Does this scare anyone?

[bugster]

What is the deal with changing the chip in the back, under the battery, of a cell phone? I've seen it twice so far once on the BBc program Waking the Dead and once on the HBO program The Wire?

Older analog phones could have their ID changed like this. SOme models only required a piece of SW, a cable and a PC.

Modern digital phones are a lot more secure as they use the SIM card (smart card) as part of the authentication process. To my knowledge these have yet to be cracked.

Again, some US networks may work differently from the GSM ones, but I think this is still correct.

[EvilWizardGlick]

What is the deal with changing the chip in the back, under the battery, of a cell phone? I've seen it twice so far once on the BBc program Waking the Dead and once on the HBO program The Wire?

Older analog phones could have their ID changed like this. SOme models only required a piece of SW, a cable and a PC.

Modern digital phones are a lot more secure as they use the SIM card (smart card) as part of the authentication process. To my knowledge these have yet to be cracked.

Again, some US networks may work differently from the GSM ones, but I think this is still correct.

I think those were what was being swapped.

[bugster]

What is the deal with changing the chip in the back, under the battery, of a cell phone? I've seen it twice so far once on the BBc program Waking the Dead and once on the HBO program The Wire?

Older analog phones could have their ID changed like this. SOme models only required a piece of SW, a cable and a PC.

Modern digital phones are a lot more secure as they use the SIM card (smart card) as part of the authentication process. To my knowledge these have yet to be cracked.

Again, some US networks may work differently from the GSM ones, but I think this is still correct.

I think those were what was being swapped.

what, the Sim cards? (FYI SIM=Subscriber Identity Module)
I suppose it is possible that they have been cloned, but I doubt it.
In theory, you can take your Sim and put it into any phone, and the calls will appear on your bill. In practice it is not quite so simple. Many network operators subsidise the cost of the phone and do not want you to use it on a competotors network. So there is SW in the phone that checks if the Sim is one of theirs, if not it will refuse to boot or allow you to make any calls except emergency calls (911, 999 etc). This is purely a software lock and is often easily removed. The equipment and SW for doing so is easily purchased on the internet. Is it legal to do so? I don't know.

[SatStorm]

I could detect where someone was by his cell phone (the area). The only way not to, was him to disconect the batteries. There was a service for a while here in Hellas, offering this! They stop it (after the Olympics).

Millitary can detect someone because of his cellphone: If 3 Cellphone antennas can receive his phone signal, the military can detect his position (+/- 15 meters!). That's old news: That's how the Turks detect Otsalan (Kurd's leader) some years ago at Kenya...

[bugster]

I could detect where someone was by his cell phone (the area). The only way not to, was him to disconect the batteries....

That is wrong. If a cellphone is switched off by the user, without removing batteries, all you can detect is where he was when the cellphone was swicthed off. When you switch off, the cellphone sends a signal to the NW to say 'I am going off, do not try and send any calls to me'. So you know the last cell it was in, 5 minutes later...