Is your phone call private?

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Is your phone call private?

Can someone else listen in on voice conversations that you have over your mobile phone?

The answer you'll get from your mobile phone provider might not make you happy.

In this article we will walk you through how private your normal phone calls actually are.

Are You Sure Your Phone Calls Are Private?

Wired article from April 2017 makes the case that text encryption, despite possible flaws with many public apps, gets more attention these days than voice security. Most people think that since text messages are written that they are at more risk than phone calls. The simple truth is, it's easy for mobile providers, governments and hackers to capture and record your voice calls.

But my provider says they encrypt calls?

They are most likely talking about encrypting the connection from your phone to the mobile tower. Many providers have opted to turn this feature off, and never let the end customer know.  What this DOES MEAN though, is that after the connection to the tower, your phone call is unencrypted the rest of the way.

Are People Listening in on Your Calls?

The Government

It will come as no surprise that the government can easily listen in on your mobile phone calls. All that is required is to send the appropriate legal document to the provider and the provider "wire taps" your line for easy recording by government authorities.

I don't care if the Government listens to me

Most of you probably aren't concerned about attracting the attention of the FBI or other government authorities. However, you may have concerns about business rivals, corporate spies, or others who would profit from knowing sensitive corporate information. Articles from Computerworld and The Guardian show that hackers only need to know your phone number to listen in.

But that bug was fixed, wasn't it?

Supposedly... but if that existed for a long time, what else is out there that you don't know about?

Let me Google that for you

The fact that you can simply search on Google for "phone tapping software" and find plenty of results shouldn't do much to ease your mind on this topic. Even without sophisticated technology, hackers could possibly embed spyware on your phone to listen in on calls. For instance, you can buy an app like mSpy right now. The developers of mSpy say it's for parental control of a child's cell phone activity. At the same time, it's easy to find articles that describe how to use mSpy to spy on anybody.

The only difficult part is that you have to get the app inserted on the target's phone. It's not impossible to assume that clever hackers have done this with their own apps, if not with this particular product.

Keep Your Phone Calls Private

There's an App for that!

You can easily find voice encryption apps; however, they are only as good as the encryption scheme they use. Check out our article,"Best Secure Messaging App" for more information on choosing the right app.

Remember both sides need the app!

Also, RokaCom has the same requirements that all encryption apps do -- it only works if the person on the other end also uses the RokaCom.


Need Secure Calling and Messaging?

If you need to make certain that you can keep your phone calls private, investigate the government-grade security of Rokacom. You can learn more about how RokaCom keeps all kinds of phone communications secure. This includes text, voice calls, chat, and file transfers. You can use RokaCom from anywhere in the world, and the app is as easy to download and use as the apps that your employees already use on their phones, so you don't need to invest in special training.

If you don't use a service like Rokacom, it's impossible to say if your next phone call will truly be private.

Contact a Customer Specialist Start a Free Trial

About Patrick Stump

The CEO and founder of Roka Com, Patrick has been a key player in both offensive cyber intrusion and security operations with multiple branches and agencies of the United States Government (USG), the military, and commercial industry.

Connect with Patrick on LinkedIn