• Bugs from old cellular circuits. How to make a hidden radio microphone bug from a mobile phone

    Articles and Lifehacks

    What is bug from mobile phone ? Is it an invention of Hollywood films about special agents, or is it quite possible to make such equipment yourself? At first glance, it seems that all this is inaccessible to a “mere mortal.” It seems that the problem can be solved in other cases - for example, and you just need to change charger. However, those who have some experience in radio electronics are quite capable of making such a bug at home.

    Making a bug from a mobile phone

    So, first you need a very ordinary mobile phone. All signals (including vibration alert) and backlight should be turned off. In other words, it is very important that the phone looks like non-working device. To be more convincing, you can even make the screen or panel of the device slightly crack.

    After this, you should turn on the auto-answer function on your phone - for example, for 5 seconds or any other time. This method is the simplest - all you have to do is hide it in the device in an inconspicuous place (bookcase, flower pot) and right time just call it. However, the battery charge will be limited, the sound will not necessarily be good, and the bug made from a mobile phone will give out any VHF receiver that picks up the signal.

    There are other ways in which the user purchases a special GSM program and installs it on the device. In this case, the bug will listen independently and automatic mode, determine the location of the phone, “intercept” other people’s SMS messages and send all the data to the server. This is the simplest and effective way access confidential information, however, such a program must be installed on someone else's mobile device, and therefore the user will need at least physical access to it.

    On the radio market or on the Internet, you can purchase a narrow-directional microphone that can be easily installed in the headset of someone else’s device - so that others will not suspect anything at all.

    Other ways to make a bug from a mobile phone

    Radio technicians can search on the Internet for a special circuit for making such a bug themselves. Usually similar device receives a signal at a distance of about 300 meters to the player's receiver. However, sensitivity does not promise to be too reliable. Eavesdrop loud conversation in a quiet room it will be easy, but for whispers you will need an amplification stage.

    And finally, whether used or not, how many radio modules does it have? specific device, you can always use a voice recorder. Modern voice recorders come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and the only problem in this case may be the limitation on the amount of information that can be recorded.

    In order to organize wiretapping, you can resort to several ways to implement your plans. Electronic tracking devices can be purchased in stores or ordered online. However, a high-quality one will cost the consumer a pretty penny. As a rule, cheap Chinese devices quickly break down, and they don’t particularly stand out for their practicality. There is only one thing left - to make a bug with your own hands, especially since this is quite feasible, and the cost of components (in order to manufacture this or that audio surveillance device) is essentially symbolic. Anyway, let's get down to business.

    Legal grounds

    Of course, you need to understand that special means for wiretapping are the prerogative of the intelligence services. In case of violation of the constitutional rights of the individual and proven guilt in violating the secret of private life, administrative punishment will follow. There are often cases when it comes to criminal liability. Therefore, you should not “abuse” the manufactured product. It is much wiser to use such a device as additional means security or use it to implement acoustic control over the territory of your own home. For example, a home-made wiretapping bug will be an excellent “informant” if you are not sure of the integrity of the nanny you hired or want to know what is happening in class at school. There are many situations in life when the use of listening devices becomes a necessity.

    Mobile “GSM bug”: an incredibly simple solution

    To make a listening device from cell phone, you need a device that supports the “Auto-hook up” function, and you also need a headset (headphones). The device can be considered the most acceptable for such purposes, since the simplicity and reliability of the phone allow us to count on the success of the implemented project. By the way, this is a sign of efficiency; the energy consumption of the device is significantly reduced. Believe me, such a phone bug, configured with your own hands, is an excellent substitute for expensive listening equipment. Moreover, literally everyone can perform the simple actions described below. Let's get started.

    • Go to the phone menu and enter the “Call Mode” section.
    • Create your own personal regime. All items related to light indication, vibration, volume of the signal melody, screen saver, sound of button presses and notification of incoming SMS message, you need to deactivate.
    • Give the new mode a name.
    • Through the main menu, find the “Setting up accessories” section, which usually has two sub-items “headset” and “hearing aid”. In each of them, it is necessary to edit the operating parameters and the question of how to make a bug will be practically resolved.
    • All “accessory” items must be included. Assign the newly created mode as active and exit the settings.
    • Cut the cord from the headphones and insert the plug into the headset jack.
    • The display should show the activated mode.

