RE: Switching System 7 (SS7) Security flaws
HI there :) so here is a question - but please realize that most of what you wrote went over my head... hahahaa so feel free to dumb down your response as much as you need. I won't be offended! :) but we are all using cell phones, and we are all vulnerable. but if i'm just the average Joe (or Jane lol) what's the likelihood that my phone is being spied on. or.... is everyone's phone basically being spied on by computer programs - and the more trigger words you say - the higher up the "list" your phone number ascends? (sorry for the simple questions ) and i did read the SS7 hack explained: what you can do about it? article that you linked to as well... but i didn't really see what we could do. Unless you're saying - use a program like Whatsapp - instead of normal text messages? Thanks for reading! :)
You're carrying an always on, full featured tracking device complete with GPS, audio, video, accelerometer and signal scanner in your pocket. Seriously, your smartphone would give George Orwell nightmares.
What he's talking about is SS7 hijacking. SS7 is the raw protocol available at the carrier level. NSA has been on that thing like a hooker on a politician since at least the mid 1990s. When I worked for AT&T Wireless Services in the first part of this century, everything he talks about was already in place and regularly used. It's not a rumor, every MDN has been under constant capture since at least 1999. Tracking a missing person by pulling their tower ping history and performing triangulation used to be in my job description.
You've already been "spied upon", numerous times. For example, Verizon will man in the middle your https connections, just to inject a "super cookie" for advertising purposes. AT&T has every bit of data your phone has ever generated going back to PacBell days, possibly earlier, but the longest log I ever saw had a start date of 1996. Don't even get me started on Google and Apple.
What he's talking about is important, but if you've got something to hide, there are bigger security issues than you're worrying about right now. My advice is don't do anything illegal with your phone at all and stay away from "darknets" on it, i.e. don't mess around with Tor, I2P etc. Do that and you'll get lost in the crowd, unless someone is actively seeking you.
Factually speaking, you're already in "the system", but the volume of data being collected is too voluminous for real time analysis. Echelon developed a backlog of 30 mins way back in 2001. I can only imagine that has gotten much worse since the volume of data being collected has increased at a rate "exceeding exponential". At this point our entire intelligence apparatus is mostly just a pork project for Booz Allen Hamilton. Even if you're someone they should be looking at, odds are that most likely they aren't. But you do have records.
Well that was an awesome reply!!!!!! thanks williambanks! No - i'm not doing anything illegal hahaha (but i would almost have to say that, right?) LOL but I'm always just curious about the whole thing. it brings up so many other questions!!! I'm going to have to follow you just to glean bits and pieces from your posts. I have a feeling that it would be way too much info for one conversation. Thanks again for the really great reply! (followed) :) oh... and i upvoted your reply. Don't get excited.... my upvote is currently worth 0.003 cents ;) hehehehe but I still believe in upvoting with my ridiculously puny vote. because it STILL has worth ;) Good day to you! :)
Well - If you use the Anonabox TOR router through your phone, you have nothing to worry about. In one of my Kickstarter rewards, I'm offering a "Blue Anonabox" complete with Whistle thumb drive that blows 2600. Very limited number of these are still available (about 25), so if you jump on this just when the KickStarter program starts, you have a good chance of getting one... it's not only a great Collectable item, it's also practical, and keeps TOR completely off your devices and into a small device you can call a WIFI router.
Yeah so I'm going to be in on it. Make sure to announce it here so we all get a chance to be part of it.
Using WhatsApp is a good start. You can always assume you will be tracked, but are they? Good question, it all depends on how focused the NSA is in targeting you. I've heard stories where innocent people would get mailed a terrorist recruiting site, and its on the NSA target list. So, a 2nd level of intercept might dig up something you said 2 years ago in an innocent context, but 2 years later, could be interpreted as something else, so this innocent person could wind up in the no fly list. But, if that person has been using 'Signal', their conversation would be out of reach of the NSA. Sure, they can track you, even using a dumb phone with no GPS, but they don't know what you're saying, or who you're talking about, if you use Signal. So all of this is a moot point, but when you start using encryption, use it ALL the time.