Chinese police find a batch of spy power banks

China's main television channel CCTV reported that police seized a large batch of spy external

batteries from free sale in the country. These devices could record user conversations and send them to a remote server.

External batteries could do their ownstandard function. However, they had built-in GPS and cellular communication modules with a SIM card, as well as a microphone. The devices tracked the owner's location and transmitted data to attackers. Also, criminals could call the powerbank and hear what was happening around it. In addition, the devices have an automatic recording function with noise above 50 dB. Journalists note that this is the average loudness of human speech.

The police found about two thousand of thesepower banks. It is reported that outwardly such batteries cannot be distinguished from ordinary ones. The author of the 3DNews publication writes that he looked for similar devices on the Internet and saw that they are available for free sale.