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hazards:stingray [2024/07/06 06:04] – [Stingrays] Humphrey Boa-Garthazards:stingray [2025/11/17 10:56] (current) – coco
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 ====== Stingrays ====== ====== Stingrays ======
  
-**Stingrays** are cellular phone surveillance devices, specifically ones which function as **cellular site simulators** (also known as **cellular tower simulators**). The name comes from a line of tower simulators made for [[hazards:law-enforcement|law enforcement]] and the military by the Harris Corporation, stylized as **"StingRay"**. The term //Stingray// itself has since become a slang term for tower simulators in general, as well as the term **IMSI catcher**.+**Stingrays** are cellular phone surveillance devices, specifically ones which function as **cellular site simulators** (also known as **cell tower simulators**). The name comes from a line of tower simulators made for [[hazards:law-enforcement|law enforcement]] and the military by the Harris Corporation, stylized as **"StingRay"**. The term //Stingray// has since become a slang term for tower simulators in general, as well as the term **"IMSI catcher"**. Since cell phones are just very advanced [[gear:radio|two-way radios]], they are [[hazards:achilles heel|vulnerable]] to this type of assault.
  
-Stingrays are frequently rolled out to enable **warrantless wiretapping** on both individuals and crowds, for a multitude of reasons. Sometimes they are rolled out to find missing persons. Most people who get sucked into the net of one of these, will have it happen at a protest, political or other street event. There is also nothing stopping the government from setting one up on your block if you end up on the wrong list.+Stingrays are frequently rolled out to enable **warrantless wiretapping** on both individuals and crowds, for a multitude of reasons. Sometimes they are rolled out to find missing persons. Most people who get sucked into the net of one of these, will have it happen at a protest, political gathering or other street event. There is also nothing stopping the government from setting one up on your block if you end up on the wrong list.
  
 ===== How They Work ===== ===== How They Work =====
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 ==== Passive Mode ==== ==== Passive Mode ====
  
 +**Passive mode** is when these devices are only listening. Since your cell phone's connection with the cell towers is over the air, these signals can be intercepted and analyzed. With the right [[gear:scanner]] or [[radio:SDR]], even you can pick up some of these signals, but you wouldn't be able to make much sense of them.
  
 +//Stingrays, however, **can** make sense of these signals//, and extrapolate personally identifying information from them like your [[wp>International mobile subscriber identity]] or **IMSI number**, giving them the nickname //"IMSI catchers"//. With your IMSI, they can then track you anywhere you go at their leisure, and if they feel like, hit you with **active mode** later.
  
 ==== Active Mode ==== ==== Active Mode ====
  
 +If someone is rolling out a Stingray in passive mode, the device isn't even breaking a sweat. That is because its //real// venom lies in **active mode**, which is when the Stingray **starts broadcasting like it is a real cell tower**, tricking every cell phone within range into connecting to it. Since your cell phone just connects to the nearest tower with the best signal, it is not hard for a Stingray //(mounted to a vehicle and a portable power source)// to wedge in-between and take signal priority.
  
 +Once your phone is connected to the Stingray, everything you do can now be intercepted by the Stingray: Your phone calls, your location services, your text messages, and even your data. They can then legally pry into all of it and examine the minutiae of your life. **They do not need a warrant for any of this.** Even once you leave the range of the Stingray, they have you [[tactics:dox|ID'd]] in the dragnet they set up, and may very well send more personalized Stingrays after you later //(or worse, mark you for [[tactics:lawfare]])//.
  
 ===== Protecting Yourself ===== ===== Protecting Yourself =====
  
-The best way to protect yourself from a Stingray is to **//STOP USING CELL PHONES!!!//** Not only will you neuter the power of any Stingray, but you will thwart other spies & digital stalkers as well. The human race survived without cell phones for millennia. Start looking into the old analog and manual ways of doing things. If you must have technology //(especially at street events, or if you hang out with extremely questionable people)// then perhaps consider options that {{tagpage>Radio|don't track you}} everywhere you go.+The best way to protect yourself from a Stingray is to **//STOP USING CELL PHONES!!!//** Not only will you neuter the power of any Stingray, but you will thwart other spies & digital stalkers as well. The human race survived without cell phones for millennia. Start looking into the old analog and manual ways of doing things, read a physical book, and touch grass. 
 + 
 +If you absolutely must have portable computer technology on you at all times //(especially at street events, or if you hang out with extremely questionable people)// then perhaps consider **ring zero only** options that don't track everywhere you go, or maybe get into {{tagpage>Radio|old-fashioned radio}}.
  
  
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   * [[https://sls.eff.org/technologies/cell-site-simulators-imsi-catchers|EFF article on IMSI catchers at the Street Level Surveillance project]]   * [[https://sls.eff.org/technologies/cell-site-simulators-imsi-catchers|EFF article on IMSI catchers at the Street Level Surveillance project]]
  
-{{tag>Hazards}}+{{tag>Hazards Security Communications}}
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