Talk:IMSI-catcher

Misc
maybe by now the issue of "insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject." is less salient now. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.229.217.162 (talk) 23:49, 4 August 2011 (UTC)

I think you will find that an IMSI number is not capable of determining the number of the cellular phone that is being tapped. Cellular phones only transmit IMSI and TIMSI numbers to the tower, which are later translated internally within the phone company to actual dialiable numbers.

Using the IMSI or TMSI of the phone can be used to clone the phone in the case of CDMA phones. Furthermore while the IMSI is not transmitted often a silent SMS or a failed call will induce the phone to transmit its IMSI or TMSI also in and out of airplane mode while registering on the network. The ability to capture this data through passive monitoring can indeed link TMSI/IMSI to a phone number if monitoring the paging channel for the particular data. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.11.180.53 (talk) 20:47, 21 January 2013 (UTC)

Errors?
dead link at bottom to RUB — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.227.136.161 (talk) 14:13, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

Citation:
 * All mobile phones in the catchment area have no access to the network. Incoming and outgoing calls cannot be patched through for these subscribers. Only the observed person has an indirect connection.

Really? While the IMSI-catcher acts like a base station, it could retransmit all connections to the operator, using different SIMs. 212.2.96.101 (talk) 09:39, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

Citation:
 * Since the network access is handled with the SIM/USIM of the IMSI-catcher, the receiver cannot see the number of the calling party.

MSISDN must be send in the datagram, or it couldn't be possible to see MSISDN of the calling party from different operator, therfore IMSI-catcher should be able to retransmit MSISDN numbers as well. 212.2.96.101 (talk) 09:39, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

Citation:
 * Of course, this also implicates that the tapped calls are not listed in the itemized bill.

Well, a good method to make free calls? Sorry, I don't believe it. 212.2.96.101 (talk) 09:39, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

Stingray
Is this the same as what the media call "stingrays" now? It's strange that they don't even mention the term IMSI catcher.--88.73.45.204 (talk) 22:20, 21 October 2011 (UTC)
 * yes, this is what the Florida cops used. The Harris Corporation Stingray product is an IMSI catcher.

Why are there two articles instead of a redirection from Stingray to IMSI-catcher? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 46.5.19.11 (talk) 09:59, 23 June 2014 (UTC)

Unclear sentence
In the UMTS section, the article states
 * False base station attacks are prevented by a combination of key freshness and integrity protection of signaling data, not by authenticating the serving network.[7]

Is this a statement of fact about the UMTS system? Or is it a general statement about how such attacks could be prevented? AxelBoldt (talk) 20:43, 29 December 2014 (UTC)

Fake base station detection software
The following was removed from the article. I put a copy here in case it might be useful for a new section in the future. • Sbmeirow  •  Talk  • 17:02, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

SnoopSnitch is an Android app that collects and analyzes mobile radio data to make you aware of your mobile network security and to warn you about threats like fake base stations (IMSI catchers), user tracking and over-the-air updates. With SnoopSnitch you can use the data collected in the GSM Security Map at gsmmap.org and contribute your own data to GSM Map. SnoopSnitch: Android app not only to warn you about threats like fake base stations (IMSI catchers)

Title "Identifying an IMSI"
Can someone make sure this title is correct, change it if needed? I can't see how it's descriptive of its paragraph's contents. I don't want to change it because there is a decent chance I'm wrong as I know nothing about the topic. McGucket (talk) 21:18, 2 January 2017 (UTC)

IMSI Catching in LTE networks
Recently a work appeared about IMSI Catching in LTE networks using open source software defined radios: https://arxiv.org/pdf/1702.04434v1.pdf Falkenber9 (talk) 13:45, 22 February 2017 (UTC)

Oh no! It's... the grammar police!!!
Can I ask a few things of the people who are managing this article and thus have a clue what it is all about?


 * Please, if you are using an acronym or abbreviation spell the thing out in full on first arrival. I have done this in the first sentence, but those who discuss these all day may want to do it less clumsily than I.
 * Some references to IMSI-catcher are hyphenated, while others are not. Consistency would be nice.
 * Section 5 includes the statement "But this firmware/software-based detection is strongly limited to a select few, outdated GSM mobile phones (i.e. Motorola)...". I will try not to mention the badness involved in commencing a sentence with "But" - but I can't! Regarding the sentence content, is/was Motorola the only maker of the GSM (acronym) phones that could use this detection technique?  If other mobile phones could use it, then please change "i.e." to "e.g" - if there is a reason for mentioning Motorola at all.
 * I have noted in the article that citations are needed for several sections.

Thank you for considering my suggestions.Ambiguosity (talk) 11:25, 30 March 2017 (UTC)

Current to June 2018
relevant content? Signs of sophisticated cellphone spying found near White House, U.S. officials say Craig Timberg June Washington Post Oceanflynn (talk) 23:35, 1 June 2018 (UTC)

A useful reference, How an obsessive jailhouse lawyer revealed the existence of Stingray surveillance devices
I think this is a useful reference (and a fascinating story) for giving information on how stingrays were discovered


 * How an obsessive jailhouse lawyer revealed the existence of Stingray surveillance devices

Thanks

John Cummings (talk) 14:49, 17 November 2018 (UTC)

$20 stingray
Hi

This seems important to mention somewhere, that stingrays are now easy to make using off the shelf parts and are very low cost


 * https://boingboing.net/2018/11/16/grgsm_livemon.html

Thanks

John Cummings (talk) 14:51, 17 November 2018 (UTC)

UK arms exports appear to include IMSI catchers
Possibly relevant to article: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/17/uk-spyware-exports-human-rights-fury Zazpot (talk) 15:36, 17 March 2019 (UTC)

Wirecard and the Financial Times
From The Financial Times, 11 Dec 2019, Wirecard critics targeted in London spy operation: The FT has today published a separate discussion document in German, which shows plans hatched by an unnamed European private investigations outfit to launch a sophisticated eavesdropping operation in the UK. Titled “Indikatioren zum Insiderprofil”…

The plans involved use of a so-called “IMSI-catcher” — an international mobile subscriber identity-catcher — to harvest audio and data from a target’s phone, and “suck the blood out of suspicious people”, according to the document.

Eavesdropping is illegal in Germany, unless carried out by the state, part of strict privacy laws shaped by the country’s experience of secret police activity in former East Germany.

JDAWiseman (talk) 12:50, 11 December 2019 (UTC)