ATO staffer’s how-to guide to hack phones, turned off and the SIM card isn’t inside

A public servant has revealed the Australian Tax Office is able to hack into people’s phones even if the handset is turned off and the SIM card isn’t inside.

Labor leader Bill Shorten has described the leaking of a guide to hack mobile phones by a public servant as a “very serious matter.”

The Australian Tax Office staffer published instructions to bypass phone passwords and obtain data on the social networking site LinkedIn, the ABC reports.

The instructions would allow hacking of the phone even if its battery was flat or it didn’t have a SIM card.

“We need to get briefings and find out what has gone on here,” Mr Shorten told reporters in South Australia on Wednesday.

“Obviously it is a very serious matter.”

The staffer involved has since been disciplined but the ABC reports the company cited in the hacking guide is the same one that reportedly helped the FBI break into the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone, Cellebrite.

Tenders show the Australian Federal Police paid the company $160,000 for the supply of a software annual license.

It also shows the ATO paid the firm $42,000 for an analyst to train staff on the software in Melbourne.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is pushing for legislation to allow encrypted messages on phones to be obtained.

The ATO has been contacted for comment.

Source: ATO staffer’s how-to guide to hack phones ‘serious matter’: Labor | SBS News