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GSM/GPS Tracking Device Found On Activist's Car At Circumvention Tech Festival

Posted by timothy on from the just-can't-catch-a-break-with-you-people dept.

vivaoporto writes A GSM/GPS tracking device was found this March 4 on an activist's car attending the Circumvention Tech Festival in Valencia, Spain, a festival that proposes to gather "the community fighting censorship and surveillance for a week of conferences, workshops, hackathons, and social gatherings, featuring many of the Internet Freedom community's flagship events." They are now asking for the internet tech community for help in order to identify the device. Below verbatim is the plea for help published on the Tor Project website. The fine article also contains pictures of the device.

"On March 4th, 2015, we found a tracking device inside of the wheel well of a car belonging to an attendee of the Circumvention Tech Festival in Valencia, Spain. This was reported in the local media.

If you have information about this device — please send information to jacob at appelbaum dot net using gpg.

The device was magnetically mounted inside of the left wheel well of the car. The battery is attached by cable to the tracking device. The battery was magnetically mounted to the frame of the car. The tracking device was similarly magnetically mounted. The device itself has an external magnetically mounted GPS antenna. It has a very simple free hanging GSM antenna. The device included a Movistar SIM card for GSM network access. The entire device was wrapped in black tape."

36 of 143 comments (clear)

  1. Heh. by jtownatpunk.net · · Score: 4, Funny

    It was probably a prank pulled by someone else at the festival.

  2. ...or a publicity stunt by anyaristow · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Or a publicity stunt by the "activist"

    1. Re:...or a publicity stunt by sumdumass · · Score: 3, Funny

      Or someone crying in a corner telling her friend that he said he loved her but she couldn't be with him on the secretive trip out of town and not to call while he was gone.

      This tech is availible to anyone. There are a ton of possible explainations.

    2. Re:...or a publicity stunt by BitZtream · · Score: 2

      Yea, the device is a pretty amature build. Way too large for any TLA organizations, and the build sounds pretty fragile.

      I'm fairly certain I could do better with arduino shields from radio shack.

      --
      Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
    3. Re:...or a publicity stunt by Immerman · · Score: 2

      Ooh, you'd be great fun in a group of NRA activists...

      --
      --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
    4. Re:...or a publicity stunt by AmiMoJo · · Score: 5, Informative

      Do you know who Jacob Appelbaum is? He is one of the core Tor team members. He has represented Wikileaks at HOPE and given lectures based on the Snowden leaks, which he had access to. He has been targeted multiple times by the US authorities, including getting a court order for his Twitter account and repeatedly stopping him at the US border. He has had several laptops and phones seized.

      There is a huge amount of evidence that he is being targeted quite openly by various "security" services. This development is interesting but unsurprising.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    5. Re:...or a publicity stunt by Skuld-Chan · · Score: 2

      I have a friend who is a repo man - and the tracking devices he drops onto cars (like if he doesn't know where the person lives - he'll attach one of these and track it to his/her work and/or living address) are 100 times better packaged and more discrete than this. Properly installed you'd likely have a hard time finding it.

      Hence why I thought it was a prank - no way a government agency would be this sloppy and allow it to be found so easily. Who knows though.

  3. Have some fun by PPH · · Score: 5, Funny

    Take SIM out of GPS/GSM device. Install in cheap phone. Pass around between your friends to call sex lines (do they still exist?) order contraband, make srange calls at 3AM to various powerful political figures.

    Then see who's ass they go after in law enforcement.

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
    1. Re:Have some fun by jonwil · · Score: 4, Funny

      Better yet, go take the tracking device and stick it to the underside of a city garbage truck or something. The cops will be sent on a wild goose chase and whoever had the tracking device attached wont get tracked anymore.

    2. Re:Have some fun by sumdumass · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Or purchase a burner phone, call it from the devicevwith the sim and record the number on the caller ID. From there you can track down who owns the number.

      Of course it probably sends GPS coordinates via sms. You could attempt to study the format and send bogus location reports like saying it is at the center of the fukishima reactor, the rim of some volcano, or in the middle of the ocean.

      Just hope it is not a rental car and the car company starts charging you credit card for excess mileage or out of boundry insurance coverages.

    3. Re:Have some fun by Letophoro · · Score: 2

      Better yet, go take the tracking device and stick it to the underside of a city garbage truck or something. The cops will be sent on a wild goose chase and whoever had the tracking device attached wont get tracked anymore.

      I'd actually mail it to the headquarters of a TLA (CIA/NSA/FBI/KGB/GRU/MI5/MI6/ETC) - but first I'd pack it in a box filled with spare electronics, wire, and play-doh. The outside of the box might be liberally doused with Nitrogen (read: detects as explosives) based fertilizer that I use on my lawn. I'd also enclose a letter asking if it belongs to them. The same letter would also ask them to find the owner if is not theirs. Plus I'd have multiple copies of the video of me packing the thing up for shipment.

