Someone find me a good conservative blog where people are actually sensible and have more than half a clue what they’re talking about when it comes to security, especially national security, and don’t go off on hysterical rants every other post. I’ve searched and searched and come up empty. It would seem that the conservatives who know what they’re talking about in this field don’t publish on the Internet.
Despite finding myself agreeing with her much of the time, it’s the times when Michelle Malkin posts something stupid that really get me, because they turn out to be really stupid.
Case in point:
On December 18, a group of six Middle Eastern people walked into the Wal-Mart at 200 West IH 20 in Midland, Texas, and attempted to purchase “an unusually large quantity” of prepaid Tracfone mobile phones. Alert store employees notified authorities, and the local police, then the FBI, quickly came in and detained them. Happy ending, right?
Not if you’re using the incident to advance your agenda.
Initial reporting from ABC News indicated that the six men were tied to known terrorist cells in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, based on a statement to that effect in the initial Midland police report.
The FBI denies that statement. “There is no known link or demonstrated link or any other kind of link at this point between the people here and any terror cell,” said Bill Vanderland, agent in charge of Midland’s FBI office. He also said it wasn’t against the law to buy a large quantity of cell phones.
That’s good, because I regularly use phones of this type (but not Tracfone; they’re too expensive) for personal communications as well as communications related to this site, and probably for similar reasons. Let’s take a closer look.
In your typical postpaid wireless phone plan, the service provider bills you monthly, and you pay your bill. The provider knows who you are and where you live, because when you signed up, they asked for your identification (and possibly Social Security number) and performed a credit check. If the government becomes interested in that phone number, they can find out who you are with only a minimum of paperwork, and possibly having to find a judge who’s awake at 3 in the morning, but that’s becoming less and less necessary.
Prepaid phones are different. Because the company already has their money before you get to use the service, they don’t really care who you are. They typically perform no verification of identity, or they may not even ask. One such provider’s online activation process asks, but every bit of information is optional; you can leave it all blank, and still activate the phone.
Typically the way the government deals with this sort of situation is to use “roving wiretaps,” in other words, the wiretap is tied to a person, rather than a phone number. However, they still require a warrant, at least when both ends of the communication are inside the U.S.
Anyway, on to why Michelle Malkin is today’s Stupid Person of the Day.
She got duped by an argument by people who don’t know any better that says terrorists are adapting their communications tactics in the wake of last month’s disclosure of the National Security Agency listening to their phone calls and reading their e-mail.
They aren’t.
They’re using the same tactics they’ve been using all along, only now they’ve come under more scrutiny by the general public. I’ve known about this particular tactic for years, and I’m not heavily involved in either the law enforcement or intelligence communities. Anyone who looks seriously into securing their communications is eventually going to discover — or reinvent — this tactic, whether good guys or bad guys.
In fact, these people have been making such purchases of prepaid wireless phones for a long time before the Times report.
The utility of prepaid phones for anonymity has long been recognized in law enforcement and security circles. Hell, you could see it in the first season of “24″! (Maybe the second season, I forget.) And by and large, law enforcement has tools to deal with this. So does the intelligence community. One pretty obvious one (if you’ve worked with or studied these devices) comes to mind immediately, but because the occasional terrorist does stop by here, I won’t post it. I will say, however, that simply switching cell phones alone is not sufficient to prevent you from being tracked.
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Eric
Jan 15, 2006
Heh, I investigated one of my employees who had bought a large number of pre-paid cell phones while using a work computer for this very reason. Oh, did I mention that was over a year ago! These phones are primarily being used by the bad guys for remote detonation of explosive devices. You wire the detonator in place of the phone’s speaker. You call the cell phone, it rings by exploding. The other use is, obviously, throwaway communication. Call once, toss the phone and never use it again.
