[Scan-DC] Secret US spy program targeted Americans' cellphones

[Andrew Clegg]

I'm not sure that this isn't feasible. The Open BTS project (openbts.org) has implemented GSM base stations on software-defined radio platforms for the last few years, and I've seen demonstrations of unsuspecting cellphones attaching. It would not be hard to spoof a carrier's base station and capture some basic data from a user. There is a corresponding  effort underway for a public-domain LTE implementation, but I don't think that project is complete. I would not be surprised, though, if the intelligence community is further along, if not already equipped with the capability for a full LTE implementation, especially if they had cooperation from the industry. In my opinion, what's described in the article is within the realm of possibility. The biggest challenge would be signal strength loss from a handset on the ground up to an airplane. I can imagine that strategically-placed terrestrial base stations would work better.
Andy
> From: alan at henney.com
> To: merlin at merlinjacobs.com; scan-dc at mailman.qth.net
> Date: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 01:04:33 -0500
> Subject: [Scan-DC] Secret US spy program targeted Americans' cellphones
> 
> 
> My techie friends are telling me this is not done, not feasible, perhaps 
> even impossible and likely incorrect.
> 
> Was the WSJ duped or intentionally misled by another high-dollar P.R. firm 
> with an agenda?
> 
> It is troubling because so many American news outlets simply repeat what 
> they read in the WSJ because it is such a trusted source.
> 
> Even the white shirt experts were on TV talking about it as fact.
> 
> What gives?
> 
> 
> -----Original Message----- 
> From: Merlin
> Sent: Thursday, November 13, 2014 7:55 PM
> To: scan-dc at mailman.qth.net
> Subject: [Scan-DC] Secret US spy program targeted Americans' cellphones
> 
> Published November 13, 2014
> 
> The Wall Street Journal
> 
> The Justice Department is scooping up data from thousands of cellphones
> through fake communications towers deployed on airplanes, a high-tech
> hunt for criminal suspects that is snagging large number of innocent
> Americans, according to people familiar with the operations.
> 
> The U.S. Marshals Service program, which became fully functional around
> 2007, operates Cessna aircraft from at least five metropolitan-area
> airports, with a flying range covering most of the U.S. population,
> according to people familiar with the program.
> 
> Planes are equipped with devices—some known as “dirtboxes” to
> law-enforcement officials because of the initials of the Boeing Co. unit
> that produces them—which mimic cell towers of large telecommunications
> firms and trick cellphones into reporting their unique registration
> information.
> 
> The technology in the two-foot-square device enables investigators to
> scoop data from tens of thousands of cellphones in a single flight,
> collecting their identifying information and general location, these
> people said.
> 
> People with knowledge of the program wouldn’t discuss the frequency or
> duration of such flights, but said they take place on a regular basis.
> 
> A Justice Department official would neither confirm nor deny the
> existence of such a program. The official said discussion of such
> matters would allow criminal suspects or foreign powers to determine
> U.S. surveillance capabilities. Justice Department agencies comply with
> federal law, including by seeking court approval, the official said.
> 
> The program is the latest example of the extent to which the U.S. is
> training its surveillance lens inside the U.S. It is similar in approach
> to the National Security Agency’s program to collect millions of
> Americans phone records, in that it scoops up large volumes of data in
> order to find a single person or a handful of people. The U.S.
> government justified the phone-records collection by arguing it is a
> minimally invasive way of searching for terrorists.
> 
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