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Signs of Sophisticated Cellphone Spying Found Near White House, US Officials Say (washingtonpost.com)

A federal study found signs that surveillance devices for intercepting cellphone calls and texts were operating near the White House and other sensitive locations in the Washington area last year. From a report: A Department of Homeland Security program discovered evidence of the surveillance devices, called IMSI catchers, as part of federal testing last year, according to a letter from DHS to Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) on May 22. The letter didn't specify what entity operated the devices and left open the possibility that there could be alternative explanations for the suspicious cellular signals collected by the federal testing program last year. The discovery bolsters years of independent research suggesting that foreign intelligence agencies use sophisticated interception technology to spy on officials working within the hub of federal power in the nation's capital. Experts in surveillance technology say that IMSI catchers -- sometimes known by one popular brand name, StingRay -- are a standard part of the tool kit for many foreign intelligence services, including for such geopolitical rivals as Russia and China.

85 comments

  1. Why would Russia need to spy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    When they have a direct line with comrade Trump?

    1. Re: Why would Russia need to spy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      To check what is telling other people?

      Of course, given the President's willingness to a) speak on unsecured lines and b) piss off everyone except the Russians on any given day I would expect a list of possible countries who do this to match the membership list of the UN.

    2. Re:Why would Russia need to spy? by ArylAkamov · · Score: 0

      What an original comment. Don't worry, I'm sure he will be impeached any day now...BAHHAHAHAHA.

  2. What a waste of resources by Errol+backfiring · · Score: 3, Funny

    What a waste of resources. You can just follow the main troublemaker on twitter.

    --
    Nae king! Nae laird! Nae yurrupiean pressedent! We willna be fooled again!
    1. Re:What a waste of resources by nospam007 · · Score: 1

      "What a waste of resources. You can just follow the main troublemaker on twitter."

      Sure, but you can follow his movements, interesting for lobbyists, 'friends', snipers, ....

    2. Re:What a waste of resources by Kenja · · Score: 0, Troll

      Toilet for cheeseburgers, bed for more cheeseburgers, golf course. Easy to track.

      --

      "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
    3. Re: What a waste of resources by Type44Q · · Score: 0

      Toilet for cheeseburgers

      Whatever you say.

    4. Re:What a waste of resources by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Trump spends hours every day talking to Hannity and others, with many reports coming out that he's the biggest leaker in the White House.

      And he won't use a secure phone because it's a hassle.

      That, and it really, really looks like he doesn't care if Russia and China listen in on him, he seems to be working with them.

  3. amazing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    It would be amazing if they weren't there....
    How the hell is this news???
    Can we have some tech info that isn't an ad
    Pretty Please

    1. Re:amazing by XXongo · · Score: 2
      "...surveillance devices, called IMSI catchers"

      Otherwise known as "Stingrays".

      Yes, I'm not surprised. I'm only surprised that other people seem to be surprised. The local TV news even reported this weeks ago: https://news.slashdot.org/stor...

  4. It's the FBI by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's either the FBI doing it, or the FBI is ignoring it because they're too busy trying to find teh russenz.
     

    1. Re:It's the FBI by Train0987 · · Score: 0, Troll

      The FBI has always been the greatest threat since they know all of our leaders deepest secrets as part of the security clearance vetting process. That's what made J. Edgar Hoover such a menace and why it was such a bad thing when all of those FBI files were found in the Clinton White House several years ago.

    2. Re:It's the FBI by XXongo · · Score: 2

      It is certainly one group of feds spying on another.

      No, I expect it's every single spy agency of every single country in the world. I'd be surprised if other countries don't do it.

      ...but come to think of it, I bet the if you don't care who listens to your conversations, Washington DC probably has the best cell coverage in the world, what with all the intercepting cell towers out there in addition to the legit ones.

