What is "dirtbox"

Dirtbox may refer to:

• Dirtbox (cell phone), a cell site simulator that mimics a cell phone tower, used by security agencies to collect information about phones
• One of several aliases of Ewan Pearson, an English electronic music producer

A dirtbox (or DRT box) is a cell site simulator, or a phone device mimicking a cell phone tower. The device is designed to create a signal strong enough within a short range that it forces dormant mobile phones to automatically switch over to it. It is used by the United States Marshals Service, mounted on aircraft all over the U.S., to detect and locate cell phones and thus collect information, and can be used to jam phones. The name stems from the company that originally developed it, Digital Receiver Technology, Inc., abbreviated DRT, owned by the Boeing company. Boeing describes the device as a hybrid of "jamming, managed access and detection". A similar device with a more limited range that has been widely used by United States federal entities, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), is the controversial StingRay phone tracker.