Remotely listen in via hacked VoIP phones: Cisco working on eavesdropping patch

"Just because you are paranoid doesn't mean your phone isn't listening to everything you say,” warned DARPA-funded researchers during the 29C3 Hacking Cisco Phones presentation. With a little help from a "thingp3wn3," hackers could remotely eavesdrop via Cisco VoIP phones or even secretly turn on a web camera. Cisco released an "ineffective" patch to repair the security vulnerabilities, but is now has its A Team working on effective mitigation and a permanent patch. Researchers suggested the solution for embedded systems is a new defense technology called Software Symbiotes.