5G Is Here—and Still Vulnerable to Stingray Surveillance
https://www.wired.com/story/5g-security-stingray-surveillance
#5g #stingray
https://www.wired.com/story/5g-security-stingray-surveillance
#5g #stingray
Wired
5G Is Here—and Still Vulnerable to Stingray Surveillance
5G was supposed to offer new protections against so-called stingray surveillance devices. New research shows it's anything but.
A new technique can detect newer 4G ‘stingray’ cell phone snooping
Security researchers say they have developed a new technique to detect modern cell-site simulators.
Cell site simulators, known as “stingrays,” impersonate cell towers and can capture information about any phone in its range — including in some cases calls, messages and data. Police secretly deploy stingrays hundreds of times a year across the United States, often capturing the data on innocent bystanders in the process.
Little is known about stingrays, because they are deliberately shrouded in secrecy. Developed by Harris Corp. and sold exclusively to police and law enforcement, stingrays are covered under strict nondisclosure agreements that prevent police from discussing how the technology works. But what we do know is that stingrays exploit flaws in the way that cell phones connect to 2G cell networks.
https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/05/crocodile-hunter-4g-stingray-cell/
#crocodile #hunter #stingray
Security researchers say they have developed a new technique to detect modern cell-site simulators.
Cell site simulators, known as “stingrays,” impersonate cell towers and can capture information about any phone in its range — including in some cases calls, messages and data. Police secretly deploy stingrays hundreds of times a year across the United States, often capturing the data on innocent bystanders in the process.
Little is known about stingrays, because they are deliberately shrouded in secrecy. Developed by Harris Corp. and sold exclusively to police and law enforcement, stingrays are covered under strict nondisclosure agreements that prevent police from discussing how the technology works. But what we do know is that stingrays exploit flaws in the way that cell phones connect to 2G cell networks.
https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/05/crocodile-hunter-4g-stingray-cell/
#crocodile #hunter #stingray
Privacy Watchdog: #ATF Uses #Stingray To Track Americans
The Project for Privacy & Surveillance Accountability announced this week that it has obtained records about the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ use of stingrays to track Americans.
Stingrays are a relatively new technology that simulate cell towers and collect signals from devices nearby.
PPSA filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the ATF in February 2021, and announced on Wednesday that it had received a batch of documents. According to PPSA, those documents show that the agency uses stingrays.
“The information released by the ATF confirms the agency is indeed utilizing stingray technology,” PPSA said. “Although the agency attempted to minimize the usage of stingrays, it is clear they are being widely used against Americans.”
PPSA has not published the documents it received, but described some of their contents.
“The ATF stressed that stingrays are not precise location trackers like GPS, despite the plethora of information stingrays can still provide,” the organization said. “Answers to questions from the Senate Appropriations Committee about the ATF’s usage of stingrays and license plate reader technology are entirely blacked out in the ATF documents we received.”
PPSA added that ATF policy conceals the use of these devices from their targets, even when relevant to their legal defense.
PPSA said there’s an example of this in the documents it received.
“When an ATF agent interviewed by a defense attorney revealed the use of the equipment, a large group email was sent out saying: ‘This was obviously a mistake and is being handled,’” the privacy watchdog said.
PPSA said it will continue to track stingray usage and report the responses it receives to its FOIA requests with various federal agencies.
Civil liberties activists have noted that the use of stingrays by law enforcement dramatically increased after the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Carpenter v. U.S., which found that law enforcement’s warrantless collection of cell phone geolocation data violated the Fourth Amendment. Instead of obtaining warrants, police agencies have used stingrays as a workaround.
🔗Source: Zerohedge
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The Project for Privacy & Surveillance Accountability announced this week that it has obtained records about the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ use of stingrays to track Americans.
Stingrays are a relatively new technology that simulate cell towers and collect signals from devices nearby.
PPSA filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the ATF in February 2021, and announced on Wednesday that it had received a batch of documents. According to PPSA, those documents show that the agency uses stingrays.
“The information released by the ATF confirms the agency is indeed utilizing stingray technology,” PPSA said. “Although the agency attempted to minimize the usage of stingrays, it is clear they are being widely used against Americans.”
PPSA has not published the documents it received, but described some of their contents.
“The ATF stressed that stingrays are not precise location trackers like GPS, despite the plethora of information stingrays can still provide,” the organization said. “Answers to questions from the Senate Appropriations Committee about the ATF’s usage of stingrays and license plate reader technology are entirely blacked out in the ATF documents we received.”
PPSA added that ATF policy conceals the use of these devices from their targets, even when relevant to their legal defense.
PPSA said there’s an example of this in the documents it received.
“When an ATF agent interviewed by a defense attorney revealed the use of the equipment, a large group email was sent out saying: ‘This was obviously a mistake and is being handled,’” the privacy watchdog said.
PPSA said it will continue to track stingray usage and report the responses it receives to its FOIA requests with various federal agencies.
Civil liberties activists have noted that the use of stingrays by law enforcement dramatically increased after the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Carpenter v. U.S., which found that law enforcement’s warrantless collection of cell phone geolocation data violated the Fourth Amendment. Instead of obtaining warrants, police agencies have used stingrays as a workaround.
🔗Source: Zerohedge
Forum | Substack | Twitter | Minds
📡 Follow:
@G3News
OIG-23-17-Feb23.pdf
17.8 MB
Secret Service and ICE conducted illegal surveillance through fake cell towers
A newly-released report by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) revealed that federal agencies, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), used cell-site simulators (CSS) to illegally conduct surveillance.
CSS, aka Stingrays, are devices that mimic cell phone towers, duping mobile devices within a certain radius to connect to them instead of cell towers. Once connected to the CSS, law enforcement can conduct a search of the devices, in violation of basic constitutional freedoms.
https://reclaimthenet.org/secret-service-and-ice-conducted-illegal-surveillance-through-fake-cell-towers
PDF: https://docs.reclaimthenet.org/OIG-23-17-Feb23.pdf
#surveillance #stingray
A newly-released report by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) revealed that federal agencies, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), used cell-site simulators (CSS) to illegally conduct surveillance.
CSS, aka Stingrays, are devices that mimic cell phone towers, duping mobile devices within a certain radius to connect to them instead of cell towers. Once connected to the CSS, law enforcement can conduct a search of the devices, in violation of basic constitutional freedoms.
https://reclaimthenet.org/secret-service-and-ice-conducted-illegal-surveillance-through-fake-cell-towers
PDF: https://docs.reclaimthenet.org/OIG-23-17-Feb23.pdf
#surveillance #stingray