Phone Hackers: Britain's Secret Surveillance

[@nishitraj.]

i am going back to sending messages through pigeons

[@hanzuttjord519]

+Nishit Raj Use stronger encryption.

[@mastererik323]

+Nishit Raj But the Germans can use birds of prey to "intercept" your messages...

[@z0ro_62]

re use the enigma code they'll never see it coming no one's used it in forever

[@nishitraj.]

Hanzutt Jord Like encrypted pigeons ? That's an idea bomb man ;P

[@fergusporteous-gregory2557]

+Nishit Raj or text in Glaswegian slang

[@24OscarM]

I'm glad we still get good Vice content once in a while...

[@danmufcwwe1]

+ShittyMusicGorilla hahhhahahaha. Very rare that an internet comment even brings the slightest grin. This is very very funny lol

[@masterred82]

+24OscarM yea i agree.. Also good to see they havent limited the location like they seem to do on their website.. They are turning into mainstream news very quickly.. Vice = CNN

[@hexadecimal5236]

It's weird how Vice supports and almost never investigates the US, but does interesting investigations outside if the US.

[@TaePoDongIII]

+ShittyMusicGorilla heh!

[@enterbalak]

+24OscarM Vice has turned really bad, so sad.

[@GenXB]

Laughed out loud at one point... all other issues aside, I feel horrible for that poor guy at the booth who just spilled his client list out to a reporter. I mean it's awesome for the public to know this of course, but that poor guy is gonna get in major trouble!

[@TheDarkerAges]

for sure!

[@hexadecimal5236]

He seemed like a high level employee who didn't care what happened. He probably has skills that are critically vital to the business.

[@AleksandrKramarenko]

Why does it matter? So, now you know some of their clients, how does that change things?

[@kyronne1]

+wantafanta01 that is very true, they should have blurred them.

[@kyronne1]

+wantafanta01 that is very true, they should have blurred them.

[@tireballastserviceofflorid7771]

One of the best Vice reporters. No fake hype rambling bs. Just a good old fashioned story with polite interviews. Get's you a lot farther than the bomb shell interview style most other Vice reporters use.

[@samfrench6847]

Naked Acres a good example of a bad Vice reporter is that Hamilton dude, he's off the scale when it comes patronising people😒 You know what I mean?

[@TheMwarrior50]

"Stingray? Like a shark?" 10/10

[@manny4218]

A lot less suspicious than that above my pay grade bs

[@lethaldosage927]

"It's above my pay grade" AKA we know about the operation, but we've been told to mind our business and stick to the streets.

[@Luke_05]

LethalDosage Lmaoo.

[@geoffwalters3662]

Hate to tell you all, they would not brief a beat cop about such an operation.

[@DAAI741]

"or a stingray?" "Like a shark?"

[@krishnamukherjee9570]

that one didn't know anything

[@phoenixerrlybird3634]

"we provide it to the "good guys" what a joke

[@palesazozi793]

They just patent it and keep it to themselves Google patent US3951134A

[@marbleplexus]

I wish the US would protest this hard.

[@marbleplexus]

+LazyAssassin180 That was about race matters. I meant protesting about our privacy. Honestly a lot of other things also.

[@paakphum9955]

If they protest even as half aggressive as this then the us will send in the national guard straight away

[@seal6565]

These protests aren't that productive. It basically just boils down to, "oh noes the feds are looking at my internet history". I mean wtf do these edgelords hope to achieve? For the feds to just go like, "ok anon you is winrar, we will stop monitoring you now". Accept it, we live in the age of technology, get used to being monitored because there's absolutely nothing you can do about it. Unless you go live in some shithole country like N. Korea.

[@seal6565]

Jev Laa Correct. We're no longer in the age of swords and muskets. What do you suggest we could do? An armed rebellion? Give me a fucking break. There's nothing we could do about it. Just like there's nothing we could do about lying politicians, world hunger, wars. Give up the dream of somehow achieving world justice and liberty, no one has the power to do that, not you, not me and definitely not our internet virgin haxxor heroes anoneemoose.

[@marbleplexus]

+CHRISTIAN HERNAN your blatant homophobia is showing.

[@Killerdp234]

This is some 1984 ass shit. What's next? They're going to name Great Britain airstrip 1 now? We gonna have telescreens?

