AT&T Won't Block Black Hat Eavesdropping Demo

snydeq writes "AT&T says it won't interfere with a highly anticipated talk on intercepting cell phone calls at the Black Hat conference this week. Hacker Chris Paget last week said that he plans to demonstrate on Saturday how to set up what's essentially a fake cell tower that allows him listen in on nearby mobile calls. But Tuesday, he wrote on his blog that he had 'heard that AT&T may be considering suing me to stop my talk.' AT&T, however, has insisted it has no plans to interfere with the talk."

Re:Ya forget AT&T, ask the FBI

[causality]

"I'm still not very convinced this is legal...So having a lab with what you need and trying it on your own stuff, that is legal." It's definitely NOT legal. If nothing else, he'll be transmitting without a license on frequencies he's not authorized to use. When you use a cell phone normally, it's transmitting under the carrier's license authorization. If he sets up his own "cell site," there's not a license to be found anywhere. It doesn't matter how much power is used, or how far the signal can travel, if it's an intentional radiator, it's illegal.

I had the impression that you could, without a license, transmit on frequencies that require a license so long as it's extremely low power, to the point that beyond X number of feet (300?) no meaningful reception of your transmission is possible.

Before CD players in cars were common, you could get standalone CD players that broadcast the audio in the FM band. The car's radio/tape-player could be set to FM and turned to that frequency to pick up the audio from the CD. This was acceptable because the transmitter is in the same vehicle as the FM radio, so tiny power levels were sufficient.

I admit that I am not a lawyer and don't know much about FCC regulations. I get the impression they're not an agency with a sense of humor, and one you wouldn't want to have to deal with. Still, would cell frequencies be given some special treatment that is not given to FM radio frequencies?

Re:Ya forget AT&T, ask the FBI

[EETech1]

We have 3 pico (femto maybe) cells at my work that take cdma calls and data and route them into Verizon somehow (LAN?). We also have 4 Spotwave systems set up in other locations to re-transmit CDMA and GSM voice and data outside the building, so I'm quite sure it is legal to have the equipment, and transmit on Cell phone frequencies, because it is something that can be arranged by our help desk, and our telecom guy installs them and maintains them, as they are purchased, or leased by our company. Now being able to set it up wherever you want to, and start intercepting calls meant to be covered by another site, might be a different story! /sidenote: I used to have a spotwave system camping with me and set it up in places where there was poor coverage, and it was amazing how people would naturally collect in front of my rig over a weekend, as they all used to get their voicemails and texts as they walked by, and wow here is the only place in the campground my cell phone works! I used to unplug it if they collected to much and blabbered too loud. it was great fun to see them all lose their signals at once. Hello??? Hello??? Cheers!

Re:Rumour?

[GrumblyStuff]

I try but they always tack on some celebrity or sports shit and then I turn off the TV.