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What are IMSI catchers used for?
IMSI-catchers, also known as Stingrays, allow police forces to track mobile phones and intercept text messages, calls and other data within their radius in real time. The devices can capture the private data and phone calls of anyone who happens to be in range, whether they are a suspect or not.
What is an IMSI catcher and why is it important?
IMSI catchers are able to determine the IMSI numbers of mobile phones in its vicinity, which is the trademark capability from which their name is derived. Using the IMSI, they can then identify mobile traffic on the network and target traffic for interception and analysis.
How does a IMSI catcher work?
What is an IMSI Catcher? IMSI Catchers act like false cell towers that trick the victim’s device to connect to them. The communications (calls, text messages, Internet traffic, and more) are intercepted, then relayed to the target cell tower of the network carrier.
How are IMSI catchers supposed to catch IMSIs?
Classic “IMSI-catchers” simply record nearby IMSIs, and then don’t interact with their target phones in a significant way beyond that. They quite literally “catch” (i.e. record) IMSIs by pretending to be real base stations and then release the target phones (Paget, 2010).
How does IMSI catcher work on cell towers?
A targeted mobile phone is sent signals where the user will not be able to tell apart the device from authentic cell service provider infrastructure. This means that the device will be able to retrieve data that a normal cell tower receives from mobile phones if registered.
Is there an international subscriber identity ( IMSI ) catcher?
International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) Catchers are wreaking data security havoc on a global scale today. This hacking tool, although not really new, has become the weapon of choice to target unsuspecting smartphone users. This is an obvious concern for cellular phone users.
Is there an Android app for IMSI catcher?
The application Android IMSI-Catcher Detector (AIMSICD) is being developed to detect and circumvent IMSI-catchers by StingRay and silent SMS. Technology for a stationary network of IMSI-catcher detectors has also been developed.