Criminals use everyday technology to track police, undermine investigations, MS-ISAC report shows
A report published Tuesday by the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center shows that modern technology is making it easier than ever for criminals and foreign adversaries to monitor police officers, expose investigations and threaten public safety.
The report, which comes from a division of the New York nonprofit Center for Internet Security, focuses on “ubiquitous technical surveillance,” the ability to collect huge amounts of information from devices, such as cell phones, apps, cameras, social media presences and Bluetooth devices. These devices, the report says, leave digital trails allowing criminal groups to track officers’ locations through smartphone data, scrape online records to find home addresses or use hacked security cameras and smart doorbells to watch police activity in real time.
John Cohen, who heads the Program for Countering Hybrid Threats at CIS, said that although criminal organizations, transnational and domestic, have always found ways to surveil law enforcement as part of their “operational playbook,” the modern technology they’re using presents a more existential physical and digital threat.
“What’s different is that they are now able to leverage advanced technologies, many of which are the technologies that were once reserved for use by the intelligence community,” Cohen said. “They are using the trade craft that has been leveraged by intelligence professionals to turn the tables and spy on law enforcement personnel.”
The report warns that commonly used technologies in police stations, such as unencrypted radio channels and personal devices, contain information that criminals can use. Cohen added that criminals can also track smartphones when they come in contact with each other and share data, endangering officers, confidential informants, witnesses and entire investigations.
Several incidents of criminals using these techniques are highlighted in the MS-ISAC report, including drug cartels identifying FBI contacts using leaked phone information, ransomware attacks that exposed thousands of police case files and criminals using AI-powered tools to identify masked officers.
“They will use technologies that allow them to collect cell phone numbers of law enforcement personnel. Once you have that, you can use it to collect other intelligence,” Cohen said. “This represents an existential officer safety and operational security challenge for police departments, sheriff’s agencies and federal law enforcement agencies.”
Artificial intelligence is another tool in criminal enterprise arsenal, the report notes, used to hack cameras and leak data to identify officers. Similar to state and local governments that are trying to harness AI to enhance their operations, Cohen said, AI helps strengthen and reduce the cost of criminals’ surveillance and spying efforts.
“We’ve seen criminal organizations and foreign spy services and terrorist groups embrace the power of the internet, they’ve also embraced the power they’re increasingly leveraging advanced computing like AI,” he said “Whether it’s using it as a way to develop more believable phishing campaigns, or developing content online that elicits their response, or whether it’s developing highly sophisticated cyber cyber penetration techniques to gain access to information.”
The report calls for major updates to police technology policies, including encrypting all police communications, tightening rules around officers’ personal phones and Bluetooth devices, improving cybersecurity training and requiring agencies to conduct regular digital risk assessments. It also recommends helping officers and their families scrub personal information from data broker websites that criminals commonly use.
State governments, Cohen added, have an important role to play in solving these issues, as many smaller or rural police departments often lack the budgets or technical expertise to strengthen their cybersecurity.
“The reality is that while major cities and states may have the resources to employ advanced and more sophisticated cyber security capabilities, for smaller jurisdictions, it’s a much greater challenge,” Cohen said. “We are working with states to employ what is known as the ‘statewide model,’ where states can help support and bring resources to those smaller jurisdictions.”
