor.
Once the installation is complete, you need to open the application.
Register your account when you first open the app. Enter your email address, repeat it and enter your password.
Enter a name for the phone you are monitoring - the target device.
Log in to our website using the email address and password you entered earlier.
Within an hour you will start receiving logs. The phone must have INTERNET ACCESS.

Functions of wiretapping the phone of Mobile Spy

Android compatible

Our Android spy program is compatible with Android 2.3 and higher.

iOS compatible

Our tracking program is compatible with iPhone and iPad from iOS 6.X to iOS 9.X.

GPS tracker

Find your phone's location for FREE - you will always know your phone's location. Also, location detection is available for phone calls and SMS messages. .

Read SMS and see MMS

Reading SMS and mms - all incoming and outgoing - is very simple. The Mobile Spy tracking program saves messages and photos of SMS and MMS messages. Also, this GPS tracker will determine the location of the phone you are monitoring at the moment when the SMS/MMS message was received or sent. If the mobile phone number with which the message was sent or received is registered in the contacts of the smartphone you are following, then the contact's name will be in place of the number. With our program it is not only easy to read SMS, but also to see all the photos sent via MMS and you can download them from our website. .

Recording telephone conversations

Listen to your phone - all incoming and outgoing phone calls - upload an audio recording of the conversation to your account, as well as the time of the call, the call contact was made and the call history. .

Wiretapping the environment

Records the environment via SMS commands. .

Blocking a number

You can block specific numbers for calls or block SMS.

Browser history

Tracks Internet activity, including a list of visited sites. .

Site blocking

You can block sites via web address (url) or keywords.

Internet alert

You will be able to see an alert if your mobile phone connects to a Wi-Fi network.

Intercepting Viber messages (Viber)

All Viber correspondence is now available even if No root (ROOT) access. .

Intercepting Skype messages (Skype)

Track Skype message even if No root (ROOT) access. .

Interception of WhatsApp messages (WhatsApp)

All WhatsApp correspondence is now available even if No root (ROOT) access. .

Intercepting Facebook messages

All Facebook correspondence is now available even if No root (ROOT) access. .

Photo magazines

Tracks all cell phone photo logs. .

Video magazines

You will be able to see a number of photos from the video taken on a mobile phone. .

Application Control

Application lock

You can block any applications from your mobile phone.

Access to the calendar

Keeps track of all new events in the calendar.

System control

Phone wiretapping - the best in spy programs - tracks when the mobile phone is rebooted or turns off / rings or vibrates. You will also be able to see if the SIM card has been replaced.

Anti-theft

Notifications about SIM card changes, mobile phone blocking function.

Contact log

Tracks if a new contact has been added.

Integrates with contacts

If the phone number is stored in your smartphone contacts, then you will be able to see the contact name of each phone call or SMS message.

SMS commands

Control your mobile phone via SMS commands.

Intercepting Snapchat messages

All Snapchat correspondence is now available even if No root (ROOT) access. .

Intercepting Kik messages

All Kik correspondence is now available even if No root (ROOT) access. .

Intercepting Tango messages

All Tango correspondence is now available even if No root (ROOT) access.

Intercepting Twitter messages

All Twitter correspondence is now available even if No root (ROOT) access.

There are many different ways to wiretap phone conversations, both legal and illegal. We will tell you about the most common ones.

SORM

SORM is a system of technical means to ensure the functions of operational-search activities. All telecom operators are required to use it, otherwise they will not be able to obtain a license. SORM provides law enforcement agencies and intelligence agencies with direct access to telephone conversations, and the operator is not even informed when his subscriber is being monitored. Formally, wiretapping requires court approval, but in reality, the suspect is often listened to without authorization, and permission can be obtained after material has been collected on him that can be used in court. Analogues of SORM exist in many countries around the world (for example, a program in the USA).

Operators

Russian operators are preparing to comply, according to which they are required to record telephone conversations of all subscribers and store them from six months to three years. Surely, the records are already saved in test mode, and you can access them through friends from among the operator’s employees.

