Meganet's Dominator I snoops on four GSM convos at once, fits in your overnight bag -- ...

Page 1 of 7

Everything iPad on TUAW

MAIL You might also like: Engadget HD, Engadget Mobile and More

HP BUYS PALM ENGADGET SHOW DELL LEAKS KIN ONE AND TWO IPHONE OS 4 APPLE IPAD

Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile Peripherals

Meganet's Dominator I snoops on four GSM convos at

once, fits in your overnight bag
By Chris Ziegler posted May 10th 2010 6:02PM

Android ported to iPhone?

Apr 21st 2010 10:14PM

HTC HD2 gets early Windows

Phone 7 OS port, could be
released before official devices
(updated: videos!)
Mar 28th 2010 2:09PM

iPad 'Spirit' jailbreak

"Dominator I" sounds more like a monster truck than a collection of small boxes that collectively erase demonstrated by MuscleNerd,
20 years of relatively secure wireless phone service, doesn't it? Alas, what you're looking at here is a now it really is magical (video)
convenient, plug-and-play solution for exploiting the hard work the world's hacking community has put Apr 4th 2010 1:38PM
into cracking the A5/1 encryption used on GSM networks in Europe and the US over the past few years.
The system consists of two nondescript white boxes, two directional antennas that you'll point in the Homemade 16TB NAS dwarfs
direction of your victim, and a laptop that you can use to get a glimpse at all of the phones currently the competition with insane
build quality (video)
connected to your nearest cell site and record up to four active calls simultaneously -- and if you're more
May 7th 2010 4:59AM
of the text messaging type, Dominator I's got you covered there, too, with full access to SMS. The
company claims that the system was "declassified only last week" and is completely undetectable both by
the operator and the end user, putting it in this rare nexus of "awesome" and "completely terrifying." It
can't do the 128-bit A5/3 used in UMTS, but now that it's been cracked in a somewhat practical way,
we're sure the Dominator II can't be far behind. Follow the break for Meganet's video of the system in
action.
Confirmed: Apple and AT&T
signed five-year iPhone
exclusivity deal -- but is it still
valid?
4 hours ago

Sony VAIO P Series review

13 hours ago

How would you change Apple's

iPad?

http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/10/meganets-dominator-i-snoops-on-four-gsm-convos-... 5/10/2010
Meganet's Dominator I snoops on four GSM convos at once, fits in your overnight bag -- ... Page 2 of 7

2 days ago

Entelligence: Meet H/Pre

3 days ago

Verizon iPhone chatter is

getting harder (than usual) to
ignore
3 days ago

You need to be logged into Facebook to

Login
see your friends' activity

NPD: Android ousts iPhone OS for

second place in US smartphone market
-- Engadget
1670 people shared this.

GigaPan Epic Pro helps create 44,880

megapixel panorama of Dubai skyline,
world's largest digital ph
207 people shared this.
YouTube 53 Meganet's Dominator I snoops on four
GSM convos at once, fits in your
overnight bag -- Engadget
133 people shared this.

First non-Latin domain name goes live,

a5.1, a51, crack, dominator i, DominatorI, encryption, gsm, gsm encryption, gsma, GsmEncryption, hack,
trips out browsers -- Engadget
meganet, video
221 people shared this.

Facebook social plugin

Telekom Austria to turn phone booths into EV recharging stations, stave off obsolescence 4 days ago
Clearwire promises Clear-branded HTC and Samsung WiMAX phones this year 5 days ago
ComScore: European cellphone navigation on the rise 21 days ago

Reggie: five million Wiis sold this year; almost a million have ’participated’... 6 days ago
Experiments at Bell Labs show 300Mbps possible over conventional copper twisted-pair DSL 18 days ago

The most commented posts on Engadget over the

past 24 hours.
Comments: on | off

NPD: Android ousts iPhone OS for 491

iHakr Posted May 10th 2010 6:07PM HIGHLY RANKED
second place in US smartphone
And now we'll see schools use this system to bust the text-in-classers! market

Confirmed: Apple and AT&T signed 266

five-year iPhone exclusivity deal --
but is it still valid?
kapanak Posted May 10th 2010 6:49PM NEUTRAL

@iHakr 227
Would you buy a hydrogen-
And then record hours of it, have conversations about it over email, and then claim powered sedan in 2015 for
they didn't even know how to use the Dominator I... $50,000?