But saying that the terrorists are NOW using pre-paid cell phones because they found out about the NSA spying is crap, as you pointed out. Fanatic does not equal stupid.
t
Jan 15, 2006
Though not conservative, there is no better security blog than Bruce Schneier’s. I highly recommend it. He rarely gets into politics directly, but almost always has excellent commentary when politics gets into security. One of his books, Beyond Fear, is also especially worth checking out.
Michael Hampton
Jan 16, 2006
T, Schneier is already on my blogroll, and in my feeds. You haven’t noticed how frequently I quote, link and refer to his work?
t
Jan 16, 2006
Sorry, I follow 250-some feeds myself, I forget who reads what sometimes. But I rarely hesitate to recommend him, he’s one of my favorites.
Fighting the Left, doing it right
Jan 19, 2006
Wow, r u maybe, a liberal? You know i think theres an operation or even a medicine to cure u of this horrible disease/disorder. Well if ur not, put ur dick back in ur pants and go out and try to get laid. But thats just me, i could be wrong. But im pretty sure im not. Somethign bad happened, oops, lets all blame it on Bush, NO! I have a great website for u, http://www.protestwarrior.com
have a GREAT day
Michael Hampton
Jan 19, 2006
That’s funny. I’m no liberal, as you’d know if you actually looked around here, and I have a much better command of the English language than you do, it would seem. You might find some liberals among my readers, though.
Taran Rampersad
Jan 24, 2006
She also thought exploding garbage receptacles in Trinidad and Tobago were done by Al Quaeda. An Open Letter from Trinidad and Tobago was written to… help her on her path to recovery.
Tim
Feb 20, 2006
Hi Michael, On January 28, 2006 my brother was shot and killed on the streets of Philadelphia. The police have one led, a lady called 911 with a prepaid cell phone to report the killer running down the street with a gun. My family and I would be greatful if you could contact them with any information on how to track a prepaid number. The detective is Gregory Rodden Badge #9230 Homicide Division. 8th & Race Streets, Philadelphia PA 19106 (215)925-1885 Fax: 215 925 1885. My brothers name is Christopher Bradshaw and he was the 27th murder victim in the city this year. Thank you for your article, even if you cannot help it has given us hope. Tim Bradshaw
Michael Hampton
Feb 20, 2006
Tim, I’ve sent you email with further information. Check your Bulk folder if you don’t see it; Yeehaw seems to always send my mail to Bulk for some reason.
Tim
Feb 21, 2006
Hi Michael, I did not recieve it. Could you resend it please!
Tim
Feb 21, 2006
I have changed my spam settings, Thank you!
Jim
Nov 07, 2007
Michael
I am very interested in the imformation you gave tim on the tracking of pre paid cell phones, this is becoming a very hot topic, with children using them to call in threats to schools to get a day off. Great Site by the way! Thank you.
Denise
Nov 29, 2007
I would like the information Jim gave Tim on the tracking of prepaid cell phones. I’ve been receiving numerous txt msgs from a prepaid phone with many insults and would like to know whose trying to hurt me. Kindly send me the information to the above email address. I would really appreciate it.
Jason
Jan 12, 2008
Michael
i would like to know how to track my kids prepaid cell phones he bought 10 of them in the past 2 months, and i know hes been caught by the cops a few times hanging out with the wrong crowd.
thank you for the information
Sunchacer
Jan 31, 2008
Think it smart to track our kids and would love to know how to?also is there anyway to find out who has paid for my kids pre paid ph with only the phones number?please send all info to above e mail. desprate and worried
melina
Apr 14, 2010
I would like to know how to track My kids incoming and out going calls and texts on their pre paid phones, Can Some please help?
Lisa
May 08, 2010
Michael, I also would like to know to how to track prepaid cells too. Recently I am receiving calls and texts from a prepaid phone, do not know what to do. If you could send the the info, I would really appreciate it. Please help me. Lisa.
connor
Aug 01, 2010
Ok the whole harrasment thing I get but parents jeez cmon espeically you melina. Stop trying to control every aspect of your kids lives. Tracking their every movement and stuff man talk about helicopter parenting.