Interception via SS7

In cellular networks there is an unavoidable . It allows you to tap any phone and intercept SMS messages using equipment costing several thousand dollars, or order wiretapping on the black market for several thousand rubles. Cellular standards were not designed to protect against such attacks because phones were expected to only work within the operator's signal network. In practice, third-party equipment can be connected to such a network from anywhere in the world.

Vulnerabilities

Android and iOS smartphones are susceptible to vulnerabilities that allow correspondence and conversations to be intercepted. The most valuable are zero-day vulnerabilities, which are unknown to operating system developers. There are hundreds of thousands of dollars for information about them, and the companies buying them cooperate with the intelligence services of different countries. Some Trojans are developed specifically for law enforcement agencies. They are used en masse, but unofficially, without court permission, and are distributed using fake applications.

Viruses

There are viruses even in official app stores (primarily Google Play). Security system hackers: they upload a normal application to the market, and the malicious code is loaded later as a small module with one of the updates. An unsuspecting user himself gives the application permission to use the microphone and access the Internet, after which his conversations are leaked to strangers.

Fake base stations and femtocells

Fake base stations and femtocells are sometimes used to intercept voice data. They work as intermediaries between cell phones and operator base stations, allowing you to record conversations and SMS messages. Hackers are also able to hack into femtocells and install spyware there.

Special equipment

The intelligence services have a huge arsenal of technical means for covert wiretapping: bugs, miniature microphones and scanners that decipher sound by the vibration of glass in the room where a person is located. The most effective way is to use a receiver that intercepts the GSM signal over a wide range of frequencies, and a computer that then decrypts this signal, converting it into a voice recording.

As you can see, tapping your phone is not particularly difficult, if only you had the desire or the means. Another thing is that people who have something to hide know about it and try to use more secure communication channels, for example, messengers like

To avoid wiretapping of subscribers' mobile phones, existing cellular operators have introduced network protection using GSM technologies. Such methods have been developed and implemented in accordance with the requirements of the competent state authorities.

The only existing method of protecting radio channels is the work of complex algorithms that provide data encryption, making wiretapping of a mobile phone impossible. These processes are quite simple - subscribers connect to databases, complex algorithms are activated, which reduces the leakage of personal information to absolute zero.

The existing technology for wiretapping a mobile phone comes down to active and passive methods. Passive technologies include expensive installations, the prices of which exceed tens and thousands of euros. The manufacturing companies of these units guarantee that all personal data of cellular network subscribers is currently being tracked thanks to unlimited access to the service provider’s database and directly to the SIM card.

Due to the complexity of the process of spying on subscribers and wiretapping phones at a distance of approximately 500 m, it is specially monitored by qualified trained employees.

Active wiretapping technology involves intercepting signals using a special mobile complex - a pair of advanced phones and a laptop. The cost of such complexes is also far from cheap - thousands of dollars. However, information on how phones are tapped in this way is only available to highly qualified employees in the field of technology and communications.

In addition, today it is possible to wiretap a mobile phone at a household level, for non-professional hackers. It is carried out by uploading malware to the gadget. This kind of special programs are capable of monitoring and managing not only the encryption of data on the phone, but also all the data on the device!

Today, no one can determine the signs of wiretapping of a mobile phone or give a 100% guarantee that everything that happens to the phone relates to wiretapping, but everyone can get some confirmation of the likelihood of such processes, and this is not the slightest difficulty. A simple and reliable method for detecting wiretapping about ten years ago was ordinary push-button telephones. Opponents of technological progress can still observe this now - a closed or open lock appears on the displays of old phones, which displays the presence or absence of data encryption.

Users of modern smartphones, unfortunately, do not have access to such a visual check, but we can use a number of certain signs that we cannot ignore to find out that a mobile phone is being tapped.

For example, a person does not use his own smartphone for a certain time, but the device’s battery still heats up. This is an important indicator of how to find out whether the phone is tapped.