Apple starts rolling out 207

bolezhinkov Posted May 10th 2010 7:00PM HIGHLY RANKED
international iPad pre-orders
@iHakr

I'm going back to tin cans and string for all my shady calls. Magic Mouse syncs with 182
jailbroken iPad, enabling
cursory cursor control
(video)
FORDY Posted May 10th 2010 6:07PM NEUTRAL

Dude...

Nokia N900

http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/10/meganets-dominator-i-snoops-on-four-gsm-convos-... 5/10/2010
Meganet's Dominator I snoops on four GSM convos at once, fits in your overnight bag -- ... Page 3 of 7

With a 5 megapixel camera, touchscreen,

Blunt Posted May 10th 2010 6:14PM NEUTRAL
HSPA, and a full slide-out QWERTY
@FORDY keyboard, this latest device in Nokia's
I'm sure that the government and sophisticated criminals have already had this "Internet Tablet" line might just have the spec
capability for years. sheet to get the job done.

FORDY Posted May 10th 2010 6:16PM NEUTRAL

@Blunt
Right, but you never hear about it then!

SolidSnake Posted May 10th 2010 6:16PM NEUTRAL

@Blunt
So have I....
What do you think I hide under my cardboard box?
Trending posts from Engadget on Twitter,
updated hourly.

Spiraling Shape Posted May 10th 2010 6:26PM NEUTRAL Sony's NEX3 / 5 cameras priced, June 668
Why are they declassifying this? release date leaked? -- Engadget

Confirmed: Apple and AT&T 518

signed five-year iPhone exclusivity
deal -- but is it still valid? --
RandomGuy Posted May 10th 2010 6:32PM HIGHLY RANKED
Engadget
@Spiraling Shape Because they have something even better that is still
classified. Steam on Mac preview 224
roundup: all but identical to
PC -- Engadget

septentriones Posted May 10th 2010 6:42PM NEUTRAL NPD: Android ousts iPhone 207
@Spiraling Shape Probably because they have better ones. I'd still like one OS for second place in US
though. =) smartphone market --
Engadget

Vertu Ascent 2010: same 187

kapanak Posted May 10th 2010 6:51PM NEUTRAL
pretension, new specs --
Engadget Mobile
@FORDY

So what does this mean for telephone banking and texting systems all those banks 169
are promoting nowadays? And when is the 3G version coming out? Dominator II GigaPan Epic Pro helps
anyone? create 44,880 megapixel
panorama of Dubai skyline,
world's largest digital photo
sn0skier Posted May 10th 2010 7:55PM NEUTRAL
-- Engadget
@FORDY
Time for me to start using VoIP for calling my bank...

FORDY Posted May 10th 2010 6:08PM NEUTRAL

Major nerd want. Upcoming Engadget posts on Digg over the past
24 hours.

Android ousts iPhone OS for second

67
place in US

electron Posted May 10th 2010 6:08PM NEUTRAL

First non-Latin domain name goes 35
awesome hacking tool is awesome
live, trips out browsers

Apple & AT&T had a 5 year iPhone 33

deal... but do they still?

Stevenk Posted May 10th 2010 6:08PM NEUTRAL

MacBook Air feeling the wind of 24
Gotta get me one of those!
change?

22

http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/10/meganets-dominator-i-snoops-on-four-gsm-convos-... 5/10/2010
Meganet's Dominator I snoops on four GSM convos at once, fits in your overnight bag -- ... Page 4 of 7

Canonical shows off 'Unity' desktop,

Ubuntu Light for OEMs 20
Mudracerxi Posted May 10th 2010 6:11PM NEUTRAL

How much for this Denominator?

Would you buy a hydrogen-powered
sedan in 2015 for $50,000?

Threlly Posted May 10th 2010 6:12PM NEUTRAL

GSM Pwned

dodgerfan Posted May 10th 2010 6:15PM NEUTRAL

@Threlly off to Verizon I go!

Threlly Posted May 10th 2010 6:19PM HIGHLY RANKED

@dodgerfan

I know, I've been monitoring your conversations =)

Xstream Posted May 10th 2010 6:12PM NEUTRAL

broken crypto is broken

r3loaded Posted May 10th 2010 6:14PM NEUTRAL

So...how come they don't use something like AES?