[@Soulcatcher30]

+Krilln This shit reminds me the days of soviet union, we had signal blockers for media from the west, it was hard to find western radio stations, full of static.

[@matheoo41]

+Krilln They are called Smart TV's these days.

[@mantisnomore9091]

+matheoo41 ...or software upgrades.

[@trollfinger]

+Krilln www.bbc.com/news/technology-31296188

[@primaryradar]

+Krilln We already have telescreens man - they're called smartphones.

[@undesignated3491]

Ive worked around westminster as a telecoms tech, never any parking, your IMSI catchers ARE on the rooftops, plastic trees and inside false chimneys, what you think is an old BT hub is actually an old disused BT owned buildng which is leased to EE, other networks and the Police to put their own equipment inside or around the building. The catchers are a small dish with a small plastic black ariel which feeds into the base station for POWER ONLY ! The actual signal, where that goes is beyond me, they were not ALLOWED TO be touched. The equipment in the Base station can have many networks going into it, it may be an EE base station but will have many other networks going through the same base station sharing equipment and leasing off the base provider usually old one to one now EE. London Centre is FULL and I mean Brimming with Telecoms equipment, the technology is unreal ! and far beyond my own comprehension

[@scottandrewhorne4655]

Thank you for your honesty. All these illegal activitys will have extreme consequences come d day for the scum involved in doing this to us Good Human Beings. Us good Human Beings are not told about these disgraceful activitys and our Earthly life times are wrongly effected. Come d day for those involved they will reap what they sow from there Earthly life time Amen xxxxxxx Father Jesus sees all and he hears all Amen xxxxxxx it shall all even itself out in this life time the next or both on Father Jesus name Amen xxxxxxx

[@SopaDeWebHD]

This is really good reporting. We need more of this!

[@iceybrice]

The internet is slowly turning the world into an anarchy.

[@mansionmist]

It's amazing people asking street cops these type of questions, do you really think the ones who are doing these things are going to tell the shit ? The real people doing it lie to your face and you say nothing. Politicians make the rules make money from their shit but nobody is following them around with cameras

[@mansionmist]

+paisleyyama Well said

[@hexadecimal5236]

Most cops are just happy to have a job like everyone else, which has become the corrupt heart of capitalism. Keep job growth slow so you can keep employee output high.

[@tigermunky]

+Mansion Video I actually feel sorry for the British police. Theresa May is cutting all their money, holiday, salaries, and yet they are not legally allowed to strike or protest. They have to sit there and get fucked by the government and THEN they have to protect the very people fucking them over. The police are hated by both the public and the government. Who'd want a job like that? That officer who said that it was above his paygrade is wise enough to say nothing. If he said anything at all, he'd lose his job faster than he could blink.

[@BrankoBrankov]

PIGs (persons in govs)are all satanists and serves satan.

[@mansionmist]

+Branko Brankov Your posting a comment like I give a shit what you think.

[@cthulhu4145]

r.i.p severus snape (alan rickman) :(

[@nathaniel2026]

I didn't see that coming. Thought he had a good few years left.

[@d_o_u_g_h_n_u_t8063]

Cant confirm or deny it? Already said too much

[@ayebee652]

"Stingray? Like a shark?" Hahahaha...not even close bruv!

[@davidkennerly]

I stopped watching when the interviewer went off on the "is it available to private companies?" rant. As if we should fear the government less.

[@jorgenitales4128]

+David Kennerly I think the documentary misses the point like you do, but I think the REAL point here is that the technologies we rely on are vulnerable to anyone with 20,000 euros. This also includes other governments, for instance.

[@banksarenotyourfriends]

Dialing , , , 4,6,3,6, , , , , then clicking 'phone information' on newer versions of Android brings up one of the developer menus, and you can see if you've got an IMSI catcher near your home. There are also apps that can do what that laptop+cellphone setup can do. Google will explain what you're looking at on the screen, but don't change any settings or you might break things...

[@jonjones2225]

Andrew Todd how to contact you??

[@adamrules01]

Typical VICE video, it makes it look like the UK is in civil war when its just a couple of 100 people protesting lol.

[@RokeJulianLockhart.s4eb2q]

That's your opinion. Do not state it as fact.

[@Kradle]

So what's stopping wealthy private contractors from buying this kind of equipment and using it for their own personal gain? Are there really no laws in place to prevent abuse and misuse? I want one.

