Security Expert Fears Trump’s Unsecured Android Phone Could be Used to Listen in on Conversations

BY Evan Selleck

Published 26 Jan 2017

Recently, it was reported that President of the United States Donald Trump has decided to break tradition and continue to use his personal, unsecured device on a regular basis.

The handset in question, as reported initially by The New York Times is a Samsung Galaxy S3, and that handset has some security experts up-in-arms. As published by Business Insider, one such expert, Bruce Schneier, has some concerns over the security of the handset, but also what it could be used for in the future, simply being in the presence of the president.

Schneier is a fellow at Harvard Law, a cryptography expert, among other things, and he believes that the biggest risk at hand with Trump’s Galaxy S3 is not that information could be pulled off of it, but rather that it could be used as a tool to listen in on conversations, thanks to the microphone:

“That Android has a microphone, which means that it can be turned into a room bug without anyone’s knowledge. That’s my real fear.”

Schneier also points out that using a personal, unsecured device does open up the more obvious risks, too, including forged emails, but also simply being vulnerable to more threats. He says that Trump is “at risk from everybody, ranging from lone hackers to the better-funded intelligence agencies of the world.”

[via Business Insider]