I have a #Pixel 10 Pro XL phone, which may be the first phone to give warnings when the phone connects to a rogue cellphone tower or IMSI catcher. The OS cannot block it; it can only tell you that someone read information, and it presents an alert. It says,

“Your data may be at risk. Device ID accessed. At 6:57 PM a nearby network recorded your device’s unique ID (IMSI or IMEI) while using your T-Mobile SIM. This means that your location, activity, or identity has been logged.”

I didn’t ever get an alert before walking through the building, but this time, during a 30-minute walk through the building, I got about 8 alerts, ranging between 1 and 3 minutes apart.

Using this information from repeated connections, someone can follow my movements and location; they can identify it’s me because the IMSI number is unique to my phone, so it can be an indication that someone was collecting all the cellphone information in the area, most likely law enforcement.

It can also mean that I was connecting to a rogue cell phone tower, not just an IMSI catcher, and it was an attempted Stingray attack, likely also law enforcement. If successful, they can try to see and hear what I’m doing on my phone, as my phone won’t know that it’s a fake cellphone tower.

Be aware that a rogue tower will try to negotiate your phone’s connection down to a 2G connection, which is unencrypted, providing them with access to everything that you are doing and saying. Please go into your phone’s settings and disable 2G!!

It’s been believed for some time that this technology has been used by law enforcement secretly and consistently. This is creepy and unnerving.

Turning off the phone, by the way, doesn’t stop an IMSI catcher. Your phone still responds. You need to keep the phone in a Faraday bag if you’re really concerned.

It’s a good thing that phones are now starting to inform people that they are being watched and that people will begin to see how much of an issue this is. You can assume that your local law enforcement knows where you are all the time.

    • sunzu2@thebrainbin.org
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      4 days ago

      It is a bit tricky. Use an llm, it should be able to provide device specific instructions.

      • MotoAsh@lemmy.world
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        4 days ago

        No, it can make up bullshit that it’ll tell you are device specific instructions. Fun fact: LLMs have NO ABILITY to determine what they’re telling you is correct. Period. Regardless of what shit execs say.

        • Part4@infosec.pub
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          3 days ago

          Yes LLM’s don’t ‘know’ anything.

          But LLM’s can be fine-tuned on any training material, which can greatly improve their accuracy, and self-training methods are being developed. It isn’t knowing, in the human sense, but at some point soon, if not now, it may be programmatically able to detect an inaccurate result and correct.

          Edit - attempting to downvote reality away is truly pathetic.

        • sunzu2@thebrainbin.org
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          4 days ago

          Results may vary. I have been able to get good instructions out of them for various things.

          It does require some common sense though.

          • MotoAsh@lemmy.world
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            4 days ago

            So does a traditional internet search, and bonus! It’s not burning megawatts of power to facilitate your lack of effort with filtering out a small handfull of irrelevant results…