>Who catches the IMSI catchers? Researchers demonstrate Stingray detection kit Posted Jun 2, 2017 by Devin Coldewey
>Next Story Storyzy is a quote verifier that wants to skewer fake news Who catches the IMSI catchers? Researchers demonstrate Stingray detection kit
>IMSI catchers, devices used to spoof cell towers and intercept
communications, are one of the most resented open secrets of law enforcement. Strict non-disclosure agreements prevent them from being acknowledged as existing, let alone being used — but researchers think they’ve found a way to spot the shady signal-snatchers.
A few years ago, maybe 2012 or 2013, I read an article which indicated that any cell phone, even one that had to active service, would be activated in the presence of an IMSI device. I speculated, on Cypherpunks, that it would be easily to build an IMSI detector using a power source feeding such an inactive phone, with a current detector in place. Ordinarily, that phone would dissipate a small current, which would be increased if an IMSI activated it.
The article describes a substantially more sophisticated implementation, much like a website such as WIGLE.NET https://wigle.net/ maps WiFi sites. It presumably records the signal strength of the cell site that activates the target phone, and eventually draws a map of its computed location.