Open Source Signals Intelligence – NOT for the uninitiated

We note with some concern that Bellingcat is now operating in the open-source signals intelligence space. Signals intelligence is a field dominated by classified capabilities. In “generic” open-source intelligence, which is dominated by social media sources, anyone can be an equal player – especially with the assistance of commercial geospatial tools, such as Google Earth and commercial satellite services.

Signals intelligence is a wholly different domain and quite dangerous for the uninformed.

While we fully support the goal and work of Bellingcat, we strongly caution them and suggest they reconsider their decision to move into and operate within the signals intelligence realm.

In a recent interview with On the Media (an NPR program hosted by WNYC), Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins made the alarming claim that “we can connect launch sites to specific radio frequencies.”

THAT IS LITERALLY NOT A THING.

The radio frequency of a transmission has absolutely nothing to do with who is using it, or where it is located, or even how large an area it can be received across. Nothing prevents anyone from broadcasting on any frequency and saying anything they want, especially if it is unencrypted. Just because you suspect a Russian military unit is using a specific frequency, that does not preclude anyone with similar radio equipment from doing the same thing.

In fact, this is specifically the point of signals intelligence. Tracking, jamming, and imitating such radio traffic is exactly what the militaries of the world do daily. Taking captured radio traffic “at face value” (which seems to be what Bellingcat is currently doing) is problematic at best and wildly dangerous to their cause, their sources, and the future of the entire field.

Making such a statement undermines the entire open-source intelligence effort, its sources and its methodologies. It forces us to point out this flaw before it contaminates our work. We hate to throw Bellingcat under the proverbial bus, but these kinds of reckless statements are simply unacceptable.

Anyone who knows our founder’s background or work knows exactly why we are so concerned about this path. Not once, but twice, our past efforts were curtailed because inexperienced new operators got in over their heads. Both ended up in prison: one in a foreign country and one in the United States for misrepresenting their capabilities and failing to deliver on their contracted work.

We also note that two people have already been arrested inside of Ukraine by Russian forces, specifically because of the radio equipment they owned.

Unlike cell phones, which are the definition of ubiquity, merely being in possession of this digital radio equipment puts the user at significant risk. Encouraging the use of such equipment without seriously advising users of the risks is incredibly reckless.

FIN