It Is a Bird. It Is a Plane. It Is ... [Microwave Surfing]

Reports on the existence of "dirtboxes" to track criminal activity. In a recent Wall Street Journal report, it was written that the U.S. Marshals Service Program, which has been functional since 2007, operates Cessna aircraft in a “high-tech hunt for criminal suspects” from a number of metropolitan airports, covering most of the populous regions of the country. These planes carry devices (dubbed “dirtboxes”) that “mimic cell towers of large telecommunications firms [e.g., Verizon] and trick [mobile] telephones into reporting their unique registration information.” The devices are referred to as “dirtboxes” after the initials of the company DRT, Inc. Explains how they function and examines the implications for other technologies that may invade our privacy in order to protect people.