Last week, Philadelphia TV reported NBC10 on a man who admitted using a GPS jammer. His laptop on the bus stopped loudly when his companion spoke.
The man said, "I think I am responsible for the law. To be honest, I am proud of it."
He was very angry and rude when calling someone with a mobile phone on a public bus.
"A lot of people are very loud, they don't feel anything, just intimacy or something," said Eric. "If it gets uncomfortable, I pull the antenna tight and flip the switch."
The story has spread. And obviously piqued people's interest.
During the entire weekend and on the last Monday afternoon, "Mobile Jammer" was one of the top 10 searches on Google Trends, according to Lindsay Lohan and the accompanying Super Tuesday performance "Saturday Night Live". This happened between the news of the primaries.
Experts claim that exotic accessories used to block cell phone signals are illegal and potentially dangerous.
So why would Google get people to search for them on Monday? You can thank a guy from Philadelphia who got bullied by bullies during his daily bus tour and a local reporter was on the same bus.
In the days after the story was published last Friday, interest in these devices seemed evident. These devices can be purchased online at prices between $ 40 and $ 1,000, which has caught the attention of some security professionals.
The legality of jammers varies from country to country. It is generally illegal in the United States to sell, own, or use such devices without government authorization. These devices can be sold on some websites.
Mislan, a former US military communications and electronic warfare officer, said law enforcement officials were "very concerned" about how criminals use GPS jammers on cell phones.
He said that even someone who just wants to annoy their neighbors on the bus can cause harm.
In Philadelphia, for example, jammers can interrupt communication between bus drivers and dispatchers trying to transmit emergency or traffic information. Not to mention other people around (other than annoying speakers) who may have missed important calls.
"Who is playing God on our phones?" Said Mislan.
The way a cell phone jammer works is very similar to an online denial of service attack on a website, which means it sends a signal on the same frequency as a cell phone in the vicinity.
"To put it simply, they just cut the signal in the area," said Mislan. "If you want, these are strong signals from all over the area. If the phone tries to connect to the tower, you can't do that or it will make other noises."
According to federal law, the illegal use of jammers can result in jail sentences and fines of up to $ 16,000.
If they're illegal and potentially dangerous then why is it easy to find drone jammer online?
"That's the Internet. I can buy anything I want anytime, anywhere," said Mislan. "Unfortunately, all of this is linked to the US dollar."
Richard Misland, Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Information Technology at Purdue University, said, "The general public does not realize that these things cause interference when they start using them." "Of course, all wireless connection systems run in the background. We keep data communication going in our daily lives."