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Tracking Via Anonymous SIM Cards

Posted by michael on from the leaving-a-calling-card dept.

Noryungi writes "The New York Times reports that Al Qaeda operatives were tracked using the ID of the GSM phone chips sold by a Swiss company named Swisscom. Very interesting."

4 of 426 comments (clear)

  1. Al Queda's Dumbest Criminals by LostCluster · · Score: 5, Informative

    The terrorists were lulled into a false sense of security when they kept changing phones, but took their SIM cards from one phone to the next to keep their number and minutes. Therefore, while the hardware changed, the identity didn't. That's what did them in...

  2. Anyone can do this in the UK by Andy+Davies · · Score: 5, Informative

    Big deal...

    This 'top secret tracking" is available to consumers and companies in the UK see:.

    http://followus.co.uk
    http://www.fleetonline.net

    Of course you need the phone owners permission.

  3. Re:Look at how fast they adapted by DR+SoB · · Score: 5, Informative

    Actually your wrong. There are different technologies for cell phone antenna's. The old ones simply relied on your cell phone saying "I am getting the best signal. Now they have "Directional Antenna Array's" (google search it), and basically it triangalets your exact location based on the signal from multiple sources, quite a bit different then "Which is the best signal". The good news: Cell phone reception went WAY up, the bad news, they can track where you are to within a few metres. Is this good or bad? Who cares, as /. pointed out already, they can track you with your cash, your cc's, your bank card, your car, etc. etc. etc..

    Big Brother(x) = 1984 + 20 = 2004.

    --
    Mod +5 Drunk
  4. Re:Some precisions by srslif16 · · Score: 5, Informative

    You should be aware of the fact that the cell-phone itself has an ID number, EIN (Equipment Identity Number), which is stored in a database in the GSM system. Until 1999, it was rare that a GSM operator used this, but in 1999, a large db was created on Ireland. Since then, it is common to have one.

    This db is used to keep track of stolen and faulty cellphones (well, terminals, really), refusing service to those classes of equipment. However, nothing stops the operator from using this information instead of the IMSI on the SIM card for tracking purposes.

    Also, in modern GSM O&M software, it's a builtin feature: you tell the system that you wish tp keep track of all movements and calls of this IMSI number, or EIN. It's then logged to file.

    It gets even better: you can of course record when the EIN is changed; moving the SIM card then just means another EIN will be tracked (as well as the old one...), and of course the SIM-card that is next put into the phone you just monitored might get monitored too...

    It's all just a few clicks in the GUI away. Disk space is cheap. Welcome, Brave New World.