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AnonTechie writes:

The Russian Embassy, White House, Supreme Court, and other landmarks have some nosy neighbors, claims the maker of an ultrasecure mobile phone.

Continuing a sort of cross-country tour to detect phony cell towers, also known as interceptors or IMSI catchers, researchers associated with the security firm ESD America have detected 15 of the covert devices in Washington D.C., plus three more in nearby Virginia.

The company used their ultrasecure CryptoPhone 500 to search for the interceptors, which can compromise phones through baseband hardware and are believed to have a range of roughly 1 mile. ESD America's phones allegedly detected telltale signs of call interception in the vicinity of the White House, the Russian Embassy, the Supreme Court, the Department of Commerce, and the Russell Senate Office Building, among other landmark buildings.

Les Goldsmith, ESD America's CEO ( http://esdamerica.com/ ), stresses that he can't be sure who runs these surveillance devices. But he points out that the U.S. government already has the ability to listen to or track calls through domestic networks, thanks to the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA). “The U.S. government can listen to calls without deploying interceptors on the street,” says Goldsmith. “That’s why I think these are from foreign governments.”

http://www.popsci.com/article/gadgets/washington-dc-littered-phony-cell-towers

[Editor's note: see also our earlier story: Secure Android Phone Finds 'Fake' Cellphone Towers in U.S.]