[sam_b77]

Thanks for letting me know. Next time I put out a hit on someone I will use code even on BBM.

[Branta]

Ever since the begining of GSM it was well know your calls and sms can be monitored, not by "hacking" your device but by cloning your sim card for real time monitoring. Your location can also be triangulated and as long as the phone is on you can be listened to.

My understanding is that cloning of SIM cards is still considered to be impractical, and a duplicate SIM should be rejected automatically by the network - same problem as duplicated IP address on a computer network. The only on-air attack that is known to work against GSM (SIM equipped) phones is man-in-the-middle with a false base station, but that requires close proximity to the target to be sure of being the selected server. In reality law enforcement never does this, it is more reliable, easier and cheaper to monitor by physical connection at the network provider's premises.

[ScoobsDM]

Also, you have remember on ALL phone calls, key words trigger certain things to recorded/listened to. If you are on a call from a cell or any other phone, words such as "bomb", "assassinate", any known group (bandito's, hells angels, arian,etc.) can also trigger this. I have a buddy who works in the gang unit, both local and abroad. Now, 95% of the key words that are triggered are thrown out, but this also applies to emails, texts, voice, and i'm sure bbm would be included.

[kojisan]

Also, you have remember on ALL phone calls, key words trigger certain things to recorded/listened to. If you are on a call from a cell or any other phone, words such as "bomb", "assassinate", any known group (bandito's, hells angels, arian,etc.) can also trigger this. I have a buddy who works in the gang unit, both local and abroad. Now, 95% of the key words that are triggered are thrown out, but this also applies to emails, texts, voice, and i'm sure bbm would be included.

Things may be different in your part of the world and I'm not sure what agency your friend is from but I can assure you that in Canada there are no trigger words that envoke a "Big Brother" monitoring process. Given the amount of digital information that gets passed these days there are simply not enough resources in place to be able to conduct that type of investigation in real time.

The article referenced by the OP was typical journalistic magic that made something sound more ominous than it really was. (Hmmm where have we seen media do this before . . . ) The reality is that the investigators served a warrant on RIMs Legal deparment and obtained the requested information, simple as that. This is done hundreds of thousands of times a year for a variety of investigations. There is no magic here, no nepharious covert operations, it is simply a legistlative authority that the court grants for investigative purposes.

[T�nis]

Things may be different in your part of the world and I'm not sure what agency your friend is from but I can assure you that in Canada there are no trigger words that envoke a "Big Brother" monitoring process. Given the amount of digital information that gets passed these days there are simply not enough resources in place to be able to conduct that type of investigation in real time.

Echelon (signals intelligence)

[OniBerry]

Some people need to watch less television. Great thread though!!!

[T�nis]

Some people need to watch less television. Great thread though!!!

You're right ... less Fox "News." It was the DHS that instructed people to obtain plastic sheeting and duct tape to cover their windows in order to survive some chemical or germ attack. Anyway, I'm on my way to Home Depot right now to get mine. Those terrorists really want to kill me. (And I don't know about you, but I still carefully check my mail every day for white powdery sustances ...)

[kojisan]

Echelon (signals intelligence)

ROFLMAO!!! If you think that any agency in Canada has access to ECHELON I'm really sorry to shatter your world but they don't. As I said before, even if they did they wouldn't have the resources to deal with the type of information being collected.

[belfastdispatcher]

ROFLMAO!!! If you think that any agency in Canada has access to ECHELON I'm really sorry to shatter your world but they don't. As I said before, even if they did they wouldn't have the resources to deal with the type of information being collected.

It doesn't take much to extract the right data, I have a friend that does just that, writes programs to extract relevant data out of a huge all USA insurance database. Company is called Allstate former Northbrook if I remember correctly.

[kill_9]

Let's step back just a bit here.
The quoted article clearly describes police investigation of mobsters' hits. Assuming no one on this thread is a mobster then no one here would be a target of this investigation.

In Canada there is legislation which passed several years ago that was supposed to allow the police to arrest and the Crown to charge anyone associated with organized crime without the need of a specific criminal act to have been committed by said person. Taken to its logical conclusion everyone of these individuals involved in the Montreal case should have already been in prison serving a life sentence not merely a maximum of fourteen years. Project Echelon is another service - cough, cough - of our governments.