[@PAUL-eq6ot]

They are meant to be strictly sold to law enforcments only but you can get them on the deep web.

[@wpaia]

its already over in the US people here don't care about privacy. hopefully its not too late for your country.

[@jackthomson2208]

wpaia Of corse it too late for Britain.

[@maxisussex]

I think most people believe "if you've nothing to hide - you've nothing to fear" mentality.

[@doubiltroubil2680]

LMAO at the dude just strolling round with a laptop 🤣

[@SilverVenom57]

While I was at college some kids built one and intercepted all of the text messages on campus. Anyone with $2000 can build one.

[@VICENews]

VICE News searches London for IMSI catchers, then goes shopping at a state security fair, and finally finds a shady technology company who'll sell us the spy gear. Read “VICE News Investigation Finds Signs of Secret Phone Surveillance Across London” - bit.ly/1Q7Rome

[@Zajecik]

"and then with Israel" i bursted out laughing on this lol

[@bogdy2craizy]

That guy doing the inverview was so uncomfortable, you can tell he was thinking ''why did I agree to this"

[@TommyAventador]

A stingray? Like a shark?? Fuck me dead!!!! I have alot of faith in the police system now!!

[@saratromp]

Love the stickers on Richey's laptop 😂

[@midas4925]

The Stingray has been around for quite a while, but it's pretty nice seeing that now we're raising awareness about this

[@Fournier46]

Nice to see a hard-hitting and non-polemic Vice documentary!

[@sinaloacosala1]

"Stingray like a shark" wtf😳😭

[@Sgt.Dornan]

Didn't fucking batman have this tech in the dark knight?

[@AmericanArgonaut]

I don’t think anyone realizes quite how real this all is! All while thinking they do

[@mosttop1]

The chinese guy has a mandarin accent, Hong Konger speak Cantonese and for sure that is not a Cantonese accent. I doubt his company is base in Hong Kong but rather in China

[@MegaPaddz]

I would prefer this technology in the hands of ordinary people than in the hands of any psychopathic state. Also this technology clearly has no role in counter-terrorism.

[@DelusionalPoductions]

Nice hiding the voice recorder under that book...haha

[@ac1dra1n]

30-40 GRAND? What total bs, you can catch imei and imsi numbers with a £10 RTL-SDR dongle, and they charge 30+ grand, what a ripoff, government muppets

[@renykick6602]

Lester before he moved to USA

[@nicoby309]

Good journalism Vice, good job! You see less and less of that everyday that passes by but this one was good!

[@JohnLee-kl4tc]

Finally a real VICE video that I subscribed for.

[@Borgnrox]

1:52 Hello Russell Brand aha

[@FreeRsGuides]

+Borgnrox Oh shit yeah

[@carpetburger]

Watching this in 2021 and i'm so glad i did. I never knew the item existed. I can imagine what kind of tech they have now if they were using this 5yrs ago. What kinda chance do we have?

[@andrebarros7703]

"they sell new technology to the good guys (government)" ah.ah..ahahhahahahaha government = good guys... i'm sure they are not

[@tinyrodent2821]

Some people who have raised taxes are better people than a school shooter, so yes they are the good guys

[@andrebarros7703]

wtf... the people who steal from other's and call it taxation, are as bad as the guy who shoot's people in school. both use violence and coercion

[@danielfr5140]

all fun and games until u see them list ur police deparement as being a client ahah

[@Caver461]

On the flip side, you'd be the first to find fault for lack of security when there is a terrorist incident

[@REVJHD]

Thanks for good content Vice, about damn time we got back to something thats informative (yet scary). Instead of the traditional news method of trying to scare us and then having the investigation be a side thought.

[@petergambier]

Interesting film and I just realised this film is 5 years old, I wonder where we are now during this pandemic?

[@lfa8903]

"Our joub is to provide 'good guys' this equipment" Who are really those 'good guys'?

[@inayatali4344]

Yes! Athelstan has returned as an investigative reporter. My favourite Anglo-Saxon priest should never have been killed off.

[@Profix0]

IMSI catchers don't work with newer versions of GSM - although it's possible to force fallbacks.

[@maxwelll1978]

5 years. millions of people marching. Nothing happened. It got worse...nothing happened. Well done guys.

