What's at Stake. Share it with your friends and family, and make sure you tell them to download Signal onto their smartphones. StingRay is an IMSI-catcher (International Mobile Subscriber Identity) designed and commercialized by the Harris Corporation. Since May, asprotesters around the country have marched against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, activists have spotted a recurring presence in the skies: mysterious planes and helicopters hovering overhead, apparently conducting surveillance on protesters. WIRED may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. StingRay Technology. In 2008, authorities used a StingRay and a KingFish to locate a suspect who was using an air card: an internet-connectivity device that plugs into a computer and allows the user to get online through a wireless cellular network. Documents in a 2011 criminal case in Canada showed that devices used by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police had a range of a third of a mile, and in just three minutes of use, one device had intercepted 136 different phones. The unique signal sent out is sometimes referred to as an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) and it consists of a 12 to 15 digit number. That said, a bill has been introduced in the United States Congress that would require law enforcement to obtain a warrant before deploying such a device, but whether or not it becomes law remains to be seen. The switch to 4G networks was supposed to address this in part by adding an authentication step so that mobile phones could tell if a cell tower is legitimate. It is the essential source of information and ideas that make sense of a world in constant transformation. He also said they werent just used by the FBI but also by the Marshals Service, the Secret Service, and other agencies. Plus: Microsoft fixes several zero-day bugs, Google patches Chrome and Android, Mozilla rids Firefox of a full-screen vulnerability, and more. The versions of stingrays used by the military can intercept the contents of mobile communications text messages, email, and voice calls and decrypt some types of this mobile communication. If 2G is not secure why can't I stop my phone from connecting to 2G? Connecting to a true 5G network also protects your data as there are no known IMSI catchers for 5G networks. Stingrays are a popular choice among US law enforcement; they were a reportedly common presence at many of last summer's anti-police brutality protests. Ive got people 200 yards from me with a stingray right in between me and the cell phone tower so after I pass their house and I get halfway between their house and the cell phone tower my phone jumps over to the cell phone tower I would guess I dont know for sure but I would guess around 300 yards is probably the limit on that thing. This technology is a form of man Even when they did seek approval from a court, they often described the technology in misleading terms to make it seem less invasive. The problem, however, is that Justice Department policy is not law. Although the term StingRay has become a bit of a catch-all term, technically it only refers to a single type of device. 300 miles away in distance I was told they have to be. They also can inject spying software onto specific phones or direct the browser of a phone to a website where malware can be loaded onto it, though its not clear if any U.S. law enforcement agencies have used them for this purpose. Very few modern smartphones will let you disable 2G entirely. Though the 5G protocol offers a feature that encrypts the IMSI when its disclosed during pre-authentication communication, law enforcement would simply be able to ask phone carriers to decrypt it for them. wow what an eye opener . Typically, law enforcement officials place the Stingray in their vehicle with a compatible computer software. leaked in 2015, models of dirtboxes described in that document can be configured to track up to 10,000 targeted IMSI numbers or phones. What is the main purpose of stingray surveillance in a government setting? The main usage of cell-site simulators comes from law enforcement. Im not savvy even a little on the internal operations of computers/devices. 9:40 PM PST February 21, 2023. Although StingRays are limited to tracking cell phone users connected over a legacy 2G network, the same company that produced the StingRay (the Harris Corporation) also manufactures a device known as Hailstorm (or simply StingRay II). Constantly learning, this is an intelligent article I am glad to have read. He also said they werent just used by the FBI but also by the Marshals Service, the Secret Service, and other agencies. Harris also makes products like the Harpoon, a signal booster that makes the StingRay more powerful, and the KingFish, a smaller hand-held device that operates like a stingray and can be used by a law enforcement agent while walking around outside a vehicle. AJ+ made this short, informative video explaining how cell-site simulators (also known as IMSI catchers and stingrays) work. The biggest problem is theres a beacon on my truck I cant find. Typically, law enforcement officials place the Stingray in their vehicle with a compatible computer software. But as 5G coverage becomes ubiquitous, the rollout comes with an important caveat. You're getting the high speed connection, but the security level you have is still 4G.". If so, will a VPN block StingRay surveillance? As long as your 5G connection is in non-standalone mode, a lot of what you're getting is still actually 4G, complete with security and privacy weaknesses that actual 5G aims to address. They then walked around the apartment complex with a hand-held KingFish or similar device to pinpoint the precise apartment Rigmaiden was using. Democrats Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Rep. Ted Lieu of California are introducing a bill on Thursday that would restrict the use of stingray cell site simulators, powerful surveillance devices capable of intercepting calls, texts, and other information sent to cell phones and determining their current location.. After