The
Intercept has obtained a secret, internal U.S. government catalogue
of dozens of cellphone surveillance devices used by the military and
by intelligence agencies. The document, thick with previously
undisclosed information, also offers rare insight into the spying
capabilities of federal law enforcement and local police inside the
United States.
The
catalogue includes details on the Stingray, a well-known brand of
surveillance gear, as well as Boeing “dirt boxes” and dozens of
more obscure devices that can be mounted on vehicles, drones, and
piloted aircraft. Some are designed to be used at static locations,
while others can be discreetly carried by an individual. They have
names like Cyberhawk, Yellowstone, Blackfin, Maximus, Cyclone, and
Spartacus. Within the catalogue, the NSA is listed as the vendor of
one device, while another was developed for use by the CIA, and
another was developed for a special forces requirement. Nearly a
third of the entries focus on equipment that seems to have never been
described in public before.
A few of the
devices can house a “target list” of as many as 10,000 unique
phone identifiers. Most can be used to geolocate people, but the
documents indicate that some have more advanced capabilities, like
eavesdropping on calls and spying on SMS messages. Two systems,
apparently designed for use on captured phones, are touted as having
the ability to extract media files, address books, and notes, and one
can retrieve deleted text messages.
Full
report:
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