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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.
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!
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
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.
https://news.slashdot.org/story/18/04/03/192200/us-suspects-listening-devices-in-washington
https://news.slashdot.org/story/18/05/19/1813208/40-cellphone-tracking-devices-discovered-throughout-washington
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/17/03/18/2312217/cbs-reports-suspicious-cell-phone-tower-activity-in-washington-dc
https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/14/09/02/2315215/mysterious-phony-cell-towers-found-throughout-us
And why the fuck can't the same tags be used for the same story?
That's not a problem.
Nobody would be stupid enough to talk about anything important to national security on an unsecured cellphone, right?
... to use a secure phone in a different light.
I had a dream, bright and carefree, but now there's doubt and gravity
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.
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.
there's spying including use of cellphones in the nation's capital.
mfwright@batnet.com
"certainly"
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.
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.
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.
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.
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'
...Nuff said
If you don't like it then stop doing it to others.
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
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.
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.
You do realise that around half the population loves a bit of cunt? It's not really an insult.