This machine catches stingrays: Pwnie Express demos cellular threat detector

Here is the matrix of &quot;odd events&quot; that you need to be able to detect in a GSM network:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;opensource.srlabs.de&#x2F;projects&#x2F;mobile-network-assessment-tools&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;CatcherCatcher" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;opensource.srlabs.de&#x2F;projects&#x2F;mobile-network-assessm...</a><p>(scroll down to table)<p>So while these very high level alerts from Pwnie are nice, I want to see what is really happening. Have I gotten any silent SMS or silent calls ? What network am I on and what cellID am I on ? Do I have an encrypted connection ?<p>I&#x27;m fairly certain that Pwnie does not have a baseband that they control and so there is a lot they (and we) cannot do, but there are things that can be done, and that outdated table of suspicious events can probably be expanded (and updated for LTE).<p>Comments ?<p>I was at their booth today at RSA and they confirmed that these cellular functions are <i>not</i> available on the PWN Phone, which makes me suspicious that the cell modem they are using is <i>not</i> a USB modem, but rather a minipci module that goes into their box. Would like to know what modem they chose...

That&#x27;s useful. It should be possible to do almost as well with a suitably programmed phone, if you can get to the RF control level. What&#x27;s needed is something that gives to the app level the same kind of info that&#x27;s available for nearby WiFi stations. Then anyone could write analysis apps.<p>&quot;Cell tower pinning&quot;, so that your phone remembers the cell towers in an area and reports new ones, would be useful. When a new one pops up, that&#x27;s an interesting event. That capability would be useful for other purposes, such as finding and reporting coverage holes.

I kind of wish we would just use a more secure cellular protocol to begin with. And I know that&#x27;s a lot to ask for, but can&#x27;t we just have nice things?