Senior officers and staff in sensitive parts of the Admiralty in London have been ordered to turn phones off in case "hackers" gain images of the layout of the inside of Britain's military headquarters or listen in on confidential or top-secret infor
mation.
There are fears that a virus or other electronic trigger could activate features of an innocent user's phone without their know-ledge and use them to gather intelligence.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said last night that the ban had been in place for a number of months but it is understood the rule has only recently been fully enforced.
"There's no blanket ban but there are restrictions in certain parts of the building where mobile phones, including camera phones, are not in use," he said.
"Security is something we have a high regard for and it's only appropriate that in some areas mobile phones are not used at all."
Security experts have warned that a modern phone, which usually includes a camera and Internet connection, can be turned into the "ultimate bugging device".
Science and technology journal New Scientist has warned in the past: "Software that will activate a mobile phone's microphone without the owner's know-ledge can already be bought online. It should not be difficult to turn one of these programs into a virus that activates the camera in a videophone and uses compression software built into the phone to surreptitiously stream video to a third party."
Mobile phone bans are becoming increasingly common in schools and leisure centres as authorities seek to minimise the chance of paedophiles taking indecent images of children. In addition, schools are worried mobile phones could be used to aid cheating.