Aguiluz Posted May 10th 2010 6:17PM NEUTRAL

@r3loaded
JOYSTIQ
Because sophisticated crypto methods will take up more processing time, drive up One-quarter of Humble Indie Bundle
cost and probably lower capacity (AES overhead). In short, telcos lose money. downloads were pirated
Fable 3 art team working on a menagerie
of animals
benjgvps Posted May 10th 2010 7:58PM NEUTRAL Puzzle Agent's art and inspirations
investigated in first developer video
@Aguiluz Don't forget about the phones that will also have to decrypt it. Cheap
pay as you go phones will go away pretty fast.
DOWNLOAD SQUAD
TextMaker Viewer is a solid alternative for
MS Word Viewer
Google Editions scores deals with "nearly
all" U.S. publishers
SolidSnake Posted May 10th 2010 6:16PM NEUTRAL
Fizzik's social web browser enters public
This is damn scary. beta, but I kinda wish it hadn't

TUAW
Fluid lets you embed webpages as your
desktop or in menu bar
Yahoo!: iPad users skew male and middle-
whiskers Posted May 10th 2010 6:17PM NEUTRAL aged
So, how illegal is this and how many years in federal PMITA prison will one get AT&T's original deal on iPhone was for five
for using this? Seems like one could spy on a bank call center... my bank, for years
example, asks me to key in my SS number...
DAILYFINANCE
So Did Nonfarm Payroll Really Increase by
290,000 Jobs?
whiskers Posted May 10th 2010 6:18PM NEUTRAL Hugo Chavez Announces $40 Billion Oil
Deal in a Tweet

http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/10/meganets-dominator-i-snoops-on-four-gsm-convos-... 5/10/2010
Meganet's Dominator I snoops on four GSM convos at once, fits in your overnight bag -- ... Page 5 of 7

@whiskers
Not saying I would want to use this, but more like "I wouldn't want to touch this TECH DESIGN
device with a 10-foot pole" gdgt FFFFOUND!
Slashdot Core77
MAKE Popcorn Shower
Aguiluz Posted May 10th 2010 6:19PM NEUTRAL
Technology Review MoCo Loco
@whiskers
Ars Technica Design*Sponge

Use a land line for anything that requires better security. TechMeme The Sartorialist
Phone Scoop
NEWS
Politics Daily
RandomGuy Posted May 10th 2010 6:33PM NEUTRAL The Daily Beast
AOL News
@whiskers Does your Bank's call center use Cell phones? I have seen a lot of call
centers in my day, but never a cell based one. GNN
Taxes
Stock Quotes
DJIA

LIFESTYLE ENVIRONMENTAL
iheartgadgetz Posted May 10th 2010 6:23PM NEUTRAL
Lifehacker Inhabitat
After the 3G exploit is included, I can just see AT&T's new slogan: Lemondrop Good
AT&T - Nation's Fastest [Cracked] 3G Network StyleList Autoblog Green
Luxist Green Daily
Personal finance TreeHugger
Gadling
ENTERTAINMENT
SolidSnake Posted May 10th 2010 6:25PM HIGHLY RANKED
WoW
@iheartgadgetz Massively
If by cracked, you mean broken, then it already is....
The Onion
i09
PopEater
Spinner
Cinematical
Anticrawl Posted May 10th 2010 7:51PM NEUTRAL
Big Download
@iheartgadgetz

"Fastest 3G"

tehehehehehehehehehehehe

Randomness Posted May 10th 2010 6:25PM NEUTRAL

wow, the Wii can be modded to anything now.

(right of laptop)

jonbruc Posted May 10th 2010 6:34PM HIGHEST RANKED

I'm safe. My AT&T plan drops my calls every few seconds, so that my information
is never shared.

Girish Posted May 10th 2010 6:35PM NEUTRAL

Wow, sends shivers down my back

bigsofty Posted May 10th 2010 6:48PM NEUTRAL

Sounds like the name of a sex toy.

Ignoramus Posted May 10th 2010 6:51PM NEUTRAL

I lol'd

http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/10/meganets-dominator-i-snoops-on-four-gsm-convos-... 5/10/2010
Meganet's Dominator I snoops on four GSM convos at once, fits in your overnight bag -- ... Page 6 of 7

Petco Collects Pet Hair to Help Fight Oil

Spill
Eternal Density Posted May 10th 2010 6:52PM NEUTRAL

Now we need to see this in use on Chuck.