    3. Re:It's the FBI by admin7087 · · Score: 1

      "certainly"

    4. Re:It's the FBI by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You'll know something is up for sure when you can call anywhere with an unpaid cellphone. Actually these intercept systems are likely more sophisticated than that, I once got a message telling me that my account was suspended due to non payment (problem was that it was a recording from a different carrier that used a gsm instead of cdma) and my account was temporarily suspended.

    5. Re:It's the FBI by Train0987 · · Score: 5, Informative

      It is plausible that British GCHQ is operating these while NSA looks the other way. Historically that's how they've gotten around laws prohibiting spying on US citizens.

    6. Re:It's the FBI by HornWumpus · · Score: 0

      That was quaint. Back when there were laws against this kind of thing being enforced.

      Even with 3 (or 5) eyes running, Hoover spied on all people in power, to say nothing of regular people.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    7. Re:It's the FBI by Train0987 · · Score: 1

      Again, all people in power that matter must undergo security clearance investigations where ALL the skeletons are volunteered. That's why it's so abhorrent that partisan hacks have been placed at the top of those agencies to subvert democracy.

    8. Re:It's the FBI by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      It's way beyond that. Anybody with security clearance didn't volunteer anything too bad.

      Family members and powerful people outside government etc are also spied on.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    9. Re: It's the FBI by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      or its the cops doing it and this is a great way to get the people to think its not the cops but our enemies

    10. Re:It's the FBI by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      No, I expect it's every single spy agency of every single country in the world. I'd be surprised if other countries don't do it.

      Given someone's love of using burner phoes to pillow talk with his propaganda minister Sean Hannity, and to others, it isn't a big surprise.

      I mean, other countries are going to do this sort of thing anyhow, but cheap easy access? Like taking candy form a baby.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  5. Tracking? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Honestly, who cares about tracking? Politicians go from lobbyist to lobbyist. When they're in their office it is to meet with a lobbyist. I mean we don't need sophisticated trackers to know this.

  6. But why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Trump tweets any thought that goes through his head anyway. No matter how incoherent.

  7. why does this story keep getting posted? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative
    1. Re:why does this story keep getting posted? by rickb928 · · Score: 1

      But, but where would muh cliks come from?

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    2. Re:why does this story keep getting posted? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Slashdot is seen as an influential social media site.

      Heh - those post dates... ;)

  8. Sigh. by ledow · · Score: 2

    That's not a problem.

    Nobody would be stupid enough to talk about anything important to national security on an unsecured cellphone, right?

    1. Re:Sigh. by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      They were/are overconfident.

      See the text message exchange between the (feds/lovers) working on the Clinton (investigation/cover up). They would never have exchanged those texts, if they knew they'd see the light of day.

      Now they have to get honest jobs (not really, they'll have work telling libs what they want to hear forever).

      This whole thing will produce one good outcome. Serous information security in politics. Next time, Russian hackers won't even be plausible. Internal leaker will be the only answer. I bet both Ds and Rs have deep cover operatives in each other.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    2. Re:Sigh. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      You mean the "Classified" data that was only classified AFTER it was found? And buried in a long email chain that she was COPIED on. And not properly tagged as secret or classified?

    3. Re:Sigh. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      By "next time" are you referring to the elections in Novemeber?

  9. It certainly casts Trump's refusal... by Oxygen99 · · Score: 1

    ... to use a secure phone in a different light.

    --
    I had a dream, bright and carefree, but now there's doubt and gravity
    1. Re:It certainly casts Trump's refusal... by rickb928 · · Score: 1

      Well, to be fair, using an unsecured phone to tweet with is, well, not a big deal.

      You know the Twitter is public, right?

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    2. Re:It certainly casts Trump's refusal... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It is? But that one judge told Trump he wasn't allowed to block people because it limited their access to official presidential communications. Are you saying those people that are blocked were still free to see Trump's tweets?

    3. Re: It certainly casts Trump's refusal... by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 1

      I don't get it ... why are you evening Slashdot if you are so technically clueless that you think that's the issue?

