Abstract
- Stingrays trick iPhones and Android units alike into sharing delicate info, significantly your IMSI quantity, which can be utilized for identification and monitoring.
- Android has non-obligatory protections like disabling 2G and blocking unencrypted communications, however help will depend on the precise cellphone you could have, and which model of Android it is working.
- iPhones have fewer defenses towards stingrays until you allow Lockdown Mode.
It has been over a decade for the reason that begin of the Snowden leaks, which uncovered mass surveillance packages within the US. I point out this as a result of one of many smaller issues Snowden (and others) drew consideration to is the usage of “stingrays,” often known as IMSI catchers. Police, navy, and intelligence businesses have sometimes used these to intercept knowledge on cellphone customers with out their information — and criminals could now be making use of the expertise as properly.
All this makes it sensible to study slightly bit about how stingrays work, and how one can shield your iPhone or Android gadget towards them, since nobody has an inherent proper to intercept your cellphone site visitors with out a warrant. What’s attention-grabbing is that in the meanwhile, Android 16 appears to supply a bonus on this space — although Apple will presumably catch up in the end.
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What’s a stingray, and the way does it work?
Preying on hidden vulnerabilities
Unsplash
The very first thing to level out is that legally talking, the time period “stingray” derives from a selected product — the StingRay, made by the Harris Company. It is so much simpler to speak about stingrays than IMSI catchers, nonetheless, so the product grew to become a catch-all time period, a lot as some individuals check with all facial tissues as Kleenex.
Functionally, stingrays trick your cellphone into connecting to them by pretending to be a close-by mobile tower. As soon as that occurs, it is doable to extract delicate knowledge, together with your cellphone’s IMSI (Worldwide Cellular Subscriber Identification) quantity, which can be utilized to establish and monitor you. Stingrays might also be used to gather metadata, and in some instances, the precise content material of communications. Extra not often, stingrays are used as offensive weapons, say to conduct denial of service (DoS) assaults.
Any mobile gadget inside vary of a stingray is prone to connecting to it, so your knowledge could also be snatched up even while you aren’t an meant goal.
This will all sound like one thing your cellphone ought to be capable of defend towards, however stingrays can dupe your cellphone into utilizing a protocol with weaker safety, for example by briefly switching you from 5G to 2G, which most carriers have deserted. Usually, computerized hopping is an efficient factor — it retains you related as you progress between areas with totally different protection. But when it is not dealt with correctly, it might probably turn into an assault vector.
One of many terrifying issues about stingrays is that they are non-discriminatory. That’s, any mobile gadget inside vary of a stingray is prone to connecting to it, so your knowledge could also be snatched up even while you aren’t an meant goal. This and different points have drawn the eye of scrutiny of teams just like the American Civil Liberties Union and the Digital Frontier Basis. There’s extra to clarify than I can presumably go into right here, so I encourage you to study extra, significantly should you’re planning to hitch a politically delicate protest.
The way to shield an Android gadget towards stingrays
One of the best safety is reserved for the newest units
Crucial factor is preserving Android up-to-date, and being conscious of its anti-stingray choices. In the event you’ve acquired Android 12 or later, you’ll be able to disable 2G connectivity fully by going to Settings -> Community & Web -> SIMs, selecting your SIM, then toggling off Permit 2G. Don’t fret — most cellphone carriers have switched solely to 4G and 5G, so you will not discover any calls, texts, or knowledge interrupted. Certainly even 3G networks are being deprecated, since they’re too gradual to maintain up with the calls for of contemporary apps.
Android 14 expands this safety with an choice to dam “null ciphers,” i.e. unencrypted communications. There is no reputable purpose to be utilizing unencrypted knowledge anymore, given how harmful the web might be, so disabling null ciphers is an apparent method of mitigating the specter of stingray assaults. Android 15 takes yet one more step ahead, enabling a notification each time a community asks for distinctive gadget identifiers, or forces weaker safety.
The one zero-risk choice, although, is to dam mobile exercise completely.
Android 16 features a Cellular community safety web page to centralize issues, which you need to be capable of attain by way of Settings -> Safety & privateness -> Security Middle. There is a massive catch, nonetheless — it solely seems on units with specific modems, and model 3.0 or later of Android’s IRadio {hardware} abstraction layer (HAL). You are unlikely to see the web page in any respect, even should you personal one thing as current as a Pixel 9. You will have to attend in your subsequent cellphone improve to check this out.
The excellent news right here is that many Android telephones ought to help disabling 2G, at the least. It is simply much less handy and safe than what the newest and biggest Android 16 units are able to.
In the event you’re in a high-risk scenario, there are apps that may probably warn you about stingrays, resembling SnoopSnitch. The one zero-risk choice, although, is to dam mobile exercise completely, and that applies to each iPhones and Android units.
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The way to shield an iPhone towards stingrays
Time to play catch-up
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iPhones are lagging behind in terms of stingray safety, however they don’t seem to be defenseless. You’ll be able to, for instance, go to Settings -> Mobile -> Mobile Information Choices -> Voice & Information and select both 5G On or LTE. The 5G Auto choice does enhance battery life, however will increase your probabilities of being kicked all the way down to a much less safe community.
In the event you use that step, you might also wish to go to Settings -> Mobile -> Community Choice and disable Automated, however be warned — this feature can create havoc. It’s possible you’ll end up unable to roam home networks, and you will have to manually choose a service while you journey overseas. It is most likely not well worth the trouble.
That is partly as a result of in iOS 16 or later, Apple affords a function known as Lockdown Mode. This allows a large set of safety measures, largely meant for journalists, dissidents, and others prone to being focused by authoritarian regimes or international governments. In the event you’re really frightened about stingrays, although, Lockdown Mode forcibly disables 2G, and limits how your iPhone can work together with the surface world. It is so draconian that you need to keep away from it until completely crucial — even many web sites and Messages attachments will not work.
It isn’t clear but whether or not iOS 26, coming fall 2025, will supply any enhancements to stingray safety. I am anticipating Apple to meet up with Android in some unspecified time in the future, nonetheless, for the reason that firm prides itself on safety and privateness.
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