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The DHS letter came in response to a meeting last month in which Wyden pushed for more aggressive federal response to cellular system insecurity. IMSI catchers are widely used by local, state and federal police, as well as foreign intelligence agencies. The devices work by simulating cell towers to trick nearby phones into connecting, allowing the IMSI catchers to collect calls, texts and data streams.
Unlike some other forms of cell-phone interception, IMSI catchers must be near targeted devices in order to work. When they are in range, IMSI catchers also can deliver malicious software to targeted devices for the purpose of stealing information stored on them or conducting longer-term monitoring of communications.
The same May 22 letter revealed that DHS was aware of reports that a global cellular network messaging, called SS7, was being used to spy on Americans through their cell phones. Such surveillance, which can intercept calls and locate cell phones from anywhere in the world, are sometimes used in conjunction with IMSI catchers. ESD America, a defense and law enforcement technology contractor based in Las Vegas, has reported detecting IMSI catchers throughout the Washington area while conducting testing for private clients.
StingRay devices are used by law enforcement agencies to track people's movements, and intercept and record conversations, names, phone numbers and text messages from mobile phones. In , StingRay devices assisted the Oakland Police Department in Oakland, California in making 21 arrests, and in , 19 arrests were made in unison with the use of StingRay devices.
StingRay devices are often used in combination with Hailstorm towers that jam the mobile phone signals forcing phones to drop down from 4G and 3G network bands to older, more insecure 2G bands. In most states, police can get many kinds of cellphone data without obtaining a warrant. Law-enforcement records show, police can use initial data from a tower dump to ask for another court order for more information, including addresses, billing records and logs of calls, texts and locations.
Cellphone bugs can be created by disabling the ringing feature on a mobile phone, allowing a caller to call a phone to access its microphone and listen in. Intentionally hiding a cell phone in a location is a bugging technique. Some hidden cellphone bugs rely on Wifi hotspots, rather than cellular data, where the tracker rootkit software periodically "wakes up" and signs into a public wifi hotspot to upload tracker data onto a public internet server.
In the United States, the FBI has used "roving bugs", which entails the activation of microphones on mobile phones to enable the monitoring of conversations. Cellphone spying software [6] is a type of cellphone bugging, tracking, and monitoring software that is surreptitiously installed on mobile phones. This software can enable conversations to be heard and recorded from phones upon which it is installed. Cellphone spying software can enable microphones on mobile phones when phones are not being used, and can be installed by mobile providers.
For these reasons, it is beneficial to use a StingRay and a test phone to map out the precise coverage areas of all cell sites appearing in the HCSLI records. This is typically done at the same time of day and under the same weather conditions that were in effect when the HCSLI was logged. Using a StingRay to conduct base station surveys in this manner allows for mapping out cell site coverage areas that more accurately match the coverage areas that were in effect when the cellular device was used.
The use of the devices has been frequently funded by grants from the Department of Homeland Security. In addition to federal law enforcement, military and intelligence agencies, StingRays have in recent years been purchased by local and state law enforcement agencies. In , Harris Corporation employees directly conducted wireless surveillance using StingRay units on behalf the Palm Bay Police Department — where Harris has a campus [37] — in response to a bomb threat against a middle school.
The search was conducted without a warrant or Judicial oversight. State police have cell site simulators in Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania, and Delaware. The police use of cell site simulators is unknown in the remaining states.
However, many agencies do not disclose their use of StingRay technology, so these statistics are still potentially an under-representation of the actual number of agencies. According to the most recent information published by the American Civil Liberties Union, 72 law enforcement agencies in 24 states own StingRay technology in Since , these numbers have increased from 42 agencies in 17 states [60]. The following are federal agencies in the United States that have validated their use of cell site simulators: Several court decisions have been issued on the legality of using a Stingray without a warrant, with some courts ruling a warrant is required [43] [44] [45] and others not requiring a warrant.
They also stated that they intended to make use of such devices in the future. Two days later, a statement by Edmonton 's police force had been taken as confirming their use of the devices, but they said later that they did not mean to create what they called a miscommunication. Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe refused comment. Critics have expressed concern about the export of surveillance technology to countries with poor human rights records and histories of abusing surveillance technology.
The increasing use of the devices has largely been kept secret from the court system and the public. Local law enforcement and the federal government have resisted judicial requests for information about the use of stingrays, refusing to turn over information or heavily censoring it.
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In some cases, police have refused to disclose information to the courts citing non-disclosure agreements signed with Harris Corporation. And it certainly should not be concealed from judges.
In Santa Clara County pulled out of contract negotiations with Harris for StingRay units, citing onerous restrictions imposed by Harris on what could be released under public records requests as the reason for exiting negotiations. In recent years, legal scholars, public interest advocates, legislators and several members of the judiciary have strongly criticized the use of this technology by law enforcement agencies. Critics have called the use of the devices by government agencies warrantless cell phone tracking, as they have frequently been used without informing the court system or obtaining a warrant.
In , Professor Laura Moy of the Georgetown University Law Center filed a formal complaint to the FCC regarding the use of the devices by law enforcement agencies, taking the position that because the devices mimic the properties of cell phone towers , the agencies operating them are in violation of FCC regulation, as they lack the appropriate spectrum licenses. A number of countermeasures to the StingRay and other devices have been developed, for example crypto phones such as GMSK's Cryptophone have firewalls that can identify and thwart the StingRay's actions or alert the user to IMEI capture.
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Stingray use in United States law enforcement. Government of the United States portal Intelligence portal mass surveillance portal.
Retrieved 23 January American Civil Liberties Union. Retrieved 29 September Bristol's police and mass mobile phone surveillance". Retrieved August 22, The Wall Street Journal.