If your smartphone has recently begun to discharge too quickly, it’s worth paying attention to, maybe it’s wiretapping! You can ignore this fact in cases where you like to play games on your phone or are a music lover and constantly listen to music from your device and watch videos. It is logical that each battery will begin to discharge quickly. Also, it is worth considering the age of the smartphone - a new device that is up to 1 year old cannot “kill” the battery for no reason. But older models will reduce their charge over time.

Does your smartphone turn off for a long time or with a certain delay? Can't you turn it off at all? This may indicate espionage! However, please note that similar types of device malfunctions can be caused by incorrect firmware or malware infection.

In cases where you notice strange activity on your device - the backlight turns on in standby mode, unknown applications or programs are installed, the smartphone reboots on its own - pay attention to this! Most likely, they are spying on you and controlling your smartphone using third-party software.

How else can an ordinary gadget user check his phone for wiretapping? Interference, clicks, background noise may indicate incorrect or faulty operation of the device, errors in an old battery, infection of the device with viruses, or... wiretapping!

Make sure that there is interference in your personal life by paying attention to the simultaneous coincidence of several of these points.

Ways to protect your phone from wiretapping

Password-protect your smartphone, keep it with you and don’t give it to strangers (or maybe even acquaintances!) - this is the first and most effective way to protect yourself from espionage. And if you are not going to use the device, turn it off by removing the battery.

Today, less radical options for protecting against mobile phone eavesdropping are also available. Manufacturers and developers, answering the frequent question “how to protect your phone from wiretapping?”, suggest not to fall into despair and install specially designed programs that can report wiretapping, providing peace of mind to users.

These applications and programs protect smartphones from malicious software that records telephone conversations of subscribers, duplicates SMS correspondence, uses the camera during a conversation and even in the device’s standby mode.

How do you know if your phone is being tapped? “Security” applications monitor the base stations with which the smartphone connects, checking their signatures and geolocation data. When dubious bases move from their location or disappear from the radar altogether, programs perceive them as suspicious and send a corresponding notification to the user. However, manufacturers of such applications warn users that these functions do not guarantee protection of the phone from wiretapping, and recommend refraining from telephone conversations and other methods of data exchange when connecting to dubious base stations.

In highly specialized online stores you can legally purchase affordable and effective methods of protection against eavesdropping, such as:

• anti-bugs are detector devices that provide a sufficient level of human protection from wireless cameras, miniature radio transmitters, radio microphones and other things. They work with a wide range of frequencies, are endowed with high sensitivity and monitor the surrounding radio air;
• Hidden camera detectors – detect cameras at long distances regardless of the mode (on or off) and communication channels (wired and wireless) based on lens flares;
• Field indicators detect data collection devices. Available in: portable, room, telephone and car.

Wiretapping a mobile phone using Reptilicus

Reptilicus is one such application that archives data. Thanks to this feature, everyone is able to use the phone as a scout. The program for listening to mobile phones has proven itself to be excellent.

There are a lot of reasons to install Reptilicus to listen to a mobile phone:

• parental control over your child and his social circle;
• establishing a trusting relationship with your significant other;
• monitoring the work of subordinates to prevent gossip, conspiracies and information leaks;
• comfortable round-the-clock care for sick or elderly people;

And this is not an exhaustive list. Everyone has their own reasons and the question is “how to listen to a phone?”, and there is only one solution - install the Reptiilkus program on the device.

The program is installed on a person’s smartphone, telephone conversations, SMS correspondence, the geolocation data of which is duplicated to the email address specified in the program settings.

Reptilicus has nothing to do with spyware! This is not a prank for friends who intercept messages on Viber, WhatsApp, VKontakte, Facebook, Odnoklassniki and other social networks. The developers position the application as a friendly program that works exclusively in hidden mode, an assistant in life.