SWITCHED.COM
Gory PSAs Make Their Point Well, The
Most Frightening Sim City Ever
Japanese Launch First Tweeting Satellite
Into Outer Space
The White Pages to Say Goodbye to New
Alan Dixon Posted May 10th 2010 6:54PM NEUTRAL York, if Verizon Has Its Way
I'm not totally convinced that this thing is totally undetectable. By their own
admission this creates a new cell to capture target traffic (at 3:24 - 3:32 in the AUTOBLOG
video). Wouldn't the the carrier have a log of a new cell appearing in their
Video: Motor Trend pits Lexus LFA against
network? Someone with detailed knowledge in this field please explain / clarify.
Nissan GT-R in epic drag race
Spy Shots: 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK
caught training for Z4 fight

Rustymetal Posted May 10th 2010 7:00PM Daily U-Turn: What you missed on 5.10.10
NEUTRAL

Judging by black scuffs, car powering cords, and full set of ordering options.
FANHOUSE MAIN
This thing has had real world field tests many times. Buzz Aldrin Becomes WWE Superstar
Maria Kanellis Expanding Her Horizons
Following WWE
Reeling UVa Lacrosse Must Prepare for
NCAA Tournament
Mindfield Posted May 10th 2010 7:07PM NEUTRAL

How is this even legal? Is this meant only for government law and intelligence ASYLUM
agencies? (Police, CIA, FBI, whatever) Because frankly it kind of freaks me out,
Hot, Fresh Links -- Served When We Feel
and it seems like the kind of technology the wrong people could get their hands
on and use pretty easily. Like It
Brendan 'The Hybrid' Schaub Stars in UFC
Game, and We're Giving It Away
Hit Twitter Account 'Sh** My Dad Says'
chispito Posted May 10th 2010 7:32PM NEUTRAL
Now in Book Form
@Mindfield

Using it to listen to someone's call without their consent would be illegal. Owning
the equipment wouldn't be. Think of it like lock picks. It's perfectly legal to own
them and know how to use them, but not legal to break into someone's house.

azrunner Posted May 10th 2010 7:21PM NEUTRAL

Look out Tiger Woods....TMZ has a new toy!

Drummrgy Posted May 10th 2010 7:30PM NEUTRAL

It wouldn't be so creepy if they would stop referring to everyone as "targets"...

Anticrawl Posted May 10th 2010 7:52PM NEUTRAL

@Drummrgy

I agree, should have used the word "victim."

Oh wait...

CesarP Posted May 10th 2010 7:49PM NEUTRAL

Use a voice encrypted software like cryptophone or secvoice. These

smartphones softwares can protect you against this kind of product. There is
others in the market.

Thinmints Posted May 10th 2010 7:52PM NEUTRAL

lol, join the US Army and deploy to Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo or Africa... I've
personally worked with people who operate equipment like this on a far greater
scale, from vehicle mounting antennas that reach up to 300 meter radius, to small
Cessnas that reach upwards of 3 mile radius, all the way to AC-130 with 15+ mile
range and satellite trackers as well.

It really blows your mind the first mission you do and your able to trade down Abu
WhatsHisFace from a known Pakistani foreign fighter IMEI or IMSI that pinged
hot on his phone during there 30 second phone call via satellite phones...

http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/10/meganets-dominator-i-snoops-on-four-gsm-convos-... 5/10/2010
Meganet's Dominator I snoops on four GSM convos at once, fits in your overnight bag -- ... Page 7 of 7

malkandcookies Posted May 10th 2010 7:57PM NEUTRAL

If Detectives McNulty and Freamon had this technology, they would have gotten
Marlo and Avon a lot quicker.

Slowrollin Posted May 10th 2010 8:28PM NEUTRAL

$&@! Marlow....

VanNorden Posted May 10th 2010 8:04PM NEUTRAL

Where do i buy one?

DoctarPeppar Posted May 10th 2010 8:32PM NEUTRAL

How much $$?

| 1 | 2 | MOST RECENT | NEXT 50 COMMENTS

Sorry, you must login or register to leave a comment! If you have any questions, please refer to our FAQ.

© 2010 Weblogs, Inc. All rights reserved. Engadget is a member of the Weblogs, Inc. Network. Privacy Policy, Terms of Service, Notify AOL, AOL News

http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/10/meganets-dominator-i-snoops-on-four-gsm-convos-... 5/10/2010