[@aryajonathan3733]

Linux... linux everywhere

[@cristofinfinit692]

They are not stupid enough to use windows.

[@mirsella6204]

​@Matt Faraday better than nothing, but a ubuntu VM on a mac to do some cybersecurity is sad, just boot linux directly

[@birthdaydog1244]

What program was that man using on his MacBook air

[@moshyraja3141]

Ubuntu

[@MarinelliBrosPodcast]

Whelp, better start using carrier Pigeons.

[@kristinparish2834]

There's a sticker on this guy's laptop that says, 'stand with Snowden.' lol

[@RobGcraft]

Is the software that Richard is using open source? I wanna use it myself

[@bruh321xyz4]

just search it on github

[@MultiSciGeek]

I like the way some of the people were so open about it. It's true, it's like any other weapon, it depends how you use it.

[@craigterris1802]

Ok its kind of reasonable for the police to have access to this technology, what isn't reasonable is the lack of accountability, they won't even disclose how their using it.

[@kittengem4243]

Voice to skull is being used and nothing is being talked about

[@rallokkcaz]

If you look at the left corner @6:41 you can actually see them being personally surveilled. Nice cover.

[@wils35]

Going back to Walkie Talkies and CB Radio's.

[@SLCtica]

I'm less concerned about LE having these capabilities and more concerned with "bad actors" getting their grubby little paws on these technologies for nefarious purposes.

[@willgreen5104]

Still think that? 🤔

[@teddybeer9642]

Great information, hope to see more on these kinds of topics!

[@aldigangster123]

Awesome report, Vice. Please do more like these!

[@infernus42254]

Obviously no one will just admit to using police equipment in front of a camera lol. They themselves aren't allowed to discuss it outside the briefing room. 😂😂

[@marble296]

Use encrypted messaging apps like signal to stay safe from mass surveillance

[@marble296]

Joel Schembri It makes us safe from mass surveillance

[@marble296]

Joel Schembri they'd need your phone to do that, or a copy of the app and it's files. If they have that much interest in you, you're already fucked. I was referring to being safe from mass surveillance. I'll edit my comment to cover that

[@tinyrodent2821]

They hire people to decrypt messages, and im glad they do. Why would you hide a message if you have nothing to hide, if your message is not connected to an illegal act then you should not be bothered

[@marble296]

TinyRodent Its possible for anyone to create unbreakable messages from scratch by following simple rules. The only way to successfully decrypt en masse is to force companies to build in weaknesses. These weaknesses will eventually be known by the public, foreign governments, criminals. They'll be using them before you'll know about them. Oh and one of the foundations of the internet is secure communication. You can then say hello to an era of powerful cyber terrorists.

[@tinyrodent2821]

+mgarvo So you are saying that by not being able to decrypt the message means there is no flaws. But how would the person know what the message says if they cannot decrypt it?

[@BrankoBrankov]

These people and their industry is disgusting.

[@gf6368]

internet spying is awful in the UK, I used to watch porn on my university lane in the dorm and they immediately told me to stop, insane! how can a young boy go without porn!?

[@EDZiLLUH]

don't know how Rick Ross did it when he said he's selling dope straight from the iPhone

[@utubewatchinhesk]

Britain for the world! England is an universal language. They should export these fine British technologies worldwide.

[@freeassange5667]

OUR STREETS, FREE SPEECH! OUR STREETS, FREE SPEECH! OUR STREETS, FREE SPEECH!

[@jamieosborne100]

and here i was thinking the deleting my search history was gonna leave the government with no clues

[@goodoldblighty7481]

I don’t use mobiles anyway I do smoke signals,I wish my friends would join me

[@gram.]

Thanks for people like Richie

[@ULTRAKULTURA-c4e]

How about using 3g or 4 g networks via cdma will that be able to prevent IMSI scans or are further "bulletproofing" methods required in order to fully encrypt the phone and make it untraceable ? FREEDOM TO THE PEOPLE MIDDLE FINGER TO THE BOBBIES AND LOBBIES

[@sandragreen3758]

Ring those guys up that talked,see if they are still on their payroll.

[@DaveWheeley]

Can imsy catchers or is there similar equipment that can intercept calls on apps such as what's app or some sort of app ? Can they listen to voice notes there also? Or is this purely phones and just calls and messages because its intercepted through the network provider?

