3 ms·

More info for anyone else who hasn't heard of Stingrays: > The StingRay is an IMSI-catcher (International Mobile Subscriber Identity), a controversial cellular

More info for anyone else who hasn't heard of Stingrays: > The StingRay is an IMSI-catcher (International Mobile Subscriber Identity), a controversial cellular phone surveillance device, manufactured by Harris Corporation.[2] Initially developed for the military and intelligence community, .... > Active mode operations 1. Extracting stored data such as International Mobile Subscriber Identity ("IMSI") numbers and Electronic Serial Number ("ESN"),[9] 2. Writing cellular protocol metadata to internal storage 3. Forcing an increase in signal transmission power,[10] 4. Forcing an abundance of radio signals to be transmitted 5. Interception of communications content 6. Tracking and locating the cellular device user,[4] 7. Conducting a denial of service attack 8. Encryption key extraction.[11] 9. radio jamming for either general denial of service purposes[12] or to aid in active mode protocol rollback attacks > Active (cell site simulator) capabilities > In active mode, the StingRay will force each compatible cellular device in a given area to disconnect from its service provider cell site (e.g., operated by Verizon, AT&T, etc.) and establish a new connection with the StingRay.[13] In most cases, this is accomplished by having the StingRay broadcast a pilot signal that is either stronger than, or made to appear stronger than, the pilot signals being broadcast by legitimate cell sites operating in the area.[14] A common function of all cellular communications protocols is to have the cellular device connect to the cell site offering the strongest signal. StingRays exploit this function as a means to force temporary connections with cellular devices within a limited area. So does that mean it would show up as a different carrier on my iPhone, or I'd be blind to the tower choice? from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stingray_phone_tracker https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stingray_phone_tracker

nier 11y ago
How fitting that they called it airplane mode. Looks like you might want to have that enabled when visiting that particular amusement park.
- tedmiston 11y ago
  Apparently even airplane mode might not necessarily protect you (though I don't claim to know how this works in the internals of iOS): > Furthermore while the IMSI is not transmitted often a silent SMS or a failed call will induce the phone to transmit its IMSI or TMSI also in and out of airplane mode while registering on the network. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3AIMSI-catcher https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3AIMSI-catcher
- __david__ 11y ago
  Or if you happen to live a few blocks away :-/.

nier 11y ago

How fitting that they called it airplane mode. Looks like you might want to have that enabled when visiting that particular amusement park.

tedmiston 11y ago
Apparently even airplane mode might not necessarily protect you (though I don't claim to know how this works in the internals of iOS): > Furthermore while the IMSI is not transmitted often a silent SMS or a failed call will induce the phone to transmit its IMSI or TMSI also in and out of airplane mode while registering on the network. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3AIMSI-catcher https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3AIMSI-catcher
__david__ 11y ago
Or if you happen to live a few blocks away :-/.