    4. Re:Have some fun by AmiMoJo · · Score: 3, Informative

      These types of SIM card usually don't allow you to make voice calls. They are machine-to-machine (M2M) SIMs that only do data, and sometimes text messages because SMS tends to be lower power and more reliable than data.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  4. Re:Russian or Asian by oodaloop · · Score: 2, Informative

    The U.S. has devices like this, believe it or not. They're simple, effective, modular, fixable, etc. Tactical units love 'em. My first guess is they're from some U.S. unit.

    --
    Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
  5. How did they notice that? by OverlordQ · · Score: 2

    How the fuck would they notice that? Do they make it a habit to effectively strip search their entire car every time they get in it?

    --
    Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
    1. Re:How did they notice that? by Em+Adespoton · · Score: 2

      I don't know about you, but I'd know pretty quickly if something was stuck in the wheel well of my car; it would sound funny when I was driving. I'd get out to see if there was something stuck in the wheel well, and... well there you have it.

      It's also possible that a bunch of people there had these stuck on their cars, and it was a freak chance that this one got found (just happened to be on the right angle, was inspecting tires/repairing a flat) or, considering the conference, they could have swept the area for RF transmissions after donning a tinfoil hat.

      There aren't that many places on a modern car where you can reliably stick such a device, as the antenna needs to not be shielded, and engine compartments tend to be fairly inaccessible. Attaching everything but the antenna to the frame and running the antenna up through the front grille would make more sense, but take way more time to set up.

    2. Re:How did they notice that? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      From the Google translated local article:

      On February 8, after crossing the French border patrol agents of the National Police (CNP) was stopped at the toll Jonquera. "They told me it was a search routine, but it was very strange for an hour and a half because the vehicle was out of my field of vision, an agent took it and then came back to me" claims without understanding the reason for this police action.

      On March 1, in the city of Valencia, where he traveled to participate in the Circumvention Tech Festival , the second incident occurred. Only when it was parked and unloading your belongings appeared agents also the CNP, which was asked to identify her and those who accompanied him. The girl identified out that while "the police were placed around the car." "The two incidents in a time interval of three weeks I did and suspicion was when I decided to inspect the car," he concludes with a certain tone of indignation. The activist said that it will soon agree with your attorney when you decide what steps to from now.
      Tweet

    3. Re:How did they notice that? by gigaherz · · Score: 5, Informative

      The news article (in Catalan) says she searched her car after two incidents where the local police approached her for identification in unusual places, as if they knew where she was going. The second time it just seemed way too suspicious so she decided to search the car.

    4. Re:How did they notice that? by tompaulco · · Score: 2

      Well, then why are they asking for help identifying whose device this is? it obviously belongs to the government, and the government is illegally tracking people and needs to be replaced with a new one.

      --
      If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
    5. Re:How did they notice that? by mi · · Score: 2

      On February 8, after crossing the French border patrol agents of the National Police (CNP) was stopped at the toll Jonquera. "They told me it was a search routine, but it was very strange for an hour and a half because the vehicle was out of my field of vision, an agent took it and then came back to me" claims without understanding the reason for this police action.

      I'm going to guess, this was when police installed the tracker.

      On March 1, in the city of Valencia, where he traveled to participate in the Circumvention Tech Festival , the second incident occurred.

      And this was, when they first checked-up on her.

      Perhaps, the lady is suspected of being a Basque separatist or some such...

      ... I decided to inspect the car

      Don't know about Spain, but the fun and friendly Canada might charge someone with "Obstruction of Justice" in similar circumstances...

      --
      In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
    6. Re:How did they notice that? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      All of them.

    7. Re:How did they notice that? by TWX · · Score: 3, Interesting

      You are completely incorrect. There are LOADS of places that you could stick this thing. There are even places that you could stick this thing where you could power it from the car's electrical system, or use the car's electrical system to charge the battery when the ignition is on.

      It's not all that difficult to open a hood. Sometimes you can stick your hand up from below the bumper cover, in between the radiator core support and the grille, and reach the mechanism. Other times you may need a tool, but it's easier to open a hood than it is to open a door.

      Do you know where your antenna mechanism sits? There's a bit of a compartment between the inner fender liner, the outer fender, and the firewall. On some cars it can be accessed when the front door is open.

      Some cars have plastic inner fender liners between the metal fender liner and the wheel, and often those are almost toolless to remove and install.

      Most cars have a metallic inner bumper behind a layer of plastic or styrofoam that's hidden behind the bumper cover. On many cars one could reach that area from below even easier than reaching for the hood latch, and with little more than an AC condenser coil and some lights there's no reason for a mechanic to go poking in there, so a tracker would probably go unnoticed for some time if placed there.

      Lastly, if they'd used a more automotive-looking project case they could have just attached it right next to the PCM under the hood, even tapping into a 12V wire to power it.

      This was placed where it was placed because someone was in an awful hurry. It was probably a busy public place, and they probably couldn't use cover-of-darkness, so it was either in a well-lit area at night or during the day. I don't expect that whoever did this had much of a budget. No project case, not even heatshrink wrapping to make it look like it belongs, just some amateurish use of black duct tape that would stand out as not belonging to even casual people. Plus the whole poor placement aspect should mean that they weren't especially well trained to do this either.

