By monitoring geographical areas and tracking subjects of interest, real-time location intelligence ties digital investigations to the physical world and events. It illuminates unfolding investigative narratives, such as identifying the parties present at a given place, as well as tracking how they converge, move, and disperse.
Cell-site simulators (IMSI catchers) provide tactical access to location information, independent of existing networks.
The combination of active tracking and passive measures such as geofencing can identify activity around border zones, restricted areas, and other locations of interest, helping guide enforcement activities and fine-tune resource deployment. Real-time positioning can also be instrumental in emergency services, such as for locating missing persons and disaster victims.
Mobile networks offer baseline location information that is useful in jumpstarting investigations, such as passive analysis of a scene to identify devices present at the time of a crime, for example. However, network location intelligence alone can make real-time tracking difficult, especially in remote geographies that lack coverage such as shipping lanes or wilderness areas. Reliable location may be unavailable or limited to cell-level resolution, especially in rural regions, which can result in a search area spanning tens of kilometers. In other cases, the issue relates to access as opposed to coverage, where a lack of technical integration or cooperation from network operators and government agencies blocks visibility.
Cell-site simulators (IMSI catchers) provide tactical access to location information, independent of existing networks. Measuring signal characteristics from devices that attach to it, an IMSI catcher streams data to the location services platform so it can estimate high-accuracy position. In addition to fixed deployments, the use of increasingly compact IMSI catchers with low-cost, high-quality drones offers stealthy, precision-controlled data collection over extended areas. These solutions typically integrate building blocks from multiple providers, such as the IMSI catcher itself, drone hardware, and location services platform. SS8 is working with ecosystem partners to facilitate smooth interoperation of these components, improving real-time tactical location within the broader lawful intelligence environment.Tactical measures for real-time location
IMSI catchers can identify what devices are present in a defined area as well as actively track individual devices, adding granularity to cell-level location data. While in 4G and prior networks, the captured IMSI directly identifies the target device, 5G obscures device identities using encrypted SUPI/SUCI pairs.
SS8 lawful intelligence fuses dynamic location information from IMSI catchers and other tactical measures with other signals, including historical network positioning information, to create a more comprehensive investigative picture.
The correlation between the public, ephemeral SUCI and the hidden, permanent SUPI for a device is only available in the clear within the operator’s 5G core, ordinarily beyond the reach of investigators. In addition, the association of each device with multiple public identifiers can make it impossible to track individual devices over time, or even to discern how many distinct devices are present.
The network operator’s mediation function exposes SUPI/SUCI pairings to the SS8 location intelligence platform so it can resolve device identities and consistently track them. This mechanism maintains consistency with ETSI and 3GPP standards to enhance compatibility across geographies and network equipment providers. In this modular resolution architecture, Intellego XT ingests the associations between public and hidden identifiers to maintain dynamic mapping and resolution of device identities over time even as transitive SUCIs change, consistently tracking tactical location over time and across domains and technology generations.
SS8 lawful intelligence fuses dynamic location information from IMSI catchers and other tactical measures with other signals, including historical network positioning information, to create a more comprehensive investigative picture. For example, a device being tracked in real time by a drone-mounted IMSI catcher might be correlated with an SS8 iDossier profile that reveals its connection to a known member of a criminal organization. Historic position data may provide additional clues and associations, including supporting sources such as license plate readers, geotagged photos, financial transaction data, intercepted communications, and open source intelligence.
Operationalizing tactical location intelligence
SS8 works with providers across the ecosystem to validate open, flexible, standards-based technologies for real-time tactical location intelligence.
Real-time insights revealed by IMSI catchers as well as WiFi routers, apps, and other sources make it possible for automatic and immediate escalation actions to maintain contact when a high-value target or critical event is identified.
While batch analysis of location data after the fact is critical to providing the investigative and evidentiary context necessary to identify leads and build cases, it is not always enough to support operational measures like the execution of search warrants.
By contrast, real-time insights revealed by IMSI catchers as well as WiFi routers, apps, and other sources make it possible for automatic and immediate escalation actions to maintain contact when a high-value target or critical event is identified. For example, a subject of interest heading out to sea or into an area without cell coverage can have its location tracked by a drone high overhead, independent of conventional network resources. Calculations based on the target’s changes in speed and direction can be relayed to the flight platform’s command and control systems to allow long-term monitoring and observation, without analyst involvement.
These mechanisms ensure that tactical collection of location data is not a standalone capability that operates in an information silo. SS8 development, integration, and pre-validation across the industry make these sources full participants in global lawful intelligence practices. In a world where critical high-accuracy location data depends on the availability of network resources and forensic capabilities, these mechanisms play an instrumental role in delivering location intelligence that pinpoints subjects of interest and advances investigations.
To find out more about SS8’s leading lawful and location intelligence solutions, visit www.SS8.com.
To find out more about SS8’s leading lawful and location intelligence solutions, visit www.SS8.com
About SS8 Networks
As a leader in Lawful and Location Intelligence, SS8 is committed to making societies safer. Our mission is to extract, analyze, and visualize critical intelligence, providing real-time insights that help save lives. With 25 years of expertise, SS8 is a trusted partner of the world’s largest government agencies and communication providers, consistently remaining at the forefront of innovation.
Discovery is the latest solution from SS8. Provided as a subscription, it is an investigative force multiplier for local and state police to fuse, filter, and analyze massive volumes of investigative data – in real time.
Intellego® XT monitoring and data analytics portfolio is optimized for Law Enforcement Agencies to capture, analyze, and visualize complex data sets for real-time investigative intelligence.
LocationWise delivers the highest audited network location accuracy worldwide, providing active and passive location intelligence for emergency services, law enforcement, and mobile network operators.
Xcipio® mediation platform meets the demands of lawful intercept in any network type and provides the ability to transcode (convert) between lawful intercept handover versions and standard families.
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