Ars takes a look at the tools of the surveillance trade

This week, as revelations about the extent of National Security Agency (NSA) spying continued to unfold, Ryan Gallagher brought us an article about the types of hardware that agencies outside of the NSA use to gather information from mobile devices. These agencies, which include local law enforcement as well as federal groups like the FBI and the DEA, use highly specialized equipment to gain information about a target. Still, the details about that hardware is largely kept secret from the public. Gallagher summed up what the public knows (and brought to light a few lesser-known facts) in his article, Meet the machines that steal your phone’s data.

Seraphiel got into the conversation relatively early with a question: "I wonder if there are methods (or even could be) to detect these things being used against your phone, and then DOS them or in some other way disrupt their function?" Threz_ made the inquiry more specific: "I wonder if it is possible to develop a custom Android ROM that allows you to whitelist towers that your phone will connect to. It seems like many of the devices in this article trick you into connecting to them in order to intercept your details/calls/sms/whatever. It would be inconvenient if you travel, but it wouldn't take too long to whitelist the towers in your area if you don't head out too much." And beebee advocated a more low-tech approach: "There is this thing called a battery. Remove it if you want to be sure the phone isn't finking you out. If you can't pull your battery, hey, it is your own fault for buying a phone with a captive battery."