[@brocklanders1984]

I'm going onto Alibaba to see if 'Edward' has anymore IMSIE catchers. I think my girlfriend might be cheating...

[@laurenelizabeth5015]

Lmao!!! "Stingray?? Like a shark??"

[@umarluxat7174]

...or you can use a 1970 TV that enabel you to involuntary receve police patrol conversation .

[@twohseven]

Targeted Individuals is a real phenomenon.

[@0poIE]

Hey honey be home at 10pm or We attack at 10pm I don't care if its all spied on! As long as they capture the latter! But also agree it shouldn't be used everywhere

[@r3dical1]

if someone asks I am a pathological liar on the phone. Just like politics

[@Jaantaz]

The reason to why the police uses a device like that is to protect people when there is lots of crowded people like in the video.

[@MegaPaddz]

Lol. "Providing the good guys technical advantage"

[@MasterBenjaminFerry]

This is very frightening

[@jjungleee]

Vice you have made EPIC vid & info!!!!

[@Cusack187]

Awesome doc. Well done and congratulations to all at VICE. This was the real deal.

[@hubertwalter1749]

Its too late people. The surveillance apparatus is so huge it can't be controlled or destroyed now. --- Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? ---

[@tireballastserviceofflorid7771]

+Jesus TheDestroyer Oh ya right. Just stop making a billion dollars a year. Just because it's the right thing to do. Never. Every single country in the world has this stuff. Sadly.

[@tireballastserviceofflorid7771]

Temp Temp Sadly with the governments on the hunt and shitting on our rights and billons to be made. I think we are a bit fucked. Sad state of affairs the world is in.

[@ADMTrevor]

Why does it matter if the government knows what were up to? As long as your not doing anything illegal it should not matter.

[@mackenzieowens161]

you're a good citizen

[@mackenzieowens161]

(which is an insult)

[@glitchdigger]

Let's say they get hacked, like every government has, and some criminal gains access to your important details and he commits identity fraud with it. How about if hackers or terrorists were to access that treasure trove of details for every citizen in the country? Would you be okay with ISIS having those details? No? Then you shouldn't be okay with your government having those details and authorities. Regardless of how just and innocent they appear. Terrible things happened under Hitler, and other dictators...if ever there were to come a dictator again they wouldn't be easily removed from power because of the massive surveillance tools in place. ^^^ In short. Why does it matter if the government knows what we're up to? Because the potential for abuse is so massive that it is actually psychologically distressing to think about. If you think you have nothing to hide or be private about, you just haven't thought about it hard enough. Let's do a bit of role play: I'm a hacker/rogue government agent/scumbag and I decide that I really like the sexy pictures that your girlfriend took on her cellphone. Maybe I'll look into her porn history! Then maybe I'll follow her to her GPS coordinates and start chatting her up. Maybe soon after you'll get thrown into prison because someone planted child pornography onto your device and reported you to the police.. Don't let people, government or otherwise, let your phone details or capabilities be compromised in the name of security REGARDLESS of how dire the situation gets.

[@MaximumEfficiency]

how about not wearing a phone on the protest?

[@allertvbarneveld2388]

There is also an app called “AIMSICD" what can help you detect IMSI Catchers

[@JayFresh98]

The guy Richard reminds me of Lester in gta 5

[@jasonlind3065]

Although forecasting is a method of detecting IMSI catchers they tend to find a lot of false positives. He should use an RF receiver instead of observing which cell towers the phone is communicating with.

[@kittengem4243]

Voice to skull is above their pay grade too

[@gram.]

I hope those guys still have their jobs and they didn't lose their contracts

[@pixelplanet8282]

I don't mind them using them but I'd just like them to be more transparent about it.

[@jorgenitales4128]

+Pixel Planet Do you not believe that citizens have the right to manifest discontent in public peaceful protest? Why is it ok for them to use these technology in that situation? Just because you don't agree with the crowd? Enjoy your democracy while it lasts, that prick Cameron proves to the world that it's already pretty broken.

[@tech9auto223]

UK prisons have been using them to find and jam mobile phones for years

[@user-sj2vn1jq4c]

I hope these two are not in a prison by now, also I need to know what power bank that guy is using

[@danielstone520]

Any private security contractor can use these things,but can they get the data out?