Ex-FSB general: Western intelligence services have secret access to smartphone data

Brief retelling from RIA II

Western intelligence services have complete secret access to data from smartphones and other gadgets thanks to the secretive activities of development companies, said retired FSB Major General Alexander Perelygin.

Access to data became possible due to the presence of backdoors in standard microprocessors and the problem of software transparency.

Perelygin warned that the use of data collection technologies poses a real threat to national security.

MOSCOW, June 2 - RIA Novosti. Western intelligence services have complete secret access to the data of smartphones and other gadgets thanks to the secretive activities of the companies that develop them, said retired FSB Major General, Candidate of Legal Sciences Alexander Perelygin in a video of the Russian FSB DSP.

On Tuesday, the FSB of the Russian Federation announced the disclosure of a large-scale campaign by foreign intelligence services to introduce and use malware on the mobile phones of high-ranking Russian officials. It was used to record existing data, listen to ongoing conversations, and also covertly monitor the situation near the devices, aimed at obtaining sensitive information.

“There is a separate technology for processing large complexes of information, which uses these elements of artificial intelligence, the most powerful computers, which make it possible to reveal fantastic patterns in people’s actions, in future and past events, revealing some kind of hidden plans and intentions,” he said.

Perelygin noted that today key positions in the market are held by North American companies, thanks to which intelligence services have access to data. Its acquisition became possible due to several factors. Among them are the backdoors of a standard microprocessor, which companies purchase for their equipment and can then penetrate it. Backdoors are a hidden loophole that the manufacturer knows about.

Secondly, there is the issue of software transparency. A striking example of such a policy is Apple, which does not disclose its software products.

The equipment that people call a smartphone or gadget is in reality a technical means of retrieving information, added the retired FSB Major General.

“This is our friend and comrade, the smartphone... It is present everywhere, in the toilet, at a conference, at a meeting, and in the workplace. Moreover, we must understand that by turning this device on or off, putting it aside, turning off the sound, putting it in a briefcase... it does not hear what is happening around it, but it knows where you are going,” he said.

According to Perelygin, who has extensive experience in operational work, the use of such technology has greatly simplified working with the enemy.