    Using a smartphone for purposes other than its intended purpose

    When you go on a business trip or vacation, you can leave a kind of watchman at home, a mobile “security guard,” so to speak. Moreover, you don’t need to solder anything, and the cellular bug is a converted smartphone with your own hands. Everything else is simply primitive.

    • Almost all smartphones are equipped with the “Auto-receive calls” function.
    • Relatively new cellular units implement technology energy saving mode. Therefore, if you take into account the known good condition of the device, you can count on 5-7 days of battery life.
    • An option is possible when the phone is connected to the charger, and a special device with a time relay acts as an intermediary between the outlet and the charger. An hour a day is a completely acceptable energy supply mode (taking into account the situation described above).
    • Turn off the sound notification on your phone, light indication and vibration mode.
    • It would not be superfluous to take such an action as installing headphones into the headset jack, since the sound background around the caller will be an unfavorable signal that will predetermine the location of the spy device.
    • Place the device in the middle area of ​​the living space. Don’t forget: the device doesn’t have to be in a visible place, but it’s not a solution either. Place the phone on the mezzanine or secure it to back side hanging picture.

    Bug for wiretapping: do-it-yourself from “improvised means”

    As a rule, they are not thrown away. Find your long-forgotten “electronic companion”, because it is from this that you will make an effective sound-catching device. It is worth noting that almost any phone can be converted into a listening device. However, size plays an important role in the “life of a spy.” Therefore, in such a delicate matter as wiretapping, it is more advisable to use small phone models.

    General sequence of actions

    • You are disassembling your phone.
    • Remove the screen and remove all LEDs (keyboard backlight - leave one for visual control).
    • Solder in the power button.
    • Install the device - “Automatic call answering”, because the bug must pick up the handset with its “hands”.
    • Replace the microphone with a more sensitive one (electret).
    • Extend the antenna (regular copper wire 15-20 cm).
    • Solder battery and fix it on top of the keyboard pad (rubber band, tape).
    • Check the functionality.

    The optocoupler shown in the diagram can be replaced with a transistor like KT315 or Western analogues S9018, S9014. In this case, the capacitor is removed and a resistor is installed with a resistance value of 2.2 k.

    Miniature bug

    You can make an FM transmitter with your own hands. Enough simple circuit will allow you to receive a signal in the radio frequency range 88-92 MHz. You shouldn’t immediately run to the store and buy parts; perhaps you have faulty electrical equipment, from the board of which you can remove the necessary components.

    You will need:

    • Bipolar transistor - 2N3904 or its equivalent.
    • Resistors - 4.7 and 330 kOhm.
    • Capacitors - 4.7 pF, 1 and 22 nF.
    • Trimmer capacitor, rated 30 pF.
    • Contour coil - winding diameter 6 mm, eight-turn, wire 0.5 mm.
    • The material for the board is foil fiberglass.
    • 9 W "Krona" type battery.
    • (the most sensitive is used in tape recorders).

    Assembling an FM bug for wiretapping

    • First of all, the trimmer capacitor is soldered in (middle of the board). The transistor is mounted on the left.
    • Moving to the bottom, we install (from left to right) capacitors: the first - 4.7 pF, the second - 1 nF.
    • Now we solder in the resistors.
    • After that - a 22 nF capacitor and a frameless coil.
    • The design is completed by the wire - antenna, installation of a microphone and soldering of the battery.

    In conclusion

    Now it’s no secret to you how to make a bug out of a phone and what is needed for this. Presented in this information review GSM and radio product options are just a part of the many available electronic samples through which high-quality acoustic monitoring can be established. However, it should be noted that practicality and quality are achieved through the application of the above recommendations. However, perhaps there will be a “folk craftsman” who will come up with a more rational way to realize the excellent performance characteristics of his listening-type inventions. Well, for now we will use what we have. Listen carefully!

    The phone has encountered problems and customer complaints. They complained that they did not understand when the beetle was on and when it was off. And sometimes people who did not understand electronics could not use this device correctly. In this regard, it was decided to create a new and more improved version of this GSM bug. The next device was assembled on a ready-made Sony Ericsson phone module. I don't remember the model, but it's very old. As usual, I installed the lift button contactor on one transistor. Those who don’t understand how, please read our articles about the phone to understand the principle of operation.

