Broken telephone

With Britain’s phone hacking scandal deepening by the day, the newspaper at the centre of the controversy has announced its shutting down.

The tabloid News of the World will publish its last edition on Sunday, ending 168 years of operation.

Reports that journalists hacked the cell phones of celebrities and others have led people to ask, "How did they do that?"

Here’s the answer:

Phone hacking has been around for years. Paul McMullan, former editor at the News of the World, told Vanity Fair magazine the undertaking is easy and he estimated a quarter of the British population was doing it just a few years ago.

When cell phones ran on analog technology, you could use a cheap scanner to listen in on phone calls. But when cell phone carriers adopted digital technology a few years ago, scanning became more expensive so some reporters started hacking into people’s cell phone messages.

Six years ago, senior aides to the royal family noticed that voicemail messages they had never listened to were showing up as saved messages in their in-boxes. Also, News of the World was running stories based on information that only people very close to Princes William and Harry would be privy to. The Palace contacted British police, who launched an investigation.

Targeting News of the World editor Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, police seized many items, including hundreds of mobile phone numbers, tapes that seemed to contain recordings of voicemail messages, and PIN codes to access voicemail boxes.

It was discovered that reporters were able to bribe police officers and get confidential data from the DVLA, the British government agency that maintains a database of drivers and vehicles Britain.

Subsequent developments have been well chronicled – and it sends a clear message: Your private information can be made public and, if you’re newsworthy, it just might be.