Is that an innocent phone or a corrupted traitor in your hand? (Image: Marja Airio/Rex Features)

THE notion that a hacker could eavesdrop on you by commandeering your smartphone or your computer’s microphone is not new. But such bugging attempts could soon become far more powerful, even giving attackers the ability to monitor a target’s utterances almost anywhere they go – even if that target is nowhere near any of their own gadgets.

As people embrace smartphones and notebook computers, which can remain more-or-less permanently connected to the internet, they have unwittingly ensured that they are never far from a potential …