How to Tap Mobile Phone in India using off the air GSM technology

The government has finally admitted that everyone who uses a cellphone
runs the risk of having his or her calls illegally tapped though
off the air GSM technology that is available offthe-shelf.
To curb the practice, it has proposed that those found guilty of
misusing tapping equipment will face strict penalty including a heavy
fine and imprisonment. Specific sections of the Indian Telegraph Act,
namely 20 and 25, will be amended. A public notice will be placed in
the newspapers to inform all citizens that any attempts at
unauthorized use of such equipment will attract penalties up to Rs 1
crore and imprisonment.
Illegal tapping equipment allows mobile phone conversations to be
recorded outside homes, offices or even while someone is driving,
without proper authorization.
The government has already been stung by the backlash of this new
technology with recordings of politicians and diplomats being
circulated in the media and is now grappling with the technology's
implications on national security as well as individual privacy.
Normally, official interception and recording of mobile phone
conversations require specific warrants to be issued by the home
secretary or the home minister of a state or Union territory. Once
such a warrant is validated, the nodal officers of telecom companies
can provide access to specific targets to the security agencies.
It has recently come to light that a parallel system of recording
calls through this off-the-air GSM technology exists and has been
working as a form of illegal and passive mode of interception. Most of
the equipment for such off-the-air passive interception is based on
the use of multi-channel GSM/ CDMA receivers, transmitters and
transreceivers capable of receiving or transmitting or both in two or
more frequencies simultaneously. This is unlawful and unauthorized
activity.
In a note, government has acknowledged that this is a huge area of
concern as it places national security as well as privacy of regular
citizens at major risk. To tackle this technology loophole, the
government has decided to put together a task force to control this
menace.
National Technical Research Organization (NTRO) has been entrusted
with the task of preparing a detailed list of equipment. The
government plans to specifically notify operators, importers and
manufacturers of such equipment and obtain data to weed out all such
machines that are in use.
This equipment will be moved out of the open general licence (OGL)
list and moved to a restricted list where a licence/ NOC will have to
be obtained from the government. Anyone using this equipment without
proper licence will need to declare it with full description of its
capabilities.
The government does not wish to print a detailed list of such
unauthorized equipment in the newspapers as it believes this will do
more harm than good as criminal and other unauthorized elements may
use the list to get hold of the equipment which may currently only be
used by a few people.