The creators of Reptilicus strongly remind you of the prohibition of using the program for illegal purposes (spying on a person, obtaining information illegally, using software for eavesdropping, etc.), as well as the mandatory consent of a person if it is necessary to monitor him. After all, the listed actions and actions imply the presence of responsibility on the part of the person who commits them.

Advantages of the Reptilicus service over other software for listening to mobile phones

A comparison of existing phone wiretapping software technologies on the market shows that Reptilicus provides the best service. This is not only a program for wiretapping phones, it is a logger program for personal data that provides accurate geolocation data of people's locations, the content and details of telephone conversations, printouts of correspondence, parental controls and much more.

The application provides a sufficient level of protection for device data in case of loss or deletion, restores lost data, and provides remote operation using the command line with SMS or email.

In cases of emergency determination of the location of phones/subscribers, the program monitors all actions that are performed on the phone, helps to find the device and saves the data stored on it. If the device has been stolen, the program will track the exact coordinates of its location and, if necessary, transfer this data to law enforcement agencies. All these functions are not available in other listening programs.

https://www.site/2013-08-19/kto_kak_i_zachem_proslushivaet_vashi_razgovory_i_chitaet_perepisku_issledovanie_site

“Shhhh. This is not over the phone"

Who, how and why listens to your conversations and reads your correspondence. Study site

"Not on the phone." “I’ll call you back from another number now.” “Let’s go outside and take a walk, it’s better not to talk here.” Such phrases have become firmly established in the life of the Russian establishment, but just a few years ago those who complained about wiretapping of phones and offices were mistaken for half-crazy people, like those who wear tin foil hats and believe in the zombie rays of the KGB. Today everyone knows: they listen to everyone, they listen without regard to the law, and the materials of these wiretaps are more often used not in court, but in political intrigues, denunciations, and provocations. the site spoke with one of the professionals of the shadow market of electronic intelligence to find out how this sphere works.

Who's listening

In the language of law enforcement agencies, wiretapping telephones and monitoring Internet traffic is called the abbreviation “SORM” - “System of technical means to ensure the functions of operational-search activities.” SORM-1 is a set of measures aimed at wiretapping mobile communications, SORM-2 – mobile Internet traffic. Today, such investigative methods are coming to the fore, eclipsing traditional forensic approaches. Accordingly, the units responsible for SORM are becoming increasingly influential within the internal affairs bodies. In the Sverdlovsk region, this is, for example, the Bureau of Special Technical Measures (BSTM) of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Sverdlovsk Region and the Operational and Technical Department (OTO) of the FSB Directorate for the Sverdlovsk Region.

According to the law, wiretapping of telephones and monitoring of Internet traffic is possible only by a court decision. True, the law allows investigators to “turn on the recording” without it, if the case is urgent and wiretapping is necessary to prevent an impending crime. By approximately the same principle, investigators are “as an exception” allowed to conduct searches, receiving court approval after the fact. As in the case of searches, law enforcement officers often use this rule to gain uncontrolled access to other people's secrets.

There are also ways to legalize illegal wiretapping by placing the name and phone number of the desired person on a long list of suspects in some criminal case. As sources in the authorities say, judges almost never delve into how this or that surname is connected with a criminal case, and sign permission “in one fell swoop.” Such court decisions are classified as “secret”, and citizens will never know who was on the wiretapping list.

However, experts involved in wiretapping say: today, more and more often, citizens are being “recorded” without any court decisions at all. Each telecom operator has equipment installed that allows security forces to access the conversations of any client at any time (operators are required to do this by law). And in the regional department of the FSB there is a remote access terminal, with which you can start listening to any mobile user in a few clicks.

According to the law, several special services have the right to conduct wiretapping. In addition to the FSB itself, these are the Ministry of Internal Affairs, FSKN, GUFSIN, customs, FSO, SVR. But control over the equipment itself, which ensures the operation of SORM-1 and SORM-2, is under the control of the FSB. As experts explain, in order to put a particular number under wiretapping, employees from the police bureau of special technical measures do not have to run to the FSB and ask them to press a button: the Ministry of Internal Affairs and other agencies conducting operational investigative activities have their own access terminals. But they are connected “through the FSB,” that is, the main key is still located with the security officers.

