Secure intelligence gathering using smartphones

Abstract

Equipped with camera, microphone, GPS and other sensors, together with convenient applications such as email clients, smartphones have a high potential to become a cost-effective intelligence gathering platform in a war zone. However, current smartphone applications are developed for civilian use. Due to lack of support for military requirements, such as confidentiality, smartphones may not be directly adopted in military environments. To bridge the gap, we propose a new model for secure intelligence gathering using smartphones. Based on the Android operating system, we develop Imsec, a proof-of-concept application which can securely capture, store, and transfer camera-generated images using smartphones. Our evaluation results demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of this new model.