Signal Jammer Tech

Using an unauthorized device to achieve a moment of peace on the CTA led to charges being filed against a 63-year-old man from Chicago on Tuesday.

Audrina Bigos of CBS 2 reports that the man has faced accusations of disrupting cell phone signals in the past, and the numerous complaints about dropped calls have sparked interest.

Following his felony charge for using a signal jamming device, Dennis Nicholl, a certified public accountant, walked out of jail wearing business casual attire and a ball cap.

The device was so conspicuous that Keegan Goudie and his brother felt compelled to write about it on thesixthirty.com after spotting it on the CTA Red Line.

Chas noted that his actions indicated he was up to something questionable, and that the device seemed to be beyond his rightful ownership.

Online vendors sell cell phone blocker at prices ranging from $30 to $300. The use, sale, or purchase of these devices is illegal under federal law. These jammers are capable of blocking cell phone signals, police radio frequencies, and emergency calls.

Keegan pointed out that it illustrates the capabilities of any person concerning security and the threat of terrorism in a large urban center.

For an extended period, the Chicago Police delved into complaints about dropped calls on the Red Line. Subsequently, a 911 caller alerted authorities to the infamous Nicholl. He was apprehended by undercover officers on a CTA platform on Tuesday and is now charged with a felony.

It was mentioned by attorney Charles Lauer that there was no malicious intent to cause harm to anyone.

According to his attorney, Nicholl's decision to utilize signal blocker
was driven by his exasperation with the constant presence of people using their cell phones, as he sought a moment of serenity.

The FCC guidelines indicate that individuals found using cell phone jammers could potentially be imprisoned and fined substantially. Violators may face fines of $16,000 for each violation or up to $112,000 for a single use of the device.

Nicholl was able to leave jail on Wednesday night following the posting of bond.

What’s the context?

US prison officials harness new technology to crack down on contraband cellphones but some still want powers to jam signals

• South Carolina programme shuts off more than 800 phones


• Federal action on broader signal jamming tech seen as unlikely


• Activists raise privacy, rights concerns for prisoners

RICHMOND, Virginia - As director of South Carolina's Department of Corrections, Bryan Stirling believes he knows what is needed to make the state's 21 penal institutions safer while also protecting people outside the prison walls.

Ideally, Stirling would like to have the power to jam phone signals from the state's prisons to tackle the scourge of illegal cellphones being used to facilitate crimes ranging from sex trafficking to murder-for-hire and drug dealing.

But this action has been prohibited under federal law for decades, and there is no immediate sign of change despite numerous appeals from law enforcement officers across the country, including a letter from top state prosecutors to the leaders of Congress last year.

With no movement likely in the near future, South Carolina opted for a pilot programme that allowed authorities in Lee Correctional Institution to identify and shut down contraband cellphones. More than 800 phones have been shut off at Lee since last July, out of an inmate population of about 1,100.

"We call it a pilot, but it's basically the system in there now," said Stirling. "We are using this technology in Lee and we will continue to use this technology until we can secure the money to do it everywhere."

Cellphone jammers not enough to block calls from prisoners

1. This is the view of senior prison officials who tell the Sunday Express that even though signal blocker (which they say are operational) are used to block signals from cellphones within the prisons, other interception technologies are needed for the system to be effective.


2. “Cellphone jammers are being used. But they need to be in use with other technologies like Wi-Fi jammers to be truly effective. We can see this in other jurisdictions. But it’s yet to be properly utilised here.


3. “So you will have prisoners with cellphones and tablets who cannot make calls. But they can use either the phone’s data, or if they have access to a hot-spot device or a Wi-Fi box, they will be able to make calls via social media apps. These include things like WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram. So there is still the issue of communication with the outside world. Communication is still being made.


4. “In other jurisdictions, you will see the cellphone jammers being used with other interception devices to determine the frequencies used by these devices, and then target those specific frequencies. If this is not done, then it’s almost like spinning top in mud,” a senior source in the Prison Service explained yesterday.

