INTRODUCTION
Edward Snowden, a former contractor employed to the CIA in the United States of America, left the country after leaking sensitive information to the public about extensive acts of internet and phone surveillance by the American government for which he worked. He made headlines across the world in late May - early June 2013 when the Guardian, a UK based newspaper, reported the story. Recent studies have shown that smartphones are more susceptible to hacking and security breaches than we previously thought.
Snowden revealed that the National Security Agency (NSA) were …show more content…
As long as a phone is connected to the network, the operators can ping the device then gather information about its signal strength. They can use this information to draw conclusions about where the device is located, and they usually are so accurate that they can track a device to within one city lock. A related technology is called Tower Dumps . Tower dumps provide information about all the devices connected to a particular cell tower at a given time. Unfortunately, without powering off the device or completely disabling transmission there is no way to conceal a device from such tracking. That in itself provides a cause for concern in situations where multiple devices suddenly go “off the grid”. The network service providers may see it as a sign that activities in that area warrant high levels of secrecy. Information like this in the wrong hands, including hackers and unethical entities, could prove