      --
      Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
    4. Re:It certainly casts Trump's refusal... by Trailer+Trash · · Score: 1, Troll

      He uses an unsecure phone for Twitter, not phone calls. The stuff he types into that phone is public knowledge.

      The issue is that he's carrying around an unsecure device that has GPS, a microphone, and a camera, and those items can turn it into a surveillance tool if the phone is hacked. That is a legit concern, but as long as he's not using it for phone calls at least the attack surface is smaller.

    5. Re:It certainly casts Trump's refusal... by Trailer+Trash · · Score: 1

      It is? But that one judge told Trump he wasn't allowed to block people because it limited their access to official presidential communications. Are you saying those people that are blocked were still free to see Trump's tweets?

      Yes, they were free to see his tweets. All they had to do is log out or open a browser window in private/incognito mode. It's not difficult.

    6. Re:It certainly casts Trump's refusal... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, but it's more fun to infuriate that piece of shit, by forcing him to unblock them . . . you know, just because we can.

    7. Re:It certainly casts Trump's refusal... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hopefully you are not employed in a security related field.

    8. Re:It certainly casts Trump's refusal... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      His twitter enabled phone is locked down and cycled out frequently too. He has complained about it, the FBI and whitehouse technology staff have officially said so. Not another "anonymous source close to the matter."

      Claiming Trump uses unsecured phones is FUD, propaganda, lies people say to make themselves feel righteous. If there is no boogeyman he will be invented.

    9. Re:It certainly casts Trump's refusal... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I bet gps signals get a bit screwy around the white house. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRlxSF5bwTI

    10. Re:It certainly casts Trump's refusal... by HornWumpus · · Score: 0

      So you do understand why we all laugh at you when you freakout? It's just good fun infuriating pieces of shit.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    11. Re:It certainly casts Trump's refusal... by bano · · Score: 1

      Not really.
      1: it was already assumed that there were illicit ISM catchers in embassies. I've heard security experts basically say someone is failing the intelligence portion of their mission if they aren't doing this.
      2: it is already known that there were illicit ISM catchers in embassies in the DC area for a while now, but since we can only focus on one story for one news cycle we've forgotten about it until someone new reports on it a few months later.

    12. Re:It certainly casts Trump's refusal... by Trailer+Trash · · Score: 1

      Interesting how a purely factual post is modded "troll". TDS must be painful.

    13. Re:It certainly casts Trump's refusal... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What do you seem to think I freak out about?

    14. Re:It certainly casts Trump's refusal... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Trump continues to use an unsecured phone cuz Putin insisted on it, so he could keep tabs on him from down the street.

    15. Re:It certainly casts Trump's refusal... by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Election of Trump, soon Hillary going to prison.

      Also every 8chan troll.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    16. Re:It certainly casts Trump's refusal... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why would I freak out about Trump? I'm not one of his stupid minions that he's playing like a fucking violin, to blindly spout FAKE NEWS!! and DIRTY DOSSIER!!, as if he had any actual facts supporting his narrative.

      I'm sorry you're too embarrassed to publicly admit you voted for the worst piece of shit ever to sit in the White House. You don't have to pretend for me. We all know he's weak. He can't get anything done. He's relegated to doing nothing but signing executive orders.

      Why would Hillary be going to prison? They aren't even investigating her. The last 50 times they did, they found nothing. She's not the colluding traitor that Trump is. I hope they make handcuffs small enough for him. I wonder if he'll be incarcerated at GITMO. Or better yet, some black-site in Romania under the watch of Gina Haspel.

      And why do you fucking MAGAtards keep bringing up Hillary anway? You do realize she lost, don't you? You can't watch Faux-"News" for more than five minutes without those fucking apologists complaining about Hillary, Bill or Obama. I guess bashing the other side is all your left with when you can't defend your own. Funny that I never hear Democrats mention her. Either way, I didn't vote for her.