By producing a "no response" or cosine error, a laser jammer effectively obstructs the accuracy of a laser radar gun aimed at a vehicle by a police officer. As a result, the police officer is left uncertain about whether the vehicle is equipped with a laser jammer or if their aim is flawed.

A laser jammer is a gadget that produces a "no response" or cosine error when a police officer directs a laser radar gun at a vehicle. This error prevents the police officer from knowing whether the vehicle is equipped with a laser jammer or if they are not aiming correctly at the vehicle.

How to jam police lasers?

The effective defense against a laser requires the front laser jammers to provide protection for the headlights, license plate, and the reflective surfaces in their vicinity. Conversely, at the rear, the primary targets are the license plate and tail lights. Moreover, the center high-mounted stop light, backup lights, and vertical reflective surfaces are also vulnerable. It is noteworthy that even a tailgate-mounted spare tire/wheel assembly can be targeted, as evidenced by our successful attempt at hitting a Jeep Wrangler's aluminum spare wheel from a distance of 2,500 feet.

Can you install a laser signal jammers on your car?

California Vehicle Code Section 28150 (Division 12: Equipment of Vehicles, Chapter 5: Other Equipment, Article 17: Jamming Devices) states the following:

(a) No vehicle shall be equipped with any device that is designed for, or is capable of, jamming, scrambling, neutralizing, disabling, or otherwise interfering with radar, laser, or any other electronic device used by a law enforcement agency to measure the speed of moving objects.

(b) No person shall use, buy, possess, manufacture, sell, or otherwise distribute any device that is designed for jamming, scrambling, neutralizing, disabling, or otherwise interfering with radar, laser, or any other electronic device used by a law enforcement agency to measure the speed of moving objects.

(c) Except as provided in subdivision (d), a violation of subdivision (a) or (b) is an infraction.

(d) When a person possesses four or more devices in violation of subdivision (b), the person is guilty of a misdemeanor.

(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person who has a valid federal license for operating the devices described in this section may transport one or more of those devices if the license is carried in the vehicle transporting the device at all times when the device is being transported.

Can police radar measure speeds or more than one vehicle?

The speed of multiple vehicles can be captured at once by dash-mounted police radars, usually up to two.

Today, radar systems have the ability to target multiple vehicles simultaneously, identifying the fastest vehicle in a group and the vehicle with the emest radar signal reflection at the same time. Nonetheless, visual confirmation by the officer is necessary to determine the fastest vehicle among those targeted.

The Payson Police Department, during 2011, mistakenly believed they were procuring a cell phone jammers through a government program that allocates surplus military equipment to law enforcement agencies. However, they ended up with a smokescreen device from a U.S. Navy ship.

“The ‘Electronic Countermeasures’ were supposed to be cell phone jamming devices. However, what was sent were smoke machines off of a naval ship,” Chief of Police Ronald Tischer said in an email to Arizona Mirror. “So, we are in the process of sending them back. They were never used and have been in storage since 2011.”

The Mirror reached out to the Payson Police Department after analyzing data published by the Defense Logistics Agency about military equipment sent to local law enforcement agencies across the country. The department obtained two items listed as “electronic countermeasures” in 2011 both valued at roughly $4,800.

Company offering cell, drone and other jammers is fined $35 million

Chinese electronics manufacturer and online retailer C.T.S. Technology was penalized with a $34.9 million forfeiture order by the Federal Communications Commission yesterday for selling signal jamming devices to U.S. consumers, even though the full amount may not be recovered.

Commonly known as "jammers," radio frequency transmitters are specifically designed to block, disrupt, or interfere with wireless communications, including cell phone calls, GPS systems, Wi-Fi networks, and emergency communications.

As a result of an investigation conducted by the FCC's Enforcement Bureau, C.T.S. Technology is facing a proposed fine of $34,912,500. This penalty is being considered due to the company's marketing of 285 jammer models in the United States.