“Therefore, for example, in the Roizman wiretapping case, it will be difficult to point all the fingers at the police and pretend that the FSB had nothing to do with it,” says the site’s interlocutor. According to him, responsibility for unauthorized wiretapping and its leakage in any case lies with two departments.

“Why do you need so many phones?”

How to protect yourself from wiretapping? Almost nothing. Firstly, it is useless to change SIM cards: it is not the mobile number that is used for wiretapping, but the unique number of the telephone device (IMEI). No matter what SIM card is installed in the phone, it will still be “live”.

Many representatives of the establishment and businessmen carry several phones with them, believing that one “ordinary” one is listened to, while others - the “leftists” - are not.. - If a person is wiretapped, law enforcement officers constantly receive information about the location of his phone. To do this, the phone does not necessarily have to have a GPS module installed; the location of even the simplest and cheapest handset is determined by base stations with an accuracy of one meter. And if you carry several handsets with you, geolocation data shows that next to your “main” number there are always 2-3 others. They are also immediately put on wiretapping, so walking around with a bunch of phones is completely pointless.”

However, there is a small trick with two handsets that allows you to relatively reliably keep the secret of negotiations. “Suppose there are two devices - A and B. A is used constantly, and there is reason to believe that it is being listened to. B – for confidential conversations, registered to another person. In this case, A and B should never be turned on at the same time or next to each other. If you need to make a call on the “secret” phone B, you turn off A, move further away, into the coverage area of ​​another base station, then turn on B and make a call. Then you turn off B, go again to another base station and then turn on A,” says our interlocutor. Another way is to constantly store a “secret” phone in some hidden place, each time arriving at it with the “main” mobile phone turned off.

Particularly cautious victims of wiretapping prefer to turn off the phone during an important conversation or hide it somewhere away. The site's interlocutor confirms that the possibility of recording via phone in standby mode exists, but this technology is used infrequently. “In these cases, the so-called microphone effect. This can only be done if a team of specialists works in close proximity to the interlocutors. The signal receiver and recording device must be somewhere nearby,” he explains.

How does it work

Another thing is ordinary wiretapping. It can be massive. Today in Yekaterinburg, the FSB’s capacity allows 25-50 thousand subscribers to listen simultaneously, in Moscow – hundreds of times more. The main problem is not how to record information, but how to decipher and process it. In the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Sverdlovsk Region, for example, there is a special department of “analysts” who are engaged in simply transcribing recorded conversations and turning audio into text. Now Sverdlovsk law enforcement officers, using the preparation for the 2018 World Cup and EXPO 2020 as an excuse, are setting themselves the task of increasing hardware wiretapping capacity. And creating more advanced systems for processing the information received is already a task for security forces not only at the Russian, but also at the global level. Recent scandals in the United States show that Russian intelligence services are far from the only ones involved in illegal or semi-legal “monitoring”.

The world leader in creating data analysis and processing systems for intelligence services is the American company Palantir Technologies. According to the site’s interlocutor, Palantir technologies are used by both American government organizations, such as the CIA, and Russian ones, including the FSB and the Information and Analytical Center of the Russian Government. “The last one is hard to wrap my head around. It turns out that the entire volume of government information, including secret information, goes through the American system..

In Russia, one of the largest suppliers of “analytical” software for intelligence services is also Avicomp Services. And hardware solutions and programs for “monitoring” (that is, wiretapping) are actively sold by the Novosibirsk company Signatek. Its website says that it offers “subjects of operational investigative activities” “systems for monitoring the communications of objects: telephone conversations, fax sessions, video calls, SMS messages, DVO, ICQ, email”, as well as “Systems for monitoring the movement of objects with visualization on map."

