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How a Hacker Proved Cops Used a Stingray to Find Him

politico.com

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Re: How a Hacker Proved Cops Used a Stingray to Find Him

#41

Post by [deleted] »

pests wrote: post #34
greggarious wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I value the privacy so I don't own or use cellphone. This is a little extreme, but I've started turning off my phone or putting it in airplane mode when not expecting a call. In addition to not being as distracted, I've had a marked decrease in spam calls - I think they tend to mark phones that repeatedly send them straight to VM as "cold".

The phone being off or it being on airplane is no longer enough. It is known that complete operating systems run on every chip on that phone of which you don't have knowledge of or access to. To think a software security solution provided by an OS, a pretty high-level abstraction when considering hardware, of the ability to turn off the radio is insane in these days and ages. Furthermore with permanent batteries (or…

[deleted]

Re: How a Hacker Proved Cops Used a Stingray to Find Him

#42

Post by packet_nerd »

ezoe wrote: post #9

I value the privacy so I don't own or use cellphone.

I really wish I could do this 100%.

I leave it off most of the time, but I have to be on-call for my day job every few weeks and can't really not have a phone then and still keep my job.

It's a shame that phones are so closed and proprietary. I looked into changing a phone's IMEI number, and turns out that's illegal in most places and a serious no-no. How can there even be a law like that??

Re: How a Hacker Proved Cops Used a Stingray to Find Him

#43

Post by Arbalest »

pests wrote: post #34
greggarious wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I value the privacy so I don't own or use cellphone. This is a little extreme, but I've started turning off my phone or putting it in airplane mode when not expecting a call. In addition to not being as distracted, I've had a marked decrease in spam calls - I think they tend to mark phones that repeatedly send them straight to VM as "cold".

The phone being off or it being on airplane is no longer enough. It is known that complete operating systems run on every chip on that phone of which you don't have knowledge of or access to. To think a software security solution provided by an OS, a pretty high-level abstraction when considering hardware, of the ability to turn off the radio is insane in these days and ages. Furthermore with permanent batteries (or…

I'm curious as to where this backup battery thing came from? Surely the likes of ifixit would notice extra batteries. If you're going to assert that such a thing is still hidden, then frankly, your mindset is such that there is no lengths you can go to protect yourself from... whatever?

I would think a phone with a removable battery would otherwise serve your concerns.

Re: How a Hacker Proved Cops Used a Stingray to Find Him

#44

Post by losteric »

Aloha wrote: post #20
ymse wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I lost my phone somewhat recently. It's been great: I read more books, and get a lot less distractions throughout the day. The privacy implication is a huge bonus. The main drawback have been that people rarely label apartment doorbells anymore, so if you don't know which button to press you're in trouble. Another is getting hold of old friends if you don't know their email address (I don't have Facebook either). Ove…

You must not be looking for work, or for that matter have a job. My phone is indispensable for the kind of work that I do, I literally couldn't do my job without it.

OK, but most jobs do not require the use of cellphones. Aside from oncall periods, my software engineering position certainly does not.

Re: How a Hacker Proved Cops Used a Stingray to Find Him

#46

Post by matt-attack »

pests wrote: post #34
greggarious wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I value the privacy so I don't own or use cellphone. This is a little extreme, but I've started turning off my phone or putting it in airplane mode when not expecting a call. In addition to not being as distracted, I've had a marked decrease in spam calls - I think they tend to mark phones that repeatedly send them straight to VM as "cold".

The phone being off or it being on airplane is no longer enough. It is known that complete operating systems run on every chip on that phone of which you don't have knowledge of or access to. To think a software security solution provided by an OS, a pretty high-level abstraction when considering hardware, of the ability to turn off the radio is insane in these days and ages. Furthermore with permanent batteries (or…

Surely someone with some RF gear could quickly determine if an iPhone, say, in Airplane Mode ever transmits.

Re: How a Hacker Proved Cops Used a Stingray to Find Him

#47

Post by giancarlostoro »

erentz wrote: post #2

Jesus. I wanted to keep reading that article but half way through my phone was hot enough it was burning my fingers and 20% of my battery had disappeared. What on earth is Politico doing.

I recommend FireFox Focus for mobile. It blocks JS and third party tracking by default. I wish they'd let you toggle between either of those options instead of both at once though.

Re: How a Hacker Proved Cops Used a Stingray to Find Him

#50

Post by dublinben »

dannyw wrote: post #48

What happened to the charges for this guy? Was the original search via stringrays ruled unconstitutional?

>By late January 2014, Rigmaiden and federal prosecutors reached a plea deal: He’d plead guilty and prosecutors would recommend that he be given a sentence of time served. The agreement was signed on April 9, 2014.

Like many cases involving stingrays, the charges were essentially dropped once challenged in court.

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