Rayhunter: A Cheap New Tool from EFF to Detect Cellular Spying (androidauthority.com) 23
Equuleus42 (Slashdot reader #723) brings word that the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is sharing a new tool for fighting back against cellphone surveillance by Stingray cell-site simulators.
Android Authority reports: "Rayhunter" uses an open-source software package designed to look for evidence of IMSI catchers in action, running on an old Orbic Speed RC400L mobile hotspot. The great thing about that choice is that you can pick one up for practically nothing — we're seeing them listed for barely over $10 on Amazon, and you can find them even cheaper on eBay. There's an installation script for Macs and Linux to automate getting set up, but once the Orbic is flashed with the Rayhunter software, it should be ready go, collecting data about sketchy-looking "cell towers" it picks up.
Right now, much of the use of IMSI catchers is still shrouded in mystery, with the groups who regularly employ them extremely hesitant to disclose their methods. As a result, a big focus of this EFF project is just getting more info on how and where these are actually used, giving protestors a better sense of the steps they'll need to take if they want to protect their privacy.
Android Authority reports: "Rayhunter" uses an open-source software package designed to look for evidence of IMSI catchers in action, running on an old Orbic Speed RC400L mobile hotspot. The great thing about that choice is that you can pick one up for practically nothing — we're seeing them listed for barely over $10 on Amazon, and you can find them even cheaper on eBay. There's an installation script for Macs and Linux to automate getting set up, but once the Orbic is flashed with the Rayhunter software, it should be ready go, collecting data about sketchy-looking "cell towers" it picks up.
Right now, much of the use of IMSI catchers is still shrouded in mystery, with the groups who regularly employ them extremely hesitant to disclose their methods. As a result, a big focus of this EFF project is just getting more info on how and where these are actually used, giving protestors a better sense of the steps they'll need to take if they want to protect their privacy.
How long before.. (Score:3)
..this is made illegal to have? Either a stand-alone device or the software version of the device could be outlawed. Wouldn't surprise me if that happened.
Re: How long before.. (Score:3)
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https://f-droid.org/en/package... [f-droid.org]
Pricing is off (Score:4, Informative)
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Looks like there aren't as many available on Amazon now. There is an eBay seller who is currently selling them for $11 with free shipping here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/27662... [ebay.com]
It's worth noting that those are locked to Verizon, so they likely won't work with other carrier SIM cards.
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I ordered two unlocked ones from eBay for $14 each to try out. Odds are I'll do something stupid and brick one...
A lot of ten locked ones is $95.
The README says they don't even know if they'll work without an active SIM or I would have ordered ten to hand out as party favors.
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Orbic is the new Klon.
Advice from an Old Guy (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re: Advice from an Old Guy (Score:3, Insightful)
Why would someone need to be pardoned for participating in a protest? You sound like you're posting from a very undemocratic country that doesn't respect freedom, and probably has hundreds of military bases in other countries.
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a very undemocratic country that doesn't respect freedom, and probably has hundreds of military bases in other countries.
It's a cliche, but freedom ain't free. Some of the world's smaller countries probably wouldn't still exist if they didn't have a close working relationship with a stronger country. (Obviously that doesn't always work out great for the smaller country.)
Protesters? (Score:2)
How about the rest of us? Does the EFF honestly think that street protesters are the only ones with something to worry about?
Re: Protesters? (Score:2)
interesting but... (Score:3)
Let's say you spend some time and effort to implement one of these IMSI catcher devices. You set it up and sure enough, it sees some iffy “cell towers”. Then what?
If there were a way to cause your cellphone to refuse to interact with those fake towers it could be pretty useful. If there were a way to triangulate the physical location of a fake it would be interesting.
Re: interesting but... (Score:2)
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> triangulate
That would be a cool feature request.
I wonder if the board has a contact for adding a directional antenna. Could probably build a set of three for $100.
100:1 asymmetry.
Sadly even $20 is too rich for me. (Score:2)
If only Google saw this and added a way to allow this to run on ALL Android phones.
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For a software-only Android solution, check out https://techblog.bozho.net/wir... [bozho.net]
how they can be used (Score:3)
Right now, much of the use of IMSI catchers is still shrouded in mystery, with the groups who regularly employ them extremely hesitant to disclose their methods.
I spoke with someone who joined the police and got a training on how to use IMSI catchers. Basically, if the police is following a suspect by car, and they want to know who's with him in the car, they trigger the IMSI catcher and save the list of phones that responded. Traffic moves along, a few miles further, the trigger is given again. After a few times, the list of phones is limited to the suspect's, the personnel in the police car, and the mystery guest(s) in the suspect's car. Note that it's not necessary for this to work that the mobile station actually has the phones attached to it.