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encrypted phone question

post #1 of 8
8/24/08 at 1:05am
Thread Starter 
My father has certain business deals in China and he is confident that the authorities are eavesdropping on his conversations. I was wondering if buying 2 siemens encrypted phones is going to help in such trans-atlantic calls.

I tried looking for some info but it seem such phones are not widely demanded. I would like to know if anyone is using such phone and their experience.

Thank You.
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post #2 of 8
8/24/08 at 1:22am
I have never used zfone but it is from the maker of pgp. Here is the link: Zfone Project Home Page
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post #3 of 8
8/24/08 at 1:25am
That's a very interesting situation. Does your dad work for good or for evil? The authority usually doesn't target a person unless it's an ultra-sensitive matter. But if it's the Chinese authority we're talking about then it's best to disguise your conversation by talking about something completely asinine so hopefully they lose interest.
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post #4 of 8
8/24/08 at 1:41am
He needs carrier pigeons.

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post #5 of 8
8/24/08 at 2:07am
When I was in undergrad I had a friend whose father was working in Taiwan. He was a VP at a large pharmaceutical company. The Chinese at the time were launching missiles off the coast. So not cool. Anyhow, as a rich and powerful businessman, he was in contact with others who were apparently strategically setting means of siphoning off quite a bit of assets from China. His calls were always under surveillance. So were the faxes. He started using something a bunch of folks rigged together that was similar to SEEFAX, but the calls were always a problem. So as suggested, all calls were about ordinary family life, drinking life and girls at school etc. The faxes though were always messages for his wife to give to his dad's friends in Toronto. Crazy stuff. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it for myself.

No doubt, these days the Chinese are even more big brotherish, as are the Canadians. I'd use Skype instead of cell phones and I'd encrypt that way hopping through tor if I had to. Skype right now, (and with various improvements) is impossible even for the NSA to break. 1024 bit encryption is available PLUS you can then bounce through an onion system.
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post #6 of 8
8/24/08 at 4:26am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zanth View Post
When I was in undergrad I had a friend whose father was working in Taiwan. He was a VP at a large pharmaceutical company. The Chinese at the time were launching missiles off the coast. So not cool. Anyhow, as a rich and powerful businessman, he was in contact with others who were apparently strategically setting means of siphoning off quite a bit of assets from China. His calls were always under surveillance. So were the faxes. He started using something a bunch of folks rigged together that was similar to SEEFAX, but the calls were always a problem. So as suggested, all calls were about ordinary family life, drinking life and girls at school etc. The faxes though were always messages for his wife to give to his dad's friends in Toronto. Crazy stuff. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it for myself.

No doubt, these days the Chinese are even more big brotherish, as are the Canadians. I'd use Skype instead of cell phones and I'd encrypt that way hopping through tor if I had to. Skype right now, (and with various improvements) is impossible even for the NSA to break. 1024 bit encryption is available PLUS you can then bounce through an onion system.
I was thinking about skype too but the people he calls do not use them. =( isnt it useless unless both parties use skype to call?

He told me the chinese started blocking our homephone number after chatting politics with his business partner. When he tried to call afterwards with our homephone, it always get directed to a voice recording of "hello? hello? hello?". There is no problem when I used my cellphone at all. That is when he confirmed that the Chinese have been listening all the time to RANDOM phone calls.

We can easily use a phone card to get through but the idea of someone listening without your permission just tick u off.
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post #7 of 8
8/24/08 at 2:03pm
I would go with sat phones. Whether enrypted or not is up to you. Do remember that sat phones are sluggish. It takes time to connect even after they stop ringing and sometimes there is a voice delay. All sat phones do this and its unavoidable.
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post #8 of 8
8/24/08 at 3:13pm
Konig, both parties would need to use skype. However, in this case, if it is important and you don't want folks listening in, it is likely your best bet.
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