Cell Phone Detection Growth Parallels Cell Phone Industry

I had the opportunity to spend a part of last week in the U.K. at the Olympia Exhibition Hall and couldn't help but notice I held a captive audience there at the Counter Terror Expo. Ever since 911, the United Kingdom, one of the U.S.'s most public supporters, has been on their own high alert. And with the 2012 Olympics to hit Londo soon, anti-terrorist planning and strategy has gone into high gear. From no fly zones over the entire city to military snipers postioned throughout strategic areas, London is hunkering down in preparation for a world audience.

With such a live audience comes the ubiquitous presence of mobile phones. Everyone has one and yet these tiny, cheap devices can also trigger catastrophic damage and death similar to the London bombings on July 7, 2005. Now these were all coordinated sucide bombings but at one time were believed to be carried out by cell phone triggers similar to I.E.D. roadside bombings in Afghanistan. At the time, the BBC speculated that the telephone system was shut down by security services to prevent the possibility of mobile phones being used to trigger bombs. Although this option was considered, it became clear later that the intermittent unavailability of both mobile and landline telephone systems was due only to excessive usage.

So how do you secure the greater London area when every cell phone could potentially be used a bomb trigger? I had the priviledge to address some of these concerns at the Counter Terror Expo. One good way to secure an area is to prohibit cell phone use and the best way to enforce that is to wirelessly detect all cellular activity. Unlike cell jamming, passive cell phone detection such as the PocketHound allows police and security teams to not only detect suspicious activity without being noticed but also locate that activity or person. Cellular jamming generally leads to massive wireless outages which creates huge safety problems for those that need help and plays directly into the hands of those that would cause the most harm.

So long as cell phones continue to shrink in size and cost, this problem will not be going away anytime soon. Similarly, the demand for detection and location solutions such as PocketHound will continue to grow with the ubiquity of mobile phones.

BVS' "DroidJacket" Wi-Fi Rogue AP Direction Finding Solution at GovSec

Scott Schober presented the latest mobile app at GovSec Expo 2012 to a packed crowd of federal government officials, security experts, and law enforcement agencies that are looking to enforce a NO WIRELESS POLICY within their secure facilities. Google's Android operating system has been embraced by consumers for the past few years but is now getting a lot of attention by federal customers too. The DroidJacket is a software defined radio that demodulates IEEE 802.11 b/a/g/n standards and also provides full RF spectrum analysis in the 2.0-5.9 GHz range. The dual 2.4/5.8 GHz integrated antenna is ideal for direction finding on rogue AP/clients that are a direct threat to secure facilities and corporations.

Contraband Cell Phone Detection Was the Buzz at the ACA Week in Phoenix

Berkeley Varitronics Systems, Inc. (BVS) had an incredible show at the Phoenix convention center this week as thousands gathered for the Winter American Correctional Association.  Attendees lined the isles inquiring about the latest technologies that are being effectively deployed throughout the correctional facilities within the US.  The topic of contraband cell phones was a reoccurring theme that not single company has yet to provide a complete cost effective solution with the endless budget constraints affecting facilities.  That has changed as BVS uniquely has unleashed an arsenal of effective cell phone detection products that combat this growing problem.    BVS cell phone detectors address different needs at different levels and thus offer a complete solution to this growing problem.

BVS was repeatedly praised for the unique covert solutions offered at the ACA show.  Much attention was drawn to the covert cell detector encased in a standard issued Motorola radio which is 100% look & feel of a two way radio yet is cleverly utilizing the standard radio controls to operate the cell detector.    The covert cell detector housed in a water bottle put a smile on many passerby’s as they commented it looked as if it was out of a James Bond film.  The VestHound was a welcomed addition to the cell phone detection line up.  The standard issued ballistic vest utilizes the pockets in the front to hold a direction finding antenna coupled to a miniaturized cell detector and external energizer Li-ION battery pack.  This is the first ‘body worn covert cell phone direction finding ‘ technology to hit the market.  The VestHound allows the corrections officer to be completely protected with the ballistic vest while simultaneously operate hands-free cell phone detection unit.  The auto adjust threshold feature measures the radio frequency noise floor and continually adjusts the trigger threshold above that to prevent false triggers.   The corrections officer simply turns the power on and the system takes it from there.  There is even a micro body worn vibration alert that pulsates proportional to the proximity of the mobile phone being targeted.

The steady flow of attendees inquiring about our cell phone detection tools was exciting.  There were several new prospects that commented they were so happy they stopped by and would be purchasing our tools which made the show a success.