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TinyCheck allows you to easily capture network communications from a smartphone Somewhat disappointingly (and different to my understanding of "easily" and "fr

TinyCheck allows you to easily capture network communications from a smartphone Somewhat disappointingly (and different to my understanding of "easily" and "from a smartphone") followed further down by: In order to make it working, you need a computer with a Debian-like operating system and two Wi-Fi interfaces. The best choice is to use a Raspberry Pi (3+) with a Wi-Fi dongle and a small touch screen...

ASalazarMX 6y ago
Maybe they meant easy as "once you have this setup, capturing traffic from this point forward becomes easy".
paultopia 6y ago
By "two wifi interfaces" do they mean "two physical wifi cards/chips/dongles"? Put differently, is an "interface" defined in terms of hardware or software?
- simcop2387 6y ago
  It's going to be the ability to act as an AP and a client at the same time. Frequently this means two physical devices.
  - bigiain 6y ago
    I bet it'd be pretty easy to make it work using a RaspberryPi's on board wifi and an ethernet cable to the router. Dual wifi makes for easier installation/operation in a lot of situations though, so I think its a good "default config". If there's already a wifi network people can use, hooking one wifi chipset to that then connecting the phones under test to an access point broadcast by the other - is easier than expecting there to be a live ethernet port and someone at a womens shelter-style-place having access to it and skills to use it.
    - inquirerofsorts 6y ago
      Simultaneous AP/Managed mode is available on RPI3 and RPI Zero W boards, I'm not sure about the others models.
    - alias_neo 6y ago
      I have often setup similar devices for R&D at work, using Hostapd to create an AP using Pis internal WiFi and ethernet uplink. I find though that it's usually better to use an external WiFi device such as an Alfa. This should be fairly simple too so long as there's no arbitrary restriction on requiring wlan devices preventing you from using WiFi+Ethernet rather than Wifi+Wifi.
- cassianoleal 6y ago
  By skimming the README, it looks like only one WiFi interface is really necessary so you can connect the smartphone to TinyCheck. The other interface is to connect the TinyCheck box to the internet, so it could well be a wired connection. I suspect that if your WiFi device can support AP and client mode simultaneously it should work just as well.
  - ngcc_hk 6y ago
    Problem is it is not mac or w10. Get a device setup ... may still try as lots of those around.
- antman 6y ago
  Rpi has capability of being simultaneously an access point for your device and a bridge towards another wifi network but in my tests on RPi3 it was unstable. Better use wifi and cable
xnyan 6y ago
I read it as capture data coming __from__ your smartphone.
- sciurus 6y ago
  Yep. I've edited the title to make that clearer.
suifbwish 6y ago
You can also do a mitm with two wifi enabled raspberry pies or Linux computers by mapping the network block device of one machine over nfs to the one performing the attack.
bigiain 6y ago
The History section of the git README explains it well, and why that design/architecture choice is a good one for the intended use case: "The idea of TinyCheck came to me in a meeting about stalkerware with a French women's shelter. During this meeting we talked about how to easily detect easily stalkerware without installing very technical apps nor doing forensic analysis on them. The initial concept was to develop a tiny kiosk device based on Raspberry Pi which can be used by non-tech people to test their smartphones against malicious communications issued by stalkerware or any spyware." I think it's a great idea. I'm going to check in with a friend who has to deal with stalker ware-infected phones at a womens shelter she volunteers at to see if they'd like me to build/send them one.
- kerabatsos 6y ago
  I believe the author is suggesting that it’s more common than one would think.
- mellosouls 6y ago
  I (parent comment) also like the idea, it sounds cool and useful - I just think it's rather more complicated than indicated by the original lead text. It would definitely be nice to see it deployable in a quick and easy way for less tech savvy users.
deleted 6y ago
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ASalazarMX 6y ago

Maybe they meant easy as "once you have this setup, capturing traffic from this point forward becomes easy".

paultopia 6y ago

By "two wifi interfaces" do they mean "two physical wifi cards/chips/dongles"? Put differently, is an "interface" defined in terms of hardware or software?

simcop2387 6y ago
It's going to be the ability to act as an AP and a client at the same time. Frequently this means two physical devices.
- bigiain 6y ago
  I bet it'd be pretty easy to make it work using a RaspberryPi's on board wifi and an ethernet cable to the router. Dual wifi makes for easier installation/operation in a lot of situations though, so I think its a good "default config". If there's already a wifi network people can use, hooking one wifi chipset to that then connecting the phones under test to an access point broadcast by the other - is easier than expecting there to be a live ethernet port and someone at a womens shelter-style-place having access to it and skills to use it.
  - inquirerofsorts 6y ago
    Simultaneous AP/Managed mode is available on RPI3 and RPI Zero W boards, I'm not sure about the others models.
  - alias_neo 6y ago
    I have often setup similar devices for R&D at work, using Hostapd to create an AP using Pis internal WiFi and ethernet uplink. I find though that it's usually better to use an external WiFi device such as an Alfa. This should be fairly simple too so long as there's no arbitrary restriction on requiring wlan devices preventing you from using WiFi+Ethernet rather than Wifi+Wifi.
cassianoleal 6y ago
By skimming the README, it looks like only one WiFi interface is really necessary so you can connect the smartphone to TinyCheck. The other interface is to connect the TinyCheck box to the internet, so it could well be a wired connection. I suspect that if your WiFi device can support AP and client mode simultaneously it should work just as well.
- ngcc_hk 6y ago
  Problem is it is not mac or w10. Get a device setup ... may still try as lots of those around.
antman 6y ago
Rpi has capability of being simultaneously an access point for your device and a bridge towards another wifi network but in my tests on RPi3 it was unstable. Better use wifi and cable

xnyan 6y ago

I read it as capture data coming __from__ your smartphone.

sciurus 6y ago
Yep. I've edited the title to make that clearer.

suifbwish 6y ago

You can also do a mitm with two wifi enabled raspberry pies or Linux computers by mapping the network block device of one machine over nfs to the one performing the attack.

bigiain 6y ago

The History section of the git README explains it well, and why that design/architecture choice is a good one for the intended use case: "The idea of TinyCheck came to me in a meeting about stalkerware with a French women's shelter. During this meeting we talked about how to easily detect easily stalkerware without installing very technical apps nor doing forensic analysis on them. The initial concept was to develop a tiny kiosk device based on Raspberry Pi which can be used by non-tech people to test their smartphones against malicious communications issued by stalkerware or any spyware." I think it's a great idea. I'm going to check in with a friend who has to deal with stalker ware-infected phones at a womens shelter she volunteers at to see if they'd like me to build/send them one.

kerabatsos 6y ago
I believe the author is suggesting that it’s more common than one would think.
mellosouls 6y ago
I (parent comment) also like the idea, it sounds cool and useful - I just think it's rather more complicated than indicated by the original lead text. It would definitely be nice to see it deployable in a quick and easy way for less tech savvy users.

deleted 6y ago

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