Snowden designs iPhone case that warns when eavesdropping

Edward Snowden and Andrew Huang are designing an iPhone case that can guarantee that the device does not actually send out radio signals. The cover is mainly intended for journalists, to prevent them from revealing their location in countries with authoritarian regimes.

The two describe the project they are working on according to Wired as an introspection engine. The case is made for the iPhone 6 or 6s design. Wires run from the cover that enter the smartphone via the SIM card slot and are connected there to points on the printed circuit board. For example, the accessory can measure the signals of the iPhone’s antennas, which are used for GPS, Bluetooth, WiFi, NFC and mobile internet via 2g, 3g and 4g.

If there should be no connection, but a signal is still being processed, the ‘introspection machine’ gives a warning. A monochrome screen with oscilloscope function on the cover provides insight into the signals. According to Andrew Huang, and other experts, there are methods of tricking users into thinking they have turned off all the signals, when in reality they haven’t. Such methods can be used by state hackers or intelligence agencies to monitor journalists, dissidents or other critics.

Not only could such services circumvent airplane mode, but they could also cause users to mistakenly believe that their smartphone is off, even though communications are leaking. The advantage over using a bag that acts like a Farraday cage would be that all other iPhone functions, such as the camera, notes, and so on, can still be used.

For the time being, it is still a design and there is no prototype yet. Snowden and Huang did publish a paper with details entitled “Against the Law: Countering Lawful Abuses of Digital Surveillance.” Andrew ‘Bunnie’ Huang is a well-known hacker who, among other things, wrote a book about reverse engineering the Xbox and had plans for a laptop that is completely based on open source, the Novena.