4G/LTE enabled smartphones are expected to have a user base of about 1.37 billion people by the end of the year. The researchers assembled a $1,400 gadget which runs on freely available open-source software. The contraption can target 4G/LTE smartphones to leak their location to within a 32- to 64-foot (about 10 to 20 meter) radius and in some cases their GPS coordinates. The researchers said only tech savvy smartphone users can detect any intrusion made by their gadget. They also said that there exists a separate method that can track the smartphone user to a area of one square mile and is virtually impossible detect.
It is relatively easy to monitor these signals using easily-available network hardware, according to the researchers from Aalto University, the University of Helsinki, Technische Universitat Berlin and Telekom Innovation Laboratories. Also read: How To Hack WhatsApp Using SS7 Flaw