    I used the original battery and connected it to the phone contacts food is coming through the wires. I set the switch to positive for battery power. The phone turns on in the usual way - by pressing the red button, but if the power switch is turned off, then it is not possible to turn on the phone.

    Next, all the backlight LEDs were removed. Also, the screen, vibration motor and speaker were removed earlier. To both contacts of the LED from the keyboard backlight you need to solder two wires 5 centimeters long, to which we solder a red or green LED. Our LED will be an indicator that the phone is turned on, so that customers do not get confused.

    Almost everything is almost ready, you just need to change the factory microphone to a Chinese one, from a tape recorder, in general you need to select microphones with high sensitivity - in mobile GSM beetles are chronically lacking it. The bug should be supplemented with a battery charge indicator, but I’ll talk about this in our next articles.

    The Beetle is charged with an ordinary charger - the charging process is the same as for a cell phone, you just need to connect the charger plug to the charging socket on the mobile phone. It is more convenient to use SMD transistors for the call button contactor.

    If the bug can be placed in equipment (for example, in DVD player), then it is better to remake the player’s power supply in such a way that the 5 volts of power, which are on any DVD power supply, charges the bug, or you can place a charger under the player’s case, which is connected in parallel from the inside to the player’s mains power wire. This makes it possible to always listen to the person who has such a miracle DVD player at home.

    A month ago, a good friend approached me with a request to assemble a device for periodic wiretapping of his, as it later turned out to be not a very good girlfriend. For some unclear reason, he began to be tormented by vague doubts. And to resolve this question he decided to listen to her conversations using a bug. Since they lived separately, at a distance of about a kilometer, the use of an FM radio channel was eliminated. No, of course, coming up with a powerful 100 megahertz transmitter is not a problem, but the likelihood that it will be detected by third parties is too high. There is only one way out - mobile wiretapping using.

    Where should I install it? Naturally, the option arises with some household appliance With mains power supply. But even here, not everything is so simple - the mains voltage may disappear or the device may be turned off for a long time. And in a couple of days the mobile phone battery will run out and it may not be possible to start the phone again.


    However, this will not happen if lithium-ion battery the capacity of the lead battery of the computer uninterruptible power supply will be added. It has been decided - mobile wiretapping will be built into it!


    The 12V 7A battery capacity is enough for an additional 3 months of phone operation in standby mode. By the way, an old Samsung mobile phone in it consumes only 2-3mA.


    Naturally, you cannot supply 12V directly to a mobile phone - you will have to install the stabilizer on KREN5, or otherwise 78L05. During transmission, the mobile phone consumes up to 200mA, so the microcircuit must be installed on a small aluminum radiator.


    The power released on it is 12V-5V = 7Vx0.2A = 1.2 watts. On the UPS control board we look for the battery contacts + and -, to which we solder the mobile wiretap.


    Naturally, the phone must also be connected to a 220V network via a standard charger. To do this, we disassemble the original charger, wrap it with tape (otherwise it won’t fit with the case) and put it in the uninterruptible power supply.


    We switch the phone itself to silent mode, and about converting it to auto-raising mode when a call comes in has already been written here.


    All that remains is to close the case, tighten the screws and take stock. What do we have? If you need to listen to what is being said in the room, you need to call the number of this SIM card (of course, it should be a freshly purchased SIM card, and not one that someone knows about). The mobile phone will immediately auto-raise and you will have peace of mind even if you are in another city.


    And now information for moralists and other right-thinking comrades who are eager to bring down their righteous anger on this method of obtaining information: that girl turned out to be, to put it mildly, untrue (that’s who deserves blame), and it was indirectly that she helped in revealing the truth this device. The truth will always prevail, and this mobile wiretapping will help perfectly with this!

    Discuss the article MOBILE LISTENING

    The most obvious way is official wiretapping by the state.

    In many countries around the world, telephone companies are required to provide access to telephone wiretap lines to competent authorities. For example, in Russia in practice this is carried out technically through the SORM system technical means to ensure the functions of operational-search activities.

    Each operator is required to install an integrated SORM module on its PBX.

    If a telecom operator has not installed equipment on its PBX to wiretap the phones of all users, its license in Russia will be revoked. Similar total wiretapping programs operate in Kazakhstan, Ukraine, the USA, Great Britain (Interception Modernization Program, Tempora) and other countries.