The FCC has also instructed the company to guarantee that its marketing adheres to federal law. Despite not responding to the proposed fine, formally known as a "Notice of Apparent Liability," the company has taken several steps to bring its marketing practices into compliance with U.S. laws that prohibit the marketing, sale, and importation of signal jammers.

The Commission's decision yesterday, characterized as a formal forfeiture order, confirmed the full proposed fine against C.T.S. Technology as they did not present any evidence to challenge the findings.

But collecting that money may be difficult.

The FCC, following international law, contacted the Chinese government to issue the NAL when C.T.S. did not acknowledge receiving it.

Nonetheless, China's designated service affairs agency paid no heed to the agency's request and concluded that a forfeiture filing was the suitable response.

The deadline for C.T.S. to pay is 30 days. The FCC has not indicated the next course of action if payment is not made.

Bear will attempt to elucidate the intricacies at play. Initially, there is the question of what and how they are obstructing. Bear will assume that they are causing interference rather than hacking, which is an entirely distinct affair.

In the case of a human losing network connection to Ubear while maintaining phone, data service, and GPS connectivity, the issue is most likely with the Ubear app. There is no reason to believe that nearby drivers are causing interference. When Ubear experiences a loss of coverage, which is frequent in its mountainous surroundings, no special steps need to be taken to restore access to U/L. This appears to be a problem with the human's phone.

If human is being jammed, most off-the-shelf (all illegal) jammers are going to be broadband and omnidirectional. In fact, bear finds in a search that such devices advertise their broadband capability. So any driver using one is going to potentially take out not only cell service but also TV broadcast (which still uses the parts of the good ol' UHF band that haven't been sold to the cell providers) and possibly GPS, and maybe even local 2.4GHz services (wifi, bluetooth), within the range of cell phone jammers. These devices aren't exactly subtle and many of them have a stupid amount of broadcast power. Bear saw one device with 8W transmit; in comparison, bear's marine radio normally uses 1W, but if bear is about to drown (bear can swim quite well) and needs the Coast Guard to come from miles away to save bear, bear can kick it up to 25W which gives range of up to 60 miles (the Coast Guard has bigass antennae to receive).

Thus, signal jammers will effectively disable their own capability to receive signal, ultimately disconnecting themselves from the network.

If you had a particularly sophisticated rideshare driver/jammer, they would deploy a network of directional jammers to yield a shaped jamming coverage that created a window for them to receive signal at these magical hotels, but block pings from going to outside drivers. Not impossible, radio stations have to shape their broadcast signals in order to avoid interference with surrounding markets. Just somewhat technically challenging for a rideshare driver with off-the-shelf equipment (bear did not see any directional antennae on the first few results in a Goggle search). This would be the type of thing that is going on in the Ukraine war with government-sponsored technicians.

In addition, it is crucial for a hotel to have a designated busy checkout time of around an hour. In a fixed location, this timeframe is set to a minimum of 15 minutes. This duration is much longer than the time the driver, who was caught jamming a particular cell tower during his morning commute, would have been causing disruptions. If individuals are actively interfering with GPS signals, it is likely that military interests would also take notice. Undoubtedly, any driver in Florida is never too far from a Coast Guard asset.

It is possible to consider that they possess a low-power device specifically designed for short-range usage. Their awareness of the human's habitual napping spot allows them to strategically position themselves nearby. By briefly interfering with their device's signal, they exploit the human's inadequate phone that is susceptible to such disruptions. Marvelous! Now all they need to do is replicate this action with the other ants patiently waiting in the vicinity, as they continue their drive.

All to earn $0.60/mile on a ride?

Bear recommends that individuals leave another service, like Pandora, running while they nap. If Pandora does not experience the same disruptions, it suggests that the person is not being jammed (unless they are only interfering with the GPS, which should not necessitate restarting their phone as described).

With a test receiver at its disposal, the Bear is capable of receiving signals across the entire spectrum, from FM to UHF, encompassing frequencies ranging from 75 to 900MHz. The Bear extends a warm invitation to humans to borrow this receiver! By selecting a TV band that corresponds to the human's local market and muting the audio signal of the TV station, the human can effectively combat interference. When gps jammers is activated, its disruptive noise will surpass the squelch, providing the human with undeniable confirmation.