The product catalog contains examples of what the program interface for “monitoring” looks like:

What'sApp or Viber?

With the analysis of Internet traffic of suspicious citizens (SORM-2), the situation with the security forces is somewhat worse than with wiretapping of conversations. Although telecom operators provide intelligence agencies with any information in the same way, the analysis of this data itself is quite complex. “Any smartphone constantly downloads and sends huge amounts of data. Until recently, there was a huge problem in isolating information of interest from all this mass, for example, correspondence on Skype or WhatsApp. However, now this problem has been generally solved, and even in the regions they have learned to read Internet messengers,” says our interlocutor.

He calls the popular What’s App an extremely unsafe messenger - the information sent is not encrypted. Skype has such encryption, and it would have been reliable if the owners of the service, having entered the domestic market, had not shared decryption codes with Russian security forces. Therefore, today communication via Viber can be considered the most reliable, in which all data (both correspondence and voice conversations) are encrypted and are not yet available to domestic intelligence services (“This is why they are trying to ban Viber in the first place,” our interlocutor is sure). The site’s source does not trust the Telegram service, which is declared to be a “super-reliable” messenger, “as well as everything that is done in Russia, including by Pavel Durov.”

Another relatively reliable way to communicate is to use BlackBerry phones, which have their own messaging service, BlackBerry Messenger. The data in it is encrypted even more securely than in Viber; Russian security forces do not have access to it, and perhaps that is why BBM is banned in Russia. To use it, you have to buy a phone in the USA and “unlock” it from Russian specialists.

A major developer of programs and equipment for SORM-2 in Russia is the MFISOFT company, which supplies software for the FSB. The description of the SORMovich hardware and software complex given on their website states that it can place users under control by account name, phone number, email address, IP and ICQ number. The complex provides “detection and interception of mail messages at an email address”, “interception of files transferred via the FTP protocol”, “listening to IP telephony”, etc.

Who's being watched

Maybe the security forces would like to “listen to everyone,” but in reality there are only 200-300 people in Yekaterinburg under constant surveillance, the site’s interlocutor says. Most of them are suspected of extremism (primarily Islamist) and terrorism, members of organized crime groups under development, participants in large-scale opaque financial transactions (“cashers”, etc.).

“They are absolutely listening to the governor, his inner circle, and the top officials of the city. Deputies of the Legislative Assembly and City Duma are unlikely, only if someone was ordered by competitors. But this is a rare case, no one says anything important on the phone for a long time, and not many people are ready to spend 70 thousand rubles a day to wiretap a competitor,” says our source.

Recently, another proven way to become a victim of wiretapping has emerged - regularly criticize the current government or go to protest demonstrations. Of course, all participants in street actions will not be wiretapped, but the most active ones will be wiretapped. Ekaterinburg has long listened to Evgeny Roizman and Aksana Panova as opponents of Sverdlovsk Governor Evgeny Kuyvashev. Those around the governor do not hide the fact that printouts of their conversations regularly land on the table of the head of the region.

"FSBuk"

Recently, the analysis of information collected on social networks has played an increasingly significant role in the structure of SORM. With Facebook, the situation is more complicated, but even here the secrecy of communication is not guaranteed. “A relatively safe way to communicate is through Western email services: Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo,” says the site’s interlocutor. – The Tor network is also effective, guaranteeing anonymity to users. With its help, American journalists, among other things, communicate with their informants.”

To exchange information, more and more people and organizations are using cloud services like Dropbox, Yandex.Disk, Google disk and others. Law enforcement agencies are also interested in them. Among the popular services, Google's offering is considered relatively reliable, but our source advises paying attention to Wuala: an encrypted storage facility with servers in Switzerland. True, if you are saving your secrets not from Russian intelligence services, but from American ones, it is unlikely that anything will help you. A few days ago, another “ultra-secure” cloud service, Lavabit, was mysteriously shut down and all its users lost their information. Apparently, the fact is that Lavabit email was used by former CIA agent Edward Snowden.

