Terror group cloned cellphones of Rogers execs
A man tries to dial a number into his cell phone while driving.
Ted Rogers, chief executive of Rogers Communications, uses his cell phone
after a
news conference in Montreal in January, 2000.  (CP / Ryan Remiorz)
CTV.ca News Staff
Updated: Sun. Dec. 18 2005 8:54 AM ET
A group linked to terrorist organization Hezbollah has cloned the cellphones
of Rogers
Communications executives, including that of CEO Ted Rogers,
The Globe and Mail reported Saturday.
Cloning involves duplicating a cellphone's number and encrypted security
code.
The story came to light after law professor Susan Drummond returned from a
month-long
trip abroad, only to find her Rogers cellphone bill was more than $12,000,
The Globe reported.
The Rogers Wireless bill listed more than 300 calls made in the month of
August,
some to foreign countries, including Pakistan, Libya, Syria, India and
Russia.
When Drummond called about the bill, she was told she would have to pay
it -- and
that prompted her and her partner, Harry Gefen, to begin researching the
cellphone
giant.
In September, Gefen attended the Toronto Fraud Forum -- an annual conference
for
security experts -- where he spoke to Cindy Hopper, a manager in Rogers
security
department.
She told him that terror groups had repeatedly cloned cellphones of Rogers
executives
to make thousands of calls overseas,
The Globe
reported.
Hopper also said terror groups had identified Rogers executives as perfect
targets
because the company would be reluctant to shut off their phones due to
inconvenience
to busy executives.
Gefen, who is a technology journalist, tape recorded his conversation with
Hopper,
who did not know he was an aggrieved customer, according to
The Globe.
Based on that interview, Drummond is considering legal action against
Rogers. She
claims that Rogers can spot a fraud-in-progress, and yet does not shut down
the phones.
Rogers has automated security systems alerting them to radical changes in
calling
patterns, Hopper reportedly told Geffen.
© Copyright 2002-2006 Bell Globemedia Inc.


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