That antenna mimics a standard GSM antenna, and by using a stronger signal than the official carrier signal, the nearby cell phones are automatically connected on it. As we're talking about interception of GSM 2G communications, Chris Paget used in parallel a 3G scrambler to force the phones to switch to their respective 2G mode.
By default, on a classic GSM network, all conversations are encrypted. But the encryption is managed by the antenna et on Chris' antenna, the encryption is disabled. According to the GSM specifications, the phone must notice the user that the encryption is unavailable but by default carriers deactivate that option via the SIM card. So it's impossible to tell if you are on an antenna with encryption or not...
Once the communication has been established with the interceptor antenna, the call is routed through a VoIP service in order to allow the user to make his call. In case of an incoming call, the caller will be directed to the voice-mail of his friend, connected to the interceptor antenna. During the presentation, nearly 30 phones were connected to this special antenna. People used their phones during this field test, first they heard a pre-recorded message from Paget telling them that the conversation will be monitored and recorded then the antenna patch them through the people they want to talk. The various conversations have been written on a USB flash drive, destroyed after the demonstration was finished.
Once again, with a little hardware and some technical knowledges everybody could spy on you. This time we have to blame the carriers who decided to not warn their customers if they were connected on an antenna that provided no encryption.
I invite you to watch the demonstration as it is very educational and the guy could be funny when he wants !
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