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There was a time you could just walk around with a radio receiver and spy on everyone's phonecalls (IMEI stingray). Iirc it's not possible/that easy anymore with LTE.


AFAIK you can still do passive IMSI sniffing, which isn't full content but is quite interesting metadata.


Yeah, I’m going to need a write up/video on this…

(Not saying you’re lying, I just want to learn more!)


I'll do you one better:

For GSM, basic IMSI sniffing: https://github.com/Oros42/IMSI-catcher (usable with cheap SDRs)

For LTE, basic IMSI sniffing: https://github.com/JiaoXianjun/LTE-Cell-Scanner (usable with cheap SDRs)

For LTE, full-on sniffing of all unencrypted metadata: https://github.com/SysSec-KAIST/LTESniffer (generally requires fancy SDRs with GPSDO)

Can vouch that the first and second repos definitely worked as of about a year ago, but haven't personally tried since then. I don't have a USRP X310 (yet!) so can't personally speak to the fancy one.


Yes, $9353 is beyond my hobby budget. https://www.ettus.com/all-products/X310-KIT


stingrays just force the device down to 2G and capture that


Do/could SIM cards prevent this downgrade if 2G isn’t provided by your local provider anymore?

I know my Canadian SIM card somehow hides US providers from network scans, possibly with some geo or if/then rules (but visible from my EU SIM that tries its darnedest to latch onto the US networks and avoid the Canadian ones at all costs)


Android has a toggle in the settings to disallow 2G (except for 911 calls).


And yet the outdated, unsecured 2G protocol/hardware still exists in 2023, is it really a question as to why it's still in operation.

The way I see it, seems law enforcement agencies using stingrays have a vested interesting in seeing 2G alive and well.


many phones disable this




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