      At least he'll only serve one term . . . and chances are looking slim that he'll even makes it that far.

      WTF is 8chan? And, no, I'm not Googling it.

  10. Amusing by nehumanuscrede · · Score: 2

    I love how this is only an issue when the folks in charge are being spied upon by the very tech they're using to spy on the rest of us :|

    Though, to be honest, it's a good thing.

    Perhaps we'll see some changes as to how the phones determine what towers they will / will not connect with vs blindly connecting to any of them.

    1. Re:Amusing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Phone Spting is a Democrats Trait. Obama proved that when he was caught.

  11. I'm shocked by k6mfw · · Score: 2

    there's spying including use of cellphones in the nation's capital.

    --
    mfwright@batnet.com
    1. Re:I'm shocked by dj245 · · Score: 2

      I'm surprised we keep seeing these stories. One of my professors told a story about the time he set up a pirate radio station. The FCC tracked him down within a week and told him to knock it off or they would levy a huge fine.

      There are a few embassies around the White House I wouldn't think you would need to be within their fences in order to take care of the problem.

      --
      Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
    2. Re:I'm shocked by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      there's spying including use of cellphones in the nation's capital.

      The only thing more shocking would be if there *wasn't* spying going on. It is what everyone does. And "no one here is exactly what he appears".

  12. Secret conversations by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hello is this Putin Daddy?

    Yeah baby is this my little princess donald?

    ooooo yeah putin Daddy princess trumpy needs it in her ass REAL BAD

    mmmmm Ima get on my jet and fly to you princess Donald

    mm i got my panties and stockings on for you big daddy putin and i'll do ANYTHING you say daddy...make me your star spangled bitch again!

    Etc.

  13. Professor Stefan Halper by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    He did it.

  14. Twitter is a problem by k2r · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Just imagine what an adversory with access to Trumps Twitter account tweeting in his name could do eg. when there’s a situation bordering an armed conflict.
    Or to trouble stock markets.

    OTOH: maybe that’s already happening.

  15. China's spies should be fired if they aren't by raymorris · · Score: 2

    If the spy agencies of China, Russia, India, etc AREN'T doing this, they aren't doing their job. If the heads of their intelligence agencies have neglected to do this, they should be fired.

    1. Re:China's spies should be fired if they aren't by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Fake cell towers broadcast their location, they have to. Only those with local spook cooperation can pull it off.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    2. Re: China's spies should be fired if they aren't by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      China dies not fire people that make big mistakes.
      They execute tgem.

  16. Like the 5th story on this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How is it new?? Oh right, Russian bad. Trump bad.

    I believe you'll find the CIA / NSA runs their own monitoring especially in Washinton. And FFS Trump is not against havig a "secure phone". The very agencies tasked with protecting him are the same who can't keep their mouths shut to the media. He's indirectly pointing out the lunacy in both the FBI and CIA wrt how much they engage in domistic spying. If you think the phone he carries - or anyone else at that level of Government - is registered to themselves, you're insane.

    There is no security in cellphones. Not in the myriad of protocols, nor the hardware. It would be much easier to use burner phones then explain why you keep losing a Government issued "secure phone". It's like walking around Defcon and being surprised you get hacked.

    1. Re:Like the 5th story on this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If all he wants to use it for is tweeting it seems simple enough to remove the cameras, microphones, accelerometer, and GPS chip (assuming its not integrated)

  17. Bigger than Watergate by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Don't know, but, based on the way Trump has been flipping out on twitter, lately, trying to discredit the Mueller investigation and claiming without any evidence that a spy infiltrated his campaign, well, you can bet your bottom dollar they must be getting pretty close to putting him in handcuffs.

  18. Landlines by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Doesn't anyone use a fucking landline anymore?

    1. Re:Landlines by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Through a scrambler and multiple frs relay stations?

  19. MAGAGA! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yeah, that Killary is a stone cold gangsta!
    She's behind every tree & bush, causing Trump to fail and look like an imbecile.

