How I maintain my cellphone protected towards stingrays (not that sort)

Abstract

Stingrays trick iPhones and Android gadgets alike into sharing delicate data, notably your IMSI quantity, which can be utilized for identification and monitoring.
Android has non-obligatory protections like disabling 2G and blocking unencrypted communications, however assist will depend on the precise cellphone you may have, and which model of Android it is operating.
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 applications 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, army, and intelligence companies have sometimes used these to intercept information on cellphone customers with out their information — and criminals could now be making use of the know-how as properly.

All this makes it smart to study a bit 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 visitors and not using a warrant. What’s fascinating is that for the time being, 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

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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 lots simpler to speak about stingrays than IMSI catchers, nevertheless, so the product turned a catch-all time period, a lot as some individuals consult 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 potential to extract delicate information, together with your cellphone’s IMSI (Worldwide Cell Subscriber Identification) quantity, which can be utilized to determine and monitor you. Stingrays can also be used to gather metadata, and in some circumstances, 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 liable to connecting to it, so your information could also be snatched up even once you aren’t an meant goal.

This may increasingly 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 completely different protection. But when it is not dealt with correctly, it will possibly turn out to be 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 liable to connecting to it, so your information could also be snatched up even once 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 elucidate than I can probably go into right here, so I encourage you to study extra, notably in case you’re planning to hitch a politically delicate protest.

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The best way to shield an Android gadget towards stingrays

The most effective safety is reserved for the newest gadgets

A very powerful factor is holding Android up-to-date, and being conscious of its anti-stingray choices. In the event you’ve obtained Android 12 or later, you possibly can 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 completely to 4G and 5G, so you will not discover any calls, texts, or information interrupted. Certainly even 3G networks are being deprecated, since they’re too sluggish to maintain up with the calls for of contemporary apps.

Android 14 expands this safety with an possibility to dam “null ciphers,” i.e. unencrypted communications. There is not any reputable motive to be utilizing unencrypted information anymore, given how harmful the web might be, so disabling null ciphers is an apparent means of mitigating the specter of stingray assaults. Android 15 takes one more step ahead, enabling a notification every time a community asks for distinctive gadget identifiers, or forces weaker safety.

The one zero-risk possibility, although, is to dam mobile exercise totally.

Android 16 features a Cell community safety web page to centralize issues, which it is best to be capable of attain through Settings -> Safety & privateness -> Security Middle. There is a huge catch, nevertheless — it solely seems on gadgets 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 in case you personal one thing as latest as a Pixel 9. You could have to attend on your subsequent cellphone improve to check this out.

The excellent news right here is that many Android telephones ought to assist disabling 2G, a minimum of. It is simply much less handy and safe than what the newest and biggest Android 16 gadgets are able to.

In the event you’re in a high-risk scenario, there are apps that may probably warn you about stingrays, akin to SnoopSnitch. The one zero-risk possibility, although, is to dam mobile exercise totally, and that applies to each iPhones and Android gadgets.

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The best way to shield an iPhone towards stingrays

Time to play catch-up

Enabling Lockdown Mode on an iPhone. — Apple

Apple

iPhones are lagging behind relating to stingray safety, however they are not 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 possibility does enhance battery life, however will increase your probabilities of being kicked right 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 Computerized, however be warned — this selection can create havoc. You could end up unable to roam home networks, and you will have to manually choose a provider once you journey overseas. It is most likely not definitely worth the trouble.

That is partly as a result of in iOS 16 or later, Apple presents a function referred to as Lockdown Mode. This allows a large set of safety measures, principally meant for journalists, dissidents, and others liable to being focused by authoritarian regimes or overseas governments. In the event you’re actually apprehensive about stingrays, although, Lockdown Mode forcibly disables 2G, and limits how your iPhone can work together with the skin world. It is so draconian that it is best 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 sooner or later, nevertheless, for the reason that firm prides itself on safety and privateness.