Mobilephone update

[davidbfpo]

A long article that confirms that some mobilephones can be used as bugs even when turned off: http://news.cnet.com/2100-1029_3-6140191.html

This has been reported on before here in the UK and many years ago by a reporter who infiltrated animal rights extremists - who before a meeting insisted a mobile be turned off and the battery removed.

davidbfpo

[reed11b]

wrong link....

Thanks again Reed, correct link now in place! davidbfpo

[selil]

A long article that confirms that some mobilephones can be used as bugs even when turned off: http://news.cnet.com/2100-1029_3-6140191.html

This has been reported on before here in the UK and many years ago by a reporter who infiltrated animal rights extremists - who before a meeting insisted a mobile be turned off and the battery removed.

davidbfpo

I thought everybody knew that you could do that? Dang. You should see what we can do with bluetooth and and ESN.. Just one HINT (http://news.uns.purdue.edu/x/2008b/081120BullockFootball.html) but look at that and think Iraqi mob, or Greek riots...

Blue tooth address targeting JDAM

[davidbfpo]

Selil,

I appreciate there is a difference between knowledge within the parts of LE and intel communities compared to the public domain - itself a spectrum of knowledge. This article refers to a court case and so is important in placing this surveillance technology in the public domain. Maybe there are other court cases in the USA, I know not.

Yes, professional criminals and terrorist suspects may consider LE and intel surveillance options, it is a moot point whether they exercise caution in using mobilephones and more.

In the UK there is a long running debate, sometimes in public, over whether phone tapping should be admissible in evidence; with a few exceptions it is not. Having recently discussed this issue the US press article - for me - provided an example of the value of using this technology in LE and in court.

Communication is a requirement for most collective crime and terrorism, with an emphasis on rapid communication, for example the reported use of standard hi-tech items in the Mumbai attacks. The use by prison inmates of mobilephones is a common issue and the reluctance to use jammers is another.

davidbfpo

[selil]

Yes, professional criminals and terrorist suspects may consider LE and intel surveillance options, it is a moot point whether they exercise caution in using mobilephones and more.

In the UK there is a long running debate, sometimes in public, over whether phone tapping should be admissible in evidence; with a few exceptions it is not. Having recently discussed this issue the US press article - for me - provided an example of the value of using this technology in LE and in court.

Communication is a requirement for most collective crime and terrorism, with an emphasis on rapid communication, for example the reported use of standard hi-tech items in the Mumbai attacks. The use by prison inmates of mobilephones is a common issue and the reluctance to use jammers is another.

ummm sorry?

Since I'm not part of the "establishment" I get to engage in in strange and fun things. In the past few years we've shot standard home wireless dozens of miles. We've intercepted telemetry signals from great distances. Mapped large regions quickly for wireless and also reverse mapped. Which is kind of fun. We do some pretty crazy stuff but I also have a well stocked wireless laboratory (equipment) and the work force (students) to do stuff.

Since my lab equipment is commercial grade we can fire up transmitters and shut down (jam) every wireless (802.11b 2.4ghz) device for about a half mile. I haven't done much with that type of research as nobody seems willing or interested in funding it.

[davidbfpo]

Amidst the post-conviction reporting is a BBC article on mobilephone examination and tracing the suspects: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7783737.stm

davidbfpo

[selil]

Amidst the post-conviction reporting is a BBC article on mobilephone examination and tracing the suspects: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7783737.stm

davidbfpo

Oooh I like that. One of my CERIAS brethren is a specialist in cell phone forensics. I still can't figure out why Counter Terrorism groups usually throw so much evidence away. If I can see a cell phone I can track that phone forever from a distance even if they change their SIM card. I have an article I worked up for a forensics journal on that topic. Tracing cell phones on their unique transmitter fingerprint. Surprisingly very little work done on that.

[davidbfpo]

Hat tip to new member rborum as his website links to: http://www.drewconway.com/zia/ and on there an item on the Israeli -v- Hamas conflict over cellphone technology: http://www.drewconway.com/zia/?p=725 . This leads to a short Greek-based think-tank report: http://rieas.gr/images/RIEAS131.pdf

Another thread has touched upon mobilephone / cellphones in Afghanistan: http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/showthread.php?t=4058

davidbfpo

[William F. Owen]

Yep, Cell Phones have been a major part of EW operations certainly since 1991 and certainly a major part of UK military and police operations since that time.

One of the first things the Ukrainian Security Forces went out a brought in 1991-3 was cell phone tracking and intercept technology, along with almost anybody else who could afford it.

Even back in the old days, i remember being told, that the technological blocks intercepting and tracking almost anyone using any computer network, land line or cell phone were negligible and the greatest challenge was human and organisational, even with voice recognition software!

[selil]

Even back in the old days, i remember being told, that the technological blocks intercepting and tracking almost anyone using any computer network, land line or cell phone were negligible and the greatest challenge was human and organisational, even with voice recognition software!

For some reason people try and make network tracking into a black art when it is more like being a plumber. You just got to understand the tubes.

[davidbfpo]

Although provided in the context of a Lebanese newspaper story, this statement is of value, partly as the author is a senior ex-SIS officer and it is rare IMHO this is said officially:
Much of the value of what ICT [information and communications technology] intercepts, whether phone calls, texts or emails, lies not in their content per se but in the connections they establish between members of a network who are probably trying to appear unconnected. For an investigating agency these so-called meta-data are often more important than the content of the messages.

Link:http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2012/Aug-03/183229-how-imsi-could-help-identify-suspects-in-assassination-attempts.ashx

There is an academic report (which I will try to locate) that found assembling such 'meta-data' could predict IIRC 95% of a person's associates and movement pattern.