US suspects cellphone spying devices in DC

["Dave Farber" <farber () gmail com>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
> Date: April 4, 2018 at 5:44:22 AM EDT
> To: Multiple recipients of Dewayne-Net <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
> Subject: [Dewayne-Net] US suspects cellphone spying devices in DC
> Reply-To: dewayne-net () warpspeed com
>
> [Note:  This item comes from friend Mike Cheponis.  DLH]
>
> US suspects cellphone spying devices in DC
> By FRANK BAJAK
> Apr 3 2018
> <https://apnews.com/d716aac4ad744b4cae3c6b13dce12d7e>
>
> For the first time, the U.S. government has publicly acknowledged the existence in Washington of what appear to be 
> rogue devices that foreign spies and criminals could be using to track individual cellphones and intercept calls and 
> messages.
>
> The use of what are known as cellphone-site simulators by foreign powers has long been a concern, but American 
> intelligence and law enforcement agencies — which use such eavesdropping equipment themselves — have been silent on 
> the issue until now.
>
> In a March 26 letter to Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, the Department of Homeland Security acknowledged that last year it 
> identified suspected unauthorized cell-site simulators in the nation’s capital. The agency said it had not determined 
> the type of devices in use or who might have been operating them. Nor did it say how many it detected or where.
>
> The agency’s response, obtained by The Associated Press from Wyden’s office, suggests little has been done about such 
> equipment, known popularly as Stingrays after a brand common among U.S. police departments. The Federal 
> Communications Commission, which regulates the nation’s airwaves, formed a task force on the subject four years ago, 
> but it never produced a report and no longer meets regularly.
>
> The devices work by tricking mobile devices into locking onto them instead of legitimate cell towers, revealing the 
> exact location of a particular cellphone. More sophisticated versions can eavesdrop on calls by forcing phones to 
> step down to older, unencrypted 2G wireless technology. Some attempt to plant malware.
>
> They can cost anywhere from $1,000 to about $200,000. They are commonly the size of a briefcase; some are as small as 
> a cellphone. They can be placed in a car next to a government building. The most powerful can be deployed in 
> low-flying aircraft.
>
> Thousands of members of the military, the NSA, the CIA, the FBI and the rest of the national-security apparatus live 
> and work in the Washington area. The surveillance-savvy among them encrypt their phone and data communications and 
> employ electronic countermeasures. But unsuspecting citizens could fall prey.
>
> Wyden, a Democrat, wrote DHS in November requesting information about unauthorized use of the cell-site simulators.
>
> The reply from DHS official Christopher Krebs noted that DHS had observed “anomalous activity” consistent with 
> Stingrays in the Washington area. A DHS official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the letter has not been 
> publicly released added that the devices were detected in a 90-day trial that began in January 2017 with equipment 
> from a Las Vegas-based DHS contractor, ESD America .
>
> Krebs, the top official in the department’s National Protection and Programs Directorate, noted in the letter that 
> DHS lacks the equipment and funding to detect Stingrays even though their use by foreign governments “may threaten 
> U.S. national and economic security.” The department did report its findings to “federal partners” Krebs did not 
> name. That presumably includes the FBI.
>
> Wyden said in a statement Tuesday that “leaving security to the phone companies has proven to be disastrous.” He 
> added that the FCC has refused to hold the industry accountable “despite repeated warnings and clear evidence that 
> our phone networks are being exploited by foreign governments and hackers.”
>
> The CEO of ESD America, Les Goldsmith, said his company has a relationship with DHS but would not comment further.
>
> Legislators have been raising alarms about the use of Stingrays in the capital since at least 2014, when Goldsmith 
> and other security-company researchers conducted public sweeps that located suspected unauthorized devices near the 
> White House, the Supreme Court, the Commerce Department and the Pentagon, among other locations.
>
> The executive branch, however, has shied away from even discussing the subject.
>
> Aaron Turner, president of the mobile security consultancy Integricell, was among the experts who conducted the 2014 
> sweeps, in part to try to drum up business. Little has changed since, he said.
>
> Like other major world capitals, he said, Washington is awash in unauthorized interception devices. Foreign embassies 
> have free rein because they are on sovereign soil.
>
> [snip]
>
> Dewayne-Net RSS Feed: http://dewaynenet.wordpress.com/feed/
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/wa8dzp



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