US surveillance plane fleet tricks mobile phones into giving up data

[NewWorldRecord]

US surveillance plane fleet tricks mobile phones into giving up data

PUBLISHED : Friday, 14 November, 2014, 1:23pm
UPDATED : Saturday, 15 November, 2014, 2:59am

Agence France-Presse in San Francisco

A surveillance programme run by the US Marshals Service uses Cessna planes flying from at least five major airports and covering most of the US population, a report said. Photo: AP

US justice officials are scooping up mobile phone data from unwitting Americans as part of a sophisticated airborne surveillance programme designed to catch criminals, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Small aircraft operated by the US Marshals Service from at least five major airports have been taking to the skies with "dirtbox" equipment designed to mimic signals from mobile phone towers, according to the Journal.

That tricks the phones into revealing identifying numbers and general locations, according to the report published on Thursday.

The name "dirtbox" was said to be derived from an acronym of Digital Recovery Technology, the Boeing subsidiary that makes the device. The range of aircraft in the programme covered most of the United States population, the Journal reported, citing unnamed sources.

Details of flights were not given, but they were said to take place regularly with each outing potentially gathering data from tens of thousands of phones.

The Journal reported that the US Justice Department declined to comment for the story other than to say that its agencies complied with the law when it came to surveillance.

Mobile phones are programmed to connect with the closest signal tower, but have been shown to trust signals from fake towers or imposters when making decisions, hackers have demonstrated.

Boxes in planes could automatically assure mobile phones they were the optimal signal tower, then accept identifying information from handsets seeking connections.

Fake towers could then pass connections on to real signal towers, remaining as a conduit with the ability to tune in to or block digital transmissions as required. The Journal quoted American Civil Liberties Union chief technologist Christopher Soghoian as calling the programme "dragnet surveillance" that was "inexcusable".

The programme reportedly was put in place to reveal locations of mobile phones associated with criminals or those suspected of crimes, but collects data about other handsets that connect, according to the Journal.