Security News > 2021 > October > Smartphone counterespionage for travelers

As soon as your flight lands, devices known as IMSI catchers located in or near the terminal may be waiting for your phone to turn on and look for a cellular connection.

An IMSI catcher is essentially a fake cell tower situated between your phone and the real cell network that allows the operators to, at a minimum, grab your smartphone's phone number and IMSI. Agents can then crossmatch these numbers against existing watchlists or databases and perhaps even associate these numbers with your flight's passenger list.

Such malware can take complete control of your phone, granting spies access to the contents on it, the communications from it and even its cameras and microphones.

Leave your smartphone at home and opt for a burner phone.

You're going to want to keep the partner's location hidden, but the obvious methods for doing so, including turning off your phone or leaving it back in your hotel room, are problematic.

You can even go step further and throw spies off your scent by heading in the wrong direction and then putting your phone in the Faraday case before making your way to the correct destination.

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