Senators Demand More Information About DC Mobile Snooping Devices

A bipartisan group of senators is pushing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to make public more information about the use of rogue surveillance devices colloquially known as "Stingrays."

Homeland Security recently acknowledged the devices are being used by hostile actors in Washington, D.C. The use of those devices by criminals and foreign spies to eavesdrop on cellphone calls and messages in the U.S. has long been suspected, but the department's disclosure was the first official confirmation of their presence.

In a letter to DHS official Christopher Krebs, the Senators said: "The American people have a legitimate interest in understanding the extent to which U.S. telephone networks are vulnerable to surveillance and are being actively exploited by hostile actors."

So-called International Mobile Subscriber Identity-catchers, or IMSI-catchers - known as Stingrays after a popular brand used by U.S. police departments - work by tricking cellphones into locking onto the device instead of a legitimate cellphone tower. Once they are deployed, they can intercept data from a target phone.

Experts say they are widely used by foreign embassies, which are on sovereign soil, and police departments have quietly used them for years to some controversy.  (The Hill)