Mobile data privacy has been a major concern for several years now, but many consumers may not realize how extensive the global threat actually is. Although public networks within the United States are rife with hacker activity, they pale compared with those in other areas of the globe. Visitors to the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, may learn this lesson the hard way, as the city’s mobile networks present considerable risks for data breach. A recent NBC News report urged those planning to bring their mobile devices to the games to reconsider.
With the help of a cybersecurity expert, reporter Richard Engel tested the level of security offered on Sochi’s public Wi-Fi, discovering that these networks provided virtually no security against hackers. After enabling network connectivity on brand-new computers and smartphone, Engel’s mobile device was compromised within minutes. Cybercriminals successfully downloaded malware onto his mobile device, giving hackers the ability to steal sensitive data and even listen in on any calls made from the phone. After returning to his hotel room, Engel found that hackers had begun to work their way through the network defenses on his computers, successfully breaching those defenses within 24 hours.
Given the surge of mobile devices that will connect to Sochi’s wireless networks in the coming days and weeks, cybersecurity professionals cautioned that it will be impossible to fully protect any smartphone or tablet that enters this environment. According to Engel, officials from the federal government were among those who have expressed deep concerns about the integrity of mobile data for anyone traveling to Sochi for the Olympic Games.
“The State Department warned that travelers should have no expectation of privacy even in their hotel room,” Engel said. “And as we found out, you are especially exposed as soon as you try and communicate with anything.”
Surveillance concerns persist
Mobile data privacy concerns are not a wholly new development in Russia, as the country’s government has conducted extensive surveillance over mobile communications in recent years. According to Agentura.Ru, Russia’s intelligence community is not beholden to the same legal processes seen in other nations that force government agencies to produce a warrant before they can listen in on mobile communications. With little oversight procedures in place and a great deal of leeway given to the Federal Security Service, officials within the Russian government have ample opportunities to pounce on mobile data.
The Guardian recently reported that the FSB may be planning to take full advantage of its surveillance capabilities as thousands of foreign spectators pour into Sochi. A team of Russian investigative journalists supplied the news outlet with documents obtained from Russian telecoms. Those materials outlined recent network changes that would further enhance the government’s ability to spy on mobile and Internet channels, allowing officials to intercept phone calls and data transmissions. According to the journalists, Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan, the FSB could target any number of individuals to gather information regarding a wide range of topics including trade secrets.
“Russian authorities want to make sure that every connection and every move made online in Sochi during the Olympics will be absolutely transparent to the secret services of the country,” Soldatov told The Guardian.