    The corruption of government officials and intelligence officers is well known to everyone. If they have access to the system in "god mode", then for the right price you can have it too. As in everyone state systems, in the Russian SORM there is a big mess and typical Russian carelessness. Most technical specialists actually have very low qualifications, which allows unauthorized connection to the system without the notice of the intelligence services themselves.

    Telecom operators do not control when and which subscribers are listened to on SORM lines. The operator does not check in any way whether there is a court sanction to wiretap a particular user.

    “You take a certain criminal case about the investigation of an organized criminal group, in which 10 numbers are listed. You need to listen to a person who has nothing to do with this investigation. You just get this number and say you have it operational information that this is the number of one of the leaders of the criminal group,” they say knowledgeable people from the website "Agentura.ru".

    Thus, through SORM you can listen to anyone on “legal” grounds. This is such a secure connection.

    2. Wiretapping through an operator

    Operators cellular communications In general, without any problems, they look at the list of calls and the history of movements of a mobile phone, which is registered in various base stations according to its physical location. To obtain call records, like the intelligence services, the operator needs to connect to the SORM system.

    For Russian law enforcement agencies, there is little point in installing Trojans, unless they need the ability to activate a smartphone’s microphone and record, even if the user is not talking on a mobile phone. In other cases, SORM does an excellent job of wiretapping. Therefore, Russian intelligence services are not very active in introducing Trojans. But for unofficial use it is a favorite hacking tool.

    Wives spy on their husbands, businessmen study the activities of competitors. In Russia, Trojan software is widely used for wiretapping by private clients.

    A Trojan is installed on a smartphone in various ways: via fake software update, through email with a fake application, through a vulnerability in Android or in a popular software like iTunes.

    New vulnerabilities in programs are found literally every day, and then they are closed very slowly. For example, the FinFisher Trojan was installed through a vulnerability in iTunes, which Apple did not close from 2008 to 2011. Through this hole, it was possible to install any software on behalf of Apple on the victim’s computer.

    It is possible that such a Trojan is already installed on your smartphone. Have you ever thought that your smartphone battery is lately Does it discharge a little faster than it should?

    6. Application update

    Instead of installing a special spy Trojan, an attacker can do an even smarter thing: choose an application that you yourself voluntarily install on your smartphone, after which you give it full authority to access phone calls, recording conversations and transferring data to a remote server.

    For example it could be popular game, which is distributed through “left” directories mobile applications. At first glance, it’s an ordinary game, but with the function of wiretapping and recording conversations. Very convenient. The user manually allows the program to access the Internet, where it sends files with recorded conversations.

    Alternatively, malicious application functionality may be added as an update.

    7. Fake base station

    A fake base station has a stronger signal than a real base station. Due to this, it intercepts subscriber traffic and allows you to manipulate data on the phone. Fake base stations are known to be widely used by law enforcement agencies abroad.

    In the USA, a model of fake BS called StingRay is popular.



    And not only law enforcement agencies use such devices. For example, merchants in China often use fake BS to mass mailing spam to mobile phones that are located within a radius of hundreds of meters around. In general, in China the production of “fake honeycombs” has been ramped up, so in local stores it is not a problem to find a similar device assembled literally on your knees.

    8. Hacking a femtocell

    Recently, some companies have been using femtocells - low-power miniature cellular stations that intercept traffic from mobile phones within range. This femtocell allows you to record calls from all company employees before redirecting calls to base station cellular operators.

    Accordingly, to wiretap a subscriber, you need to install your own femtocell or hack the operator’s original femtocell.

    9. Mobile complex for remote wiretapping

    In this case, the radio antenna is installed close to the subscriber (operates at a distance of up to 500 meters). A directional antenna connected to the computer intercepts all phone signals, and when the work is completed, it is simply taken away.

    Unlike a fake femtocell or Trojan, here the attacker does not have to worry about getting into the site and installing a femtocell, and then removing it (or removing the Trojan without leaving any traces of hacking).

    The capabilities of modern PCs are enough to record GSM signal on large quantities frequencies, and then crack the encryption using rainbow tables (here is a description of the technique from a well-known expert in this field, Carsten Nohl).

    If you voluntarily carry a universal bug with you, you automatically collect an extensive dossier on yourself. The only question is who will need this dossier. But if he needs it, he can get it without much difficulty.