High-tech spying from foreign entities is of growing concern in Washington, particularly when it has related to cell phone tapping near government sites and military bases, and now Congress is moving to pass legislation to fund efforts to track and report it, The Hill reported.
"Our men and women in uniform shouldn't have to wonder if their calls and texts are being scooped up by foreign spies," Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said in a statement, supporting a spending bill that passed the Senate 86-5 as "the absolute least we can do."
The Wyden-led bill directs the Pentagon to disclose spying on cell phones near military basis through the use of fake cell phone towers that trick mobile users into sharing location data and communications. The fake towers, known as "Stingrays," are also used by U.S. law enforcement and intelligence to surveil suspects, according to the report.
Also, a Senate bill under way would require intelligence to report on vulnerabilities in the global telecommunications system with regard to foreign surveillance capability, according to the report.
The Department of Homeland Security had reported potential Stingray activity in Washington, D.C., last year, including around the White House.
DHS did not allow its officials to testify this week before the House Science Committee, which frustrated lawmakers, merely briefing the committee in a private session.
"While this was helpful in giving some context to the matter, it was no substitute for a public discussion on such a serious issue," the committee's chairman, Rep. Ralph Abraham, R-La., told The Hill.
Instead of hearing from DHS in public session, the committee heard from experts on the topic.
"The federal government is the largest consumer of commercial wireless services and is susceptible to the same cybersecurity risks in our communications infrastructure," Princeton University professor Jonathan Mayer told the committee, per the report.
"A foreign intelligence service could easily use cell-site simulators to collect highly confidential information about government operations, deliberations, and personnel movements."
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