IMSI catchers may soon face a triple threat: programmable SIM cards, multi-IMSIs and -- thanks to Kimera Systems advances in AI -- a profusion of connected devices that are as smart as their users. Recently C5IS revisited PKI Electronic Intelligence, a German company we reviewed in 2015 as the "big box" store of mobile location and other surveillance products. At the time … [Read more...]
Protocol and Chipset Issues Leave LTE Vulnerable to IMSI Catchers
In our reviews of the Rayzone Piranha and Harris Hailstorm, C5IS describes the network complexities of LTE conquered by next generation IMSI catchers. Just as important as the network, however, are protocol and device chipset vulnerabilities that leave LTE a fairly easy target for monitoring, interception, jamming and DoS attacks. Security weaknesses in Long Term Evolution … [Read more...]
Down and Dirty with the Boeing DRT Box
Despite all the fanfare over IMSI catchers and the immense importance of mobile location and interception with users, one very important player continues to miss out on the respect it merits: the Boeing DRT Box or “dirt box,” as it is commonly called. We all know why: the Harris Stingray’s ascendence to a common term describing the entire niche. In fact, there are many fine … [Read more...]
Rayzone: Piranha LTE IMSI Catcher
C5IS reviews the Rayzone Piranha IMSI Catcher for 2G, 3G and LTE -- the latest addition to Rayzone's "Intelligence Matrix." With the mobile world advancing to LTE, the standard line from IMSI catcher providers is “we’ve got that covered.” That can mean one of two things: Either they rely on jamming the target’s LTE signal and forcing him into 2G circuit-switched fallback … [Read more...]
Tactical Mobile Interception: The Gamma Group Nobody Knows
C5IS reviews “passive” and “active” mobile interception and location capabilities of The Gamma Group. The UK’s Gamma Group has gone to great lengths to distance itself from its most famous product -- FinFisher ethical malware -- even to the point of spinning off the unit as a separate German company, and ostensibly shedding any further involvement with Trojans or Zero Days … [Read more...]