In 2012 we reported that Internet telephone calls represent a gap in British defenses:
“As I see it, there are some significant gaps in our defenses, gaps because of the moving-on of technology — people making telephone calls through the internet, rather than through fixed line — but also gaps in our defenses because it isn’t currently possible to use intelligence information in a court of law without sometimes endangering national security”, says David Cameron.
What Cameron is referring to is device like Magic Jack, for example which uses the internet to make telephone calls, instead of traditional land lines.
Magic Jack is a device that plugs into a USB (Not USB3) port on the user’s computer and that has a standard RJ-11 phone jack into which any standard phone can be plugged. This allows the user to make unlimited phone calls to almost any phone in the U.S. and Canada.
It is a computer peripheral that, in combination with telephony service from the related YMAX Corporation, provides Internet-based telephone service (VoIP) to the United States and Canada. In 2011 the company introduced magicJack Plus, which no longer requires a computer. See: What is MagicJack? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msgIBKuJpcc
The magicJack device works exclusively with the company’s captive landline supplier and CLEC (Competitive Local Exchange Carrier), YMAX. Voicemail is stored on the magicJack servers and is delivered via email.
Downloadable feature upgrades for the magicJack USB dongle are available from third-party software companies.
“Magic Jack is hard to tap by the police”, says Mohammed Zouhari of Charlotte, N.C. “It is being used to make telephone calls from various locations and different networks and WiFi hotspots”, he said
Since it does not work like a normal telephone, the police could not “tap” it like a land line. The Feds might be able to do some packet sniffing on the VoIP data but there would have to be a reason to do so. As such it appears terrorist and organized crime is using Magic Jack to make calls from various locations, making it hard for British intelligence and spy agencies to monitor and track.
How law enforcement tracks your calls – see “confidential”: LAW ENFORCEMENT TELEPHONE INVESTIGATIONS RESOURCE GUIDE – Cellular, Satellite & VoIP Phone Providers http://cryptome.org/isp-spy/le-tel-spy.pdf
“In one incident a man threatened House speaker Nancy Pelosi and capitol police determined he used a magic jack deviceregistered to someone other than caller making the threats. The device allows users to make calls over the Internet, and choose the area code where the calls originate, making it difficult for police. In that case Police interviewed the 3rd party who held the Magic Jack account, who knew the man using the device and led authorities to him, the man was then arrested. If however he would have registered the account under a bogus name and different area code then where he was calling from and skipped from WiFi hotspots, he may have been able to elude authorities…”, says Harry “Houdini” of Charlotte, N.C., who specializes in counter surveillance techniques for the underground Occupy Charlotte movement.