Signs of sophisticated cellphone spying found near White House, U.S. officials say

Members of the Secret Service patrol from the top of the White House. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

 

A federal study found signs that surveillance devices for intercepting cellphone calls and texts were operating near the White House and other sensitive locations in the Washington area last year.

A Department of Homeland Security program discovered evidence of the surveillance devices, called IMSI catchers, as part of federal testing last year, according to a letter from DHS to Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) on May 22. The letter didn’t specify what entity operated the devices and left open the possibility that there could be alternative explanations for the suspicious cellular signals collected by the federal testing program last year.

Norway probes intercept equipment found near PM’s home

Any top intelligence agency worthy of respect is not going to just leave these devices in plain site. However, on the other hand, any intelligence agency worthy of respect would leave these around in plain site to stir up national concern and mess with the minds of an entire nation, raise doubts about their security and how much faith they can have in their respective government regarding its ability to protect its citizens. In the intelligence community, this sort of espionage is referred to as psych ops.

 

Authorities in Norway are probing a possible espionage operation by a foreign intelligence agency, following the discovery of several electronic surveillance devices located near government buildings in downtown Oslo. The presence of the devices was revealed on December 12 in a leading article by Norwegian daily newspaper Aftenposten, which published the findings of what it said was a two-month technical investigation into the matter.