Canada held a National Summit on Combatting Auto Theft on February 8, 2024 in Ottawa. The Summit sought to bring together stakeholders to solve this very serious problem.

A major outcome of the Summit is that the government will disrupt the supply chain that makes available devices that are often used in vehicle theft by criminals in the process of stealing vehicles.

Vehicle theft has grown to be a very critical issue in Canada: The country is seeking to mitigate this situation. News reports reveal that car thieves have developed systematic techniques where it is easy to obtain stolen vehicles for sale in other markets. The federal government with the support of advocates is implementing plans to reduce this problem.

Should vehicle manufacturers do more to stop vehicle theft?

This very question of more remedies needed to stop vehicle theft has stimulated the growth of Aftermarket solutions. Antitheft systems and devices are growing in popularity becuase some people feel insecure about simply replying on the vehicle manufactures built-in security systems. The Forbes article below highlights this concern:

"Manufacturers are always working to improve the anti-theft measures in vehicles, but thieves work just as hard to defeat them. According to FBI statistics, in 2020 the U.S. saw an 11.8% increase in car thefts over the prior year, and the trend has continued. The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) reported that over 1 million vehicles were stolen in 2022. That’s a 7% increase over 2021, and the first time there were over 1 million vehicles stolen since 2008."

When the pickup truck was stolen, the thieves allegedly removed a factory-installed GPS tracker but the owner had his own backup plan: a second GPS tracker which was installed by a trained mechanic. This second telematics device enabled him to locate the Toyota Tundra at a parking lot in Toronto before he called the police.

The strategy of using a second backup tracker is a common strategy used all over the world: The typical weakness of this approach is Management and Maintenance. Management speaks to checking on the proper functioning of the Tracker at regular intervals. Maintenance requires prompt attention at the earliest signs of malfunction.

Information Risk

I believe that Information RISK is the typical reason why some persons chose backup security devices. Vehicle manufacturers adopt strategies to secure information on primary built-in tracking systems and devices so that vehicle security is not compromised. As the age old adage goes "a chain is as strong as its weakness link".

The vehicle service and maintenance information systems has to be distributed downstream involving more human players which inherently increases the risk that ethical issues may compromise security. How to prevent Information from being leaked to bad actors is always a systemic concern.

Information Risk Mitigation

The Information Risk Management (IRM) plan addresses the risk mitigation strategy using policies, technology and procedures to minimize the probability of information security leaks.

Once it becomes apparent that vehicles are being stolen despite the IRM being in place, data should be collected and analyzed to assess how the IRM can be strengthened. The spectrum of compromises varies from sharing of Master Access Codes, Encryption Algorithms or an individual in the Supply Chain informing criminal elements how to defeat the built-in security.

The tools devices generally used to steal vehicles include GPS and GSM Jammers.

GSM & GPS Jammers

Information on how to temporarily block GSM and GPS Signal jammers are readily available online.

Tech-Savvy criminals can learn and become proficient

The GPS Tracker which is an Internet of Things (IoT) device, detects the attempts to jam GSM and GPS transmissions: This electronic attack interferes with the operation of the tracker in it's function to protect the vehicle from being stolen. The small electronic circuit board within the device gathers GPS, GSM, Bluetooth data and other information that keeps the vehicle secure. Satellite data determines vehicle location and elevation.

Is the vehicle on a mountain road or driving through a tunnel under a river. The GSM module assists the GPS module by also providing tracking data based on Mobile Cellsite Towers: This information assists the GPS functionality of the tracker. The Mobile (GSM) data connectivity from the wireless telephone operators such as T-Mobile or Bell Mobility (Bell Canada) allows for the sending of Vehicle Tracking and Monitoring data from the Tracker to GPS Tracking platforms (Software) such as Navixy.com.