Under the hood

It’s rare that a Russian businessman and politician today discusses on the phone something more important than fishing and football. Therefore, in addition to analyzing the actual texts of negotiations, electronic intelligence professionals are engaged in processing large amounts of data, identifying mathematical patterns, implicit connections, and on this basis building hypotheses about the interaction of certain groups or persons. The material for this may include telephone calls, emails, banking transactions, transactions for registration or liquidation of legal entities, etc. The resulting large diagrams are similar to those shown in one of the presentations of the already mentioned company Avicomp:

Illustration of electronic correspondence and monitoring of telephone conversations have already gone as far as the authors of dystopian novels never dreamed of. Probably, often the power of SORM helps prevent genuine terrorist attacks or real crimes. But much more noticeable to society are cases where electronic intelligence methods are used for political persecution and have nothing to do with legal procedures. At the same time, not only oppositionists, but also politicians loyal to the Kremlin suffer from uncontrolled surveillance. Compromising evidence collected using electronic means often becomes a weapon of the elite struggle against those who until recently themselves ordered the wiretapping of their enemies. In this sense, electronic intelligence has become a danger from which no one is immune.

Our information: How Ural politicians suffer from surveillance and try to save themselves

Everyone suffers from illegal wiretapping. Director of the Foundation for Support of Civil Initiatives “Legal Mission” (Chelyabinsk), Alexey Tabalov, told the site that “all his telephone conversations are being monitored” and he has been convinced of this more than once. Chairman of the Board of the Voice - Ural Foundation Yuri Gurman also assured us that in his organization the intelligence services listen to phones and look at email correspondence. “I know that they are listening, and let them listen. Although it gets disgusting,” he says.

Deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Perm Territory Vladimir Nelyubin told the site that at the entrance to some high offices it is now customary to hand over the phone to the secretary. The banker himself uses classic Nokia, does not recognize modern instant messengers and is not going to protect himself from wiretapping. And the former head of the administration of the governor of the Kama region, Firdus Aliyev, is convinced that it is impossible to protect himself from wiretapping. “Such measures do not exist, it is an illusion. Only personal communication allows us to eliminate leaks as much as possible, so we have to fly [to meetings],” he told the site.

In the “Tyumen Matryoshka” only in the South, in Tyumen, have they accustomed themselves to instant messengers like Viber and WhatsApp: in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug and Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, 3G coverage is much worse and it is expensive to use them. But northern officials are actively using hardware against wiretapping. For example, in the office of one of the high-ranking officials there is a “jammer” behind the curtain, which he turns on during important conversations. As they say, this device makes an eerie sound, so talking for a long time when it is working is simply physically difficult.

The same manager tells absolutely fantastic stories about mobile communications. According to him, today security officers have equipment that, once they have recorded the timbre of your voice, if they need to write about you in the future, it will automatically turn on, no matter what phone you are talking on. Therefore, it makes no sense to change numbers and devices. The official is also quite suspicious of Apple products, although he has been using them since Dmitry Medvedev became president, who introduced the fashion for iPhones and iPads among government employees. However, he covered the camera lenses on both gadgets with black tape. The official is confident that the owners of the devices can be monitored using cameras.

One of the governors of the “Tyumen nesting doll” was observed without any iPhones. A video camera was found directly above the first person's bed in the official residence. Who ordered the surveillance (FSB or private individuals) has not yet been determined.

In the Tyumen North, in order not to become a “godsend for spies,” a few years ago they used the old grandfather’s methods - they liked to change mobile phones and SIM cards. One of the leaders of a large company told the site’s correspondent that there is a place near the shore of the Irtysh in Khanty-Mansiysk, passing over which a boat could run aground, so many telephones are sunk there.

The most thoughtful officials and businessmen will always prefer personal conversations to telephone conversations. Moreover, as one of them admitted, the most reliable way of communication is to write on a piece of paper, after which this piece of paper is simply burned.