Bad news for the “StingRay.” Effective Sept. 3 the U.S. Department of Justice requires federal law enforcement to obtain a search warrant before deploying a “cell-site simulator” -- DoJ jargon for IMSI catchers like the popular Harris StingRay. Other rules mandate daily deletion of all intercepted data, and forbid interception of content. Immediately impacted: all federal … [Read more...]
What the Ability-Cambridge Capital Merger Means: A Hook in the StingRay
Yesterday Ability, an Israeli-based provider of mobile location/interception solutions -- primarily IMSI catchers -- merged with Cambridge Capital Acquisition Corporation (CCAC) for US $192 million in stock and cash. As merger announcements go, this one was unusual in several respects: ● The mergers follows -- by one week -- the announcement of the U.S. Department of … [Read more...]
Savvius: Network Forensics in Overdrive
C5IS takes a trip with Savvius, where real-time packet capture, decryption and analysis power the timeliness and value of evidence and intelligence. Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) is among the most-widely used yet misunderstand technology applications in the tech world and surveillance communities today. Ask “got DPI?” and many vendors and customers automatically pipe up, … [Read more...]
ZERODIUM: Excelling in Zero Days for Cyber Security
C5IS examines ZERODIUM, a venture backed by VUPEN'S Chaouki Bekrar to enhance cyber security for corporate, defense and financial industry clients. For the commercial malware and Zero Day communities, this summer has held a mix of bad news (and worse reporting of good news). In early July hackers cracked The Hacking Team, releasing thousands of documents including emails, … [Read more...]
Don’t Confuse Pre-Crime with Predictive Analytics
C5IS examines how rampant media hype leverages Hollywood’s “Minority Report”? to distort the capabilities of pre-crime tools The current issue of TIME magazine carries a remarkable and contrarian cover story on a day-in-the-life of Philadelphia policemen. Remarkable because the article provides an unprecedented look by national media at the dangers police officers face with … [Read more...]