4 ms·

You can purchase pre-made GPS+cellular trackers, but it seems like it would be much easier to tie a detected tracker of this type back to a specific person. A t

by giaour 5y ago

You can purchase pre-made GPS+cellular trackers, but it seems like it would be much easier to tie a detected tracker of this type back to a specific person. A tracker with cellular capability will have a SIM and some kind of subpoena-able service record, while one of the pirate AirTags described in the post is basically just an antenna and a battery.

gruez 5y ago
>A tracker with cellular capability will have a SIM and some kind of subpoena-able service record Prepaid sim. US (and many other countries) does not have mandatory registration for SIM cards. See: https://www.gsma.com/publicpolicy/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/GSMA_White-Paper_Mandatory-Registration-of-Prepaid-SIM-Users_32pgWEBv3.pdf#page=5 https://www.gsma.com/publicpolicy/wp-content/uploads/2013/11...
- giaour 5y ago
  You can buy a prepaid SIM, but it still needs to be activated with the service provider, and it will report the IMEI to the operator as part of maintaining a network connection. If the victim discovers the tracking device and reports it to the police, the police will be able to discover (from the service provider's records) where the SIM was activated and what payment method is used for service. If the SIM was prepaid, the network operator will have a pretty good idea of where it was sold (by tying the SIM number to a wholesale lot number), and that would give police a narrow pool of suspects (whoever bought a prepaid SIM from that seller while the wholesale lot was on their shelves) to work from. If anyone bought a prepaid SIM with cash, they may have been caught on security camera doing so. I guess if the perpetrator bought the SIM online with Monero, investigators might hit a dead end. Compare that to the difficulty of tracking down where a commodity BLE antenna and battery pack were sold.
  - gruez 5y ago
    >it will report the IMEI to the operator as part of maintaining a network connection >Compare that to the difficulty of tracking down where a commodity BLE antenna and battery pack were sold. The ESP (or whatever BLE chipset was used) probably will have a mac address burned in, which is essentially an IMEI. You'll have a hard time getting anything from that, because the aliexpress supply chain that supplied the GSM GPS tracker keeps records and/or responds to US subpoena as well as the aliexpress supply chain that supplied the airtag clone. >If the SIM was prepaid, the network operator will have a pretty good idea of where it was sold (by tying the SIM number to a wholesale lot number), and that would give police a narrow pool of suspects (whoever bought a prepaid SIM from that seller while the wholesale lot was on their shelves) to work from. It was sold from a mobile phone kiosk at a mall >what payment method is used for service voucher purchased at the same store, both paid with cash >If anyone bought a prepaid SIM with cash, they may have been caught on security camera doing so. the purchase/activation of the sim occurred a month or two ago, outside of the retention range of the surveillance footage. even if the footage exists, all you'd see is a masked (thanks covid!) 5'8" white possibly hispanic male, wearing a hoodie and jeans.
    - giaour 5y ago
      > It was sold from a mobile phone kiosk at a mall >> what payment method is used for service > voucher purchased at the same store, both paid with cash >> If anyone bought a prepaid SIM with cash, they may have been caught on security camera doing so. > the purchase/activation of the sim occurred a month or two ago, outside of the retention range of the surveillance footage. even if the footage exists, all you'd see is a masked (thanks covid!) 5'8" white possibly hispanic male, wearing a hoodie and jeans. That's so much op sec that you wouldn't have to do to exploit the Find My protocol! And let's hope the mall didn't change their retention interval and that the same 5'8" white male didn't do something stupid like buy something with a credit card on the same trip or park in the mall parking lot.
      - gruez 5y ago
        1. it's not really "so much". Wearing nondescript clothing, paying with cash, and maybe parking across the street are measures that people who don't know what "opsec" means can figure out. I think "burner phones" are well known enough that we can presume the typical criminal knows about it. 2. the same mechanism that makes it easy to build stalking devices for, also makes it convenient to use as a lost key finder. I'm not going to attach a GPS tracker and buy a sim card for my keys/bag, but I will buy a $30 airtag.

by giaour 5y ago

gruez 5y ago

>A tracker with cellular capability will have a SIM and some kind of subpoena-able service record Prepaid sim. US (and many other countries) does not have mandatory registration for SIM cards. See: https://www.gsma.com/publicpolicy/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/GSMA_White-Paper_Mandatory-Registration-of-Prepaid-SIM-Users_32pgWEBv3.pdf#page=5 https://www.gsma.com/publicpolicy/wp-content/uploads/2013/11...

giaour 5y ago
You can buy a prepaid SIM, but it still needs to be activated with the service provider, and it will report the IMEI to the operator as part of maintaining a network connection. If the victim discovers the tracking device and reports it to the police, the police will be able to discover (from the service provider's records) where the SIM was activated and what payment method is used for service. If the SIM was prepaid, the network operator will have a pretty good idea of where it was sold (by tying the SIM number to a wholesale lot number), and that would give police a narrow pool of suspects (whoever bought a prepaid SIM from that seller while the wholesale lot was on their shelves) to work from. If anyone bought a prepaid SIM with cash, they may have been caught on security camera doing so. I guess if the perpetrator bought the SIM online with Monero, investigators might hit a dead end. Compare that to the difficulty of tracking down where a commodity BLE antenna and battery pack were sold.
- gruez 5y ago
  >it will report the IMEI to the operator as part of maintaining a network connection >Compare that to the difficulty of tracking down where a commodity BLE antenna and battery pack were sold. The ESP (or whatever BLE chipset was used) probably will have a mac address burned in, which is essentially an IMEI. You'll have a hard time getting anything from that, because the aliexpress supply chain that supplied the GSM GPS tracker keeps records and/or responds to US subpoena as well as the aliexpress supply chain that supplied the airtag clone. >If the SIM was prepaid, the network operator will have a pretty good idea of where it was sold (by tying the SIM number to a wholesale lot number), and that would give police a narrow pool of suspects (whoever bought a prepaid SIM from that seller while the wholesale lot was on their shelves) to work from. It was sold from a mobile phone kiosk at a mall >what payment method is used for service voucher purchased at the same store, both paid with cash >If anyone bought a prepaid SIM with cash, they may have been caught on security camera doing so. the purchase/activation of the sim occurred a month or two ago, outside of the retention range of the surveillance footage. even if the footage exists, all you'd see is a masked (thanks covid!) 5'8" white possibly hispanic male, wearing a hoodie and jeans.
  - giaour 5y ago
    > It was sold from a mobile phone kiosk at a mall >> what payment method is used for service > voucher purchased at the same store, both paid with cash >> If anyone bought a prepaid SIM with cash, they may have been caught on security camera doing so. > the purchase/activation of the sim occurred a month or two ago, outside of the retention range of the surveillance footage. even if the footage exists, all you'd see is a masked (thanks covid!) 5'8" white possibly hispanic male, wearing a hoodie and jeans. That's so much op sec that you wouldn't have to do to exploit the Find My protocol! And let's hope the mall didn't change their retention interval and that the same 5'8" white male didn't do something stupid like buy something with a credit card on the same trip or park in the mall parking lot.
    - gruez 5y ago
      1. it's not really "so much". Wearing nondescript clothing, paying with cash, and maybe parking across the street are measures that people who don't know what "opsec" means can figure out. I think "burner phones" are well known enough that we can presume the typical criminal knows about it. 2. the same mechanism that makes it easy to build stalking devices for, also makes it convenient to use as a lost key finder. I'm not going to attach a GPS tracker and buy a sim card for my keys/bag, but I will buy a $30 airtag.