AirChat: Ad hoc network monitoring with drones

FireChat is a mobile messaging application that uses a mesh network topology to communicate between users through a cellular, WiFi, or Bluetooth Low Energy connection. FireChat has seen global growth for use in crowded events such as protests. The team has worked in conjunction with the MITRE Corporation to develop a system that attaches to a quadrotor and monitors nearby connections to gather metadata on the FireChat. This information is analyzed to provide insight into the structure of large groups or specific devices using FireChat. The WiFi Pineapple Nano, Ubertooth One, and HackRF One were tested for monitoring FireChat. From these three, the Pineapple was selected to monitor WiFi and the Ubertooth was chosen to monitor Bluetooth. The devices were evaluated based upon their ability to provide useful data, meet size, weight, and power requirements, and function across all platforms on which FireChat can be installed. While the Ubertooth provided some relevant data about the use of FireChat, it was inconsistent so Bluetooth development was discontinued. The Pineapple, however, successfully collects the MAC address and connected routers of the FireChat devices. A Raspberry Pi runs scripts to control the Pineapple to scan WiFi networks and collect FireChat data. Further, the time and location will be saved based on timing of received data and location of the quadrotor. This data is sent to a server using the Particle Electron, a 3G cellular communication board, where further analytics are performed. The analysis provided to the sponsor is able to identify the location of certain FireChat users, their progression over time, and common communication networks in which they participate.