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    8. Re:How did they notice that? by TWX · · Score: 2

      Perhaps the point of the exercise is to make it clear that they're paying attention to her, which could effectively neutralize her from any actions that they think she'll take. It's not very expensive to send a couple of detectives or uniformed officers to walk up to a person of interest, confirm who they are, and attempt to get them to answer where they're going. That can be a simple matter of a dispatcher with access to the tracker data knowing who's nearby and can be diverted. The officers in question don't even need to know why they're approaching her if they're willing to follow the order to do it.

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    9. Re:How did they notice that? by pjt33 · · Score: 2

      That's an interesting idea, but I'm afraid that it's wrong for the simple reason that the venue doesn't have its own parking spaces. People arriving by car would have to park in the road or in a near-by shopping centre.

  6. Stingray by YuppieScum · · Score: 3, Informative

    Not the submarine, but the cell-tower spoofer.

    This would be ideal to find out who it's calling, and changing what it's sending...

    --
    This sig left unintentionally blank.
  7. Re:Russian or Asian by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 3, Insightful

    My first guess is they're from some U.S. unit.

    What makes you think that? What makes the US the more likely suspect over, say, the Spanish? What what it happening in Spain, and the Spanish text on the device...

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  8. Serial Port anywhere? by PPH · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There are ways to poke around inside one of these if you can inject commands and read from the GPRS modem port. Many chipsets implement at extended AT command set. There are registers with IP addresses of the target server for the data sent.

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
    1. Re:Serial Port anywhere? by Auctori · · Score: 2

      The modem is a Sierra Wireless AirPrime Q Series Module

  9. Re:Russian or Asian by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    The text in the unit is in Spanish. It has an ID...

    Not considering a misdirection it seems to be a standard issue for Spanish secret police.
    They would buy the same material as the one in which they would have been educated, namely USA secret ops or FBI training.

    If the ID is sequential there are, at least 2200 units like this roaming Spain...

  10. U-bloc GPS Chip by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    I don't know who owns it but the module with 2209 written on it is a U-blox GPS receiver. I recognise the circuit around it from their reference designs.

    http://www.u-blox.com/en/gps-modules/pvt-modules.html

  11. Re:how was it detected then found? by gigaherz · · Score: 4, Informative

    The original news article (in Catalan) says she was stopped while trying to cross into France, where they took the car, and "routinely searched" it for an hour and a half before it was returned. Afterwards a month later she was approached by the same police body in Valencia, right after she parked outside the conference. That's when she decided it was too much to be just coincidence, and searched the car.

  12. Cry for attention... by retech · · Score: 3, Insightful

    To me, this stinks of home made stunt to get attention. The guy's reddit name, the shit build quality, the lack of any detail as to how it was found... etc etc etc. It's a millennial cry for attention, for whatever reason.

    1. Re:Cry for attention... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      > The guy's reddit name,

      What exactly about the name "ioerror" screams attention whore to you?

      > the shit build quality,

      So, your contention is that someone went to the effort to layout and fab up at least a two-layer circuit board with surface mount components specifically to hoax the internet?

      > It's a millennial cry for attention, for whatever reason.

      Looks like you have a stick up your ass about millenials.
      Why don't you just shout "get off my internet" at them like a proper grumpy old man?

    2. Re:Cry for attention... by TWX · · Score: 2

      It's the black duct tape that gets me. I'm not the most skilled solderer myself, but when I make something that needs to remain durable I usually coat it in hot glue and shrink some heatshrink tubing around it so that it's protected and looks good. My most recent project like this was to physically trim down the PCB of a USB to RS-232 adapter, remove the DB9 from it, and solder the ends of a Cisco console cable in its place, reducing the size of the device that I need to use to console in to a switch. I managed to get that thing to look really nice and it's held up well too, and I was making that for just me. If I'd been making a device to go into a hostile environment (and on the outside of a car qualifies) I would have been a lot better about my packaging. Heatshrink tubing, then magnets held on by more heatshrink tubing over that, possibly having used a filler to make it difficult to disassemble, and absolutely nothing reflective or shiny.

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
  13. In Soviet Russia by Thor+Ablestar · · Score: 3, Informative

    The device looks very similar to the numerous GSM/GPS trackers that are sold in Russia in every security equipment store. When the police is busy with Bolotnaya square activists there is no other method to find your stolen car.

  14. Re:how was it detected then found? by TWX · · Score: 2

    In an hour and a half they could have pulled the rear bumper cover, tapped into the license plate lamp, and installed the device behind the thin rear bumper cover where it would never have been noticed even when the car is sent for scrap. It makes me wonder if the installation of the device at the checkpoint and the search at the checkpoint were conducted by different parties, or if a party to the search was also acting as an agent for someone else and planted this as the search wound-down without the knowledge of anyone else involved in the search.

    --
    Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
  15. Re:Garbage by Z00L00K · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Not every government agency spends megabucks on top equipment when the off the shelf stuff is sufficient.

    If you want to track someone and want plausible deniability then it's a lot better to use cheap off the shelf stuff and wrap it in tape. It's no big deal to defend that you lost a $100 device that anyone can buy, it's just written off as operational cost.

    --
    If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.