"DHS finds suspected phone spying in Washington 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... 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..." https://www.federaltimes.com/federa...s-finds-suspected-phone-spying-in-washington/ "Feds: There are hostile stingrays in DC, but we don’t know how to find them There’s also “anomalous activity”—probably stingrays—in other US cities, too..." https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy...-use-of-stingrays-is-a-real-and-growing-risk/ "...DHS said they have not determined the users behind such eavesdropping devices, nor the type of devices being used. The agency also did not elaborate on how many devices it unearthed, nor where authorities located them." http://thehill.com/policy/defense/381479-us-acknowledges-potential-unauthorized-spying-devices-in-dc "...The agency’s [DHS] 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..." https://www.washingtonpost.com/busi...123715f78df_story.html?utm_term=.6a395e226550
Puts a different spin on surveillance state, huh? ..... When I was reading about this earlier I was also thinking not just DC, but any town with military base(s), probably high tech areas also.
Funny. When I've read about IMSI-catchers around the US, I've assumed that they were operated by US agencies. So yes, could be spies too. Very funny. But hey, I wonder if the NSA can run IMSI-catchers from LEO. That'd be quite the trip. As I recall, they were intercepting Russian mobile phones in the 80s.