the FBI used a stingray to track Rigmaiden (the identity thief in San Jose) in his apartment, Rigmaidens lawyers got the Justice Department to, acknowledge it qualified as a Fourth Amendment search, Law enforcement agents have not only deceived judges, however; theyve also misled defense attorneys seeking information about how agents tracked their clients. As Russia's failures mount in its war against Ukraine, can Biden prevent an isolated Putin from doing the unthinkable? StingRay devices are a technology that mimics a cellphone tower, causing nearby cellphones to connect and pass data through them instead of legitimate towers. About a dozen other companies make variants of the stingray with different capabilities. WebStingrays, also known as "cell site simulators" or "IMSI catchers," are invasive cell phone surveillance devices that mimic cell phone towers and send out signals to trick cell phones in the area into transmitting their locations and identifying information. Protecting yourself against StingRays in particular means disabling 2G on a jailbroken device, living in an area with true 5G connectivity, or always using a VPN when connecting to mobile data. CryptoPhone users found 17 fake cell towers in a month, but dont know who deployed them or why. Stingrays are supposed to allow 911 calls to pass through to a legitimate cell tower to avoid disrupting emergency services, but other emergency calls a user may try to make while their phone is connected to a stingray will not get through until the stingray releases their phone. At first glance, this investigative strategy seems appropriate and the most efficient way to catch criminals. The best way to protect yourself from StingRay devices in particular is to jailbreak your phone and install software that lets you disable 2G connectivity. During the time a phone is connecting to or communicating with a stingray, service is disrupted for those phones until the stingray releases them. The problem, however, is that Justice Department policy is not law. The surveillance equipment is pricey and often sold as a package. The companies themselves cite trade secrets and proprietary information to prevent the public from obtaining sales literature and manuals about the technology. What's at Stake. The Justice Department has stated that the devices may be capable of intercepting the contents of communications and, therefore, such devices must be configured to disable the interception function, unless interceptions have been authorized by a Title III [wiretapping] order., As for jamming communications domestically, Dakota Access pipeline protesters at Standing Rock, North Dakota, in 2016, described planes and helicopters flying overhead. Given the murky legal nature of cell-site simulators, its not surprising that theyre widely used by intelligence agencies such as the NSA or CIA. How to Block StingRay Surveillance in 2023 on 2G, 3G, 4G & 5G Networks. If surveillance is a topic you care about, youve probably heard the term StingRay thrown around in reference to law enforcement agencies tracking cell phones. This process is invisible to the end-user and allows the device operator full access to any communicated data. A CSS is a device that mimics a legitimate cellular tower. For example, in documents obtained by Motherboard in 2016, Harris offered a KingFish package that cost $157,300and a StingRay package that cost $148,000, not including training and maintenance. In doing so, the phone or other device reveals information about itself and its user to the operator of the stingray. A 2014 Wall Street Journal article revealed that the Marshals Service began using dirtboxes in Cessna airplanes in 2007. In the absence of publicly available stingray information, the University of Washington researchers tried a new technique to find out more. They would often refer to stingrays in court documents as a pen register device, passive devices that sit on a network and record the numbers dialed from a certain phone number. Because a stingray is not really a tower on the carriers network, calls and messages to and from a phone cant go through while the phone is communicating with the stingray. The devices dont just pick up data about targeted phones. Sad. WebFederal and state law enforcement entities across the country are using a powerful cell phone surveillance tool commonly referred to as a StingRay. These devices are capable of locating a cell phone with extraordinary precision, but to do so they operate in dragnet fashion, scooping up information from a target device, as well as otherwireless devices in Most significantly, they withheld the fact that the device emits signals that can track a user and their phone inside a private residence. Thats all it takes to support the journalism you rely on. Stingrays, also known as cell site simulators or IMSI catchers, are invasive cell phone surveillance devices that mimic cell phone towers and send out signals to trick cell phones in the area into transmitting their locations and identifying information. Currently a lot of the 5G deployed all over the world doesnt actually have the protection mechanisms designed in 5G. Although its often used as a blanket term, a StingRay device is just one type of a class of devices known as IMSI catchers or cell-site simulators. It only operates on 2G networks, which makes it less useful for law enforcement with every passing year as 4G and eventually 5G networks take over. Verizon and AT&T have taken longer to transition and are still working on switching to high speed 5G in general. Thank you for reading. Are people using spy apps to monitor conversations on phone/house? The company was the first to begin mass-deployment in August 2020. But a security researcher named Roger Piqueras Jover found that the authentication on 4G doesnt occuruntil after the phone has already revealed its IMSI number, which means that stingrays can still grab this data before the phone determines its not communicating with an authentic cell tower and switches to one that is authenticated. 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