We tested a R356 spy bug that looks like a panic button
MyBroadband bought a cheap 2G listening and tracking device from Wish and found that it worked reasonably well, although it did not use GPS as advertised.
At the start of October, news broke that Eskom CEO André de Ruyter had discovered a tracking bug under the driver’s seat of his Volvo.
De Ruyter had approached former police commissioner and forensic investigator George Fivaz to identify the device.
A “leaked” preliminary report included pictures of the device’s circuit board and described it as an NSA-level tracking and listening device well beyond the capabilities of any South African agency.
However, South Africa’s technical community quickly rubbished claims that the device was particularly sophisticated by identifying the chips mounted to the circuit board.
The chips were cheap and readily available online, while the circuit board wasn’t particularly special and contained several identifying marks, including a serial number.
People also raised questions about the apparent lack of microphone, GPS chip, and cellular module on the board.
Security researcher and covert implant expert Daniel Cuthbert analysed the device with peers in the security industry. He told MyBroadband that it does not appear to be a tracking bug, but a remote control of some variety.
MyBroadband, with readers’ help, ultimately confirmed that the device was a standard wireless panic button mounted in South African Volvos, in partnership with Tracker.
While De Ruyter’s concerns over the circuit board found under the seat of his car were ultimately unfounded, it did raise an interesting question — how easy would it be to get such a device in South Africa?
MyBroadband set out to find a device with all the features Fivaz Forensic & Risk claimed the “NSA-level” bug had.
We found a R356 bug from China that does it all. We bought the GF-09 tracker from Wish and tested it.
GF-09 car tracker listing on Wish for R231 + R125 standard shipping
The same device is available under multiple names and from various stores, but many of these would not ship to South Africa.
In the end, Wish was the most accessible store to get one from, and delivery took just over three weeks.
The device uses a nano SIM and a micro-SD card for connection and storage, and features both tracking and a microphone.
The microphone can be used for recordings or live listening.
A simple SMS command can start a 10-minute audio recording to the SD card, but this can also be set to be triggered by movement or sound levels.
Another SMS command can make the device call a preset number, which can listen to the microphone directly for live audio.
Unfortunately, the tracking features are less advanced and do not use GPS as advertised in the product’s listing.
The location is determined using the cellular network, which, in our experience, is not very accurate.
We tested it at various locations around Centurion, and the indicated locations seem to jump between the closest towers.
This means that the indicated location was between 480m and 1.28 km away from the actual location in our tests.
It can help determine if a vehicle is at the office or home, but if it is not in a known location, you may spend a long time looking for it, as it may be on the other side of the neighbourhood from where it is indicated.
A magnet built into the tiny case makes it easy to attach to metal surfaces and holds up well.
While the included instructions show that you can control the bug with an app, we could not get this working as the default password never worked, even after resetting the device.
All the features still worked, as everything can be activated and deactivated via an SMS from a registered admin number, and location data can be viewed through a web browser.
The device contains a 300mAh rechargeable Lithium-polymer battery, which was down to 60% of capacity after a day of testing all the device’s features.
One could easily squeeze multiple days of use from the device.
Its battery life can be extended with a USB power source such as a power bank.
Opening up the device, the microphone is clearly visible on the main board.
However, the chip controlling the cellular functions is hidden behind a soldered shield, making it difficult to identify.
Finding a Lithium-polymer battery in the tracking bug confirms one of the red flags members of South Africa’s technology community highlighted with De Ruyter’s panic button.
One of the telltales that it wasn’t an “NSA-level” tracking bug was that it used a regular CR2032 lithium coin battery.
Such a low-power battery would drain very fast if used in a device connecting to cellular or GPS networks.
Cuthbert told MyBroadband that he expected to see at least a lithium polymer battery — similar to the one pictured above — in a bug.
By Wikus Steyn and Jan Vermeulen.
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