    1. Re:MAGAGA! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      seeing that it's in washingtonpost....

  20. End to End Encryption is your Friend by TiberiusKirk · · Score: 1

    ...Nuff said

  21. Did you even read those articles? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    > Of course, given the President's willingness to a) speak on unsecured lines and b) piss off everyone except the Russians on any given day I would expect a list of possible countries who do this to match the membership list of the UN.

    Did you even read that article? The President has two phones, one of which is Twitter-only, both of which are provided and secured by the intelligence agencies.

    The only 'complaint' they levied was that he didn't update his Twitter phone as often as they'd like. That's hardly the same complaint as when Colin Powell taught Hillary to simply bypass the restrictions on phones entirely.

    And yes, we have that one on the record, in the FBI vault. Powell tells Hillary that she can simply ignore the rules and get away with it to keep her normal Blackberry and non-government email.

    1. Re: Did you even read those articles? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ever notice how every article that mentions the federal government has comments thst start out with some idiot posting insults and comically bad lies about the President? Nice job taking some of that on, though some people are too dumb to realize they're tools.

  22. President CUNT Uses Insecure iPhones by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Bigly security from Pres Cunt. Bigly!

  23. Re: RUS ARE CUNTS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Only a CUNTLOVER would cast shade for the treasonous CUNTS in your Whitehouse.. SAD!

  24. Again? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    seriously, this was already caught being done by US authorities. more new cold war BS? how many people are buying it?

  25. Pot meet kettle by JustNiz · · Score: 1

    If you don't like it then stop doing it to others.

  26. Since the unsecured email server was shut down... by Tulsa_Time · · Score: 1

    Thanks Hillary.. now the FBI/NSA/CIA/Fusion GPS have switched over to cellular data...

    --
    5 out of 6 people enjoy Russian Roulette & 6 out of 7 Dwarfs are not Happy
  27. Let 'em by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The entirety of DC is just a honeypot to waste spies' time while the real leaders are trying to move this damn country off its ass and toward a decent future. That has never been DC's strong point.

  28. Mobile, in car. Urban reflections make it easy by raymorris · · Score: 1

    Have your ever noticed that when you're downtown, near big buildings, your GPS sometimes goes to shit? That's with nine transmitters TRYING to help you with location, constantly broadcasting signals specifically designed for location information. Triangulation in an urban environment is a bitch because radio signals bounce between buildings and bridges and such, so the same signal comes from five different directions.

    Put a transmitter in a car in Washington traffic and it becomes almost impossible.

    If you're an intelligence agent, you can turn on your device right when the chairman of the foreign intelligence committee walks out the door, rather than transmitting constantly.

    What the competent spook should NOT do is drive the same circle around the Capital building over and over and over every day, without ever changing their route. If you do that, you can eventually get caught.

    1. Re:Mobile, in car. Urban reflections make it easy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You should wait a little for the much better Chinese version due in a couple short years.

  29. only an issue if you use non-encrypted phones by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So any donkey using an encrypted phone to tweet or make calls for government business is literally committing a crime. But even if you're just ordering pizza on a non-secured cell phone from the white house, you're still exposing the white house to unnecessary risk. Anyone defending anyone that knowingly broke those security rules is a total jackass. Security isn't about convenience, it's about reducing risk. The excuse "it's too much hassle" is what a 2 yr old would say, not a government employee or elected official that is doing official sensitive business.

  30. Its the Democrats by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I noticed the Democrats were blaming the Russians for the spying, but it seems to me that it was Obama who was caught spying not only on foriegn powers but also every American and every person in the world. Chancellor Markle of Germany is a prime example. I won't be surprised to find out that it was the Democrats who are spying on the White House and anyone else they want to. They believe they have the right. Hillary's law.

  31. Re: RUS ARE CUNTS by Cederic · · Score: 1

    You do realise that around half the population loves a bit of cunt? It's not really an insult.