Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by EternalAugust 2381 days ago
Well, you can sniff wifi with any network card and driver that support promiscuous mode for the wireless standard you're interested in. For bluetooth, I have used the Ubertooth One [1]. Unfortunately the range is pretty short with this device... Radio sniffing in general is done with software defined radio (SDR). Three pieces of hardware I have used for this and can recommend are the RTL2832U [2] (ultra cheap, can honestly say its some of the most fun I've ever had for 20 bucks), HackRF One [3], and the USRP B200 [4]. I like using GNU Radio for signal processing.

I mention these because this type of equipment is very easy to acquire and that, even if there are no companies out there currently offering what you're suggesting, doing this type of radio surveillance (DIY or otherwise) would be fairly easy. Heck, you can even do really high res Van Eck phreaking with the USRP B200 quite easily [5]. You could look at the criminal's twitter feed if he was scrolling through it. :P

[1] https://greatscottgadgets.com/ubertoothone/

[2] https://www.rtl-sdr.com/

[3] https://greatscottgadgets.com/hackrf/one/

[4] https://www.ettus.com/all-products/UB200-KIT/

[5] https://github.com/martinmarinov/TempestSDR

Edit: grammar & wording

1 comments

Replying to myself because I thought I should add that in no way do I think it would be ethical to use or building such a surveillance system. Especially one that employs Van Eck phreaking.