Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Mikael Thalen @mikaelthalen.bsky.social · 7h

2G is and 3G are getting phased out and aren't used in much of the country already. Modern Stingrays don't need to downgrade to 2G to work anymore. They have attacks for 3G/4G/5G. But you should disable 2G regardless.

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Mikael Thalen @mikaelthalen.bsky.social · 8h

It does! I have a phone called a Cape Obscura that rotates all identifiers. Unfortunately it isn't available to the public. But they do have a publicly-available mobile service that will be introducing an IMSI-rotation feature in the near future. cape.co

Cape

Cape is premium wireless coverage with an added layer of personal security. Talk, text, and live with the confidence that you’re protected.

cape.co

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Mikael Thalen @mikaelthalen.bsky.social · 14h

Appreciate that!

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Reposted by Mikael Thalen

Eileen Clancy 🧿 @clancyny.bsky.social · 14h

Mikael Thalen's video explainer is the best, simplest explanation that I've ever seen of how these somewhat obscure devices work. Well worth your 2 min. 24 secs.

Mikael Thalen @mikaelthalen.bsky.social · 15h

EXCLUSIVE: A cell-site simulator, commonly referred to as an IMSI-catcher or "Stingray," may have been used at the ICE facility in Portland.

Analysis of cellular signals in the area showed phones receiving abnormal spikes in requests for their unique identifiers. san.com/cc/exclusive...

Exclusive: Fake cellphone tower likely surveilled protesters at Portland ICE facility

Law enforcement officials may have deployed a secretive cellphone surveillance technology last weekend at Portland’s ICE facility.

san.com

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Mikael Thalen @mikaelthalen.bsky.social · 14h

The thread tries to explain it. Let me know if you have any questions!

Mikael Thalen @mikaelthalen.bsky.social · 15h

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Reposted by Mikael Thalen

Alex Baumhardt @alexbaumhardt.bsky.social · 17h

“Although warrants are required to operate cell-site simulators, the devices can be used without judicial authorization in certain circumstances, such as when there is an immediate threat to national security.”
san.com/cc/exclusive...

Exclusive: Fake cellphone tower likely surveilled protesters at Portland ICE facility

Law enforcement officials may have deployed a secretive cellphone surveillance technology last weekend at Portland’s ICE facility.

san.com

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Reposted by Mikael Thalen

Derek Mead @dmead.bsky.social · 18h

Yet more evidence, direct from @mikaelthalen.bsky.social, of blanket ICE cell phone surveillance at protests san.com/cc/exclusive...

Exclusive: Fake cellphone tower likely surveilled protesters at Portland ICE facility

Law enforcement officials may have deployed a secretive cellphone surveillance technology last weekend at Portland’s ICE facility.

san.com

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Mikael Thalen @mikaelthalen.bsky.social · 15h

But the abnormal spikes I saw--outside a federal facility, run by an agency which recently purchased and is known to use cell-site simulators, during a protest, weeks after ICE facilities were placed on high-alert--is important context.

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Mikael Thalen @mikaelthalen.bsky.social · 15h

I of course cannot definitively say that a cell-site simulator was used or who may have used it.

My analysis merely shows abnormal network behavior consistent with cell-site simulator use.

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Mikael Thalen @mikaelthalen.bsky.social · 15h

By contrast, outside the ICE facility, I witnessed three separate spikes of 18% in just a one hour window.

Interestingly, I walked 1,500 feet away from the facility and began to see those numbers drop to single digits.

Neither ICE nor DHS responded to inquires I sent regarding my findings.

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Mikael Thalen @mikaelthalen.bsky.social · 15h

Marlin's researchers conducted 400 hours of analysis across two continents to distinguish how often legitimate towers ask for an IMSI.

They found a median of less than 3%. Across multiple 24-hour long test scans, they rarely saw that percentage reach 10%, & the highest spike they ever saw was 14%.

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Mikael Thalen @mikaelthalen.bsky.social · 15h

An IMSI is a unique 15-digit code tied to your SIM card that networks use to identify you.

Because your IMSI can be used to track you, cell networks, once they obtain your IMSI, assign you a temporary IMSI, or TMSI, that rotates as you move from tower to tower.

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Mikael Thalen @mikaelthalen.bsky.social · 15h

I used an academic tool called Marlin last weekend to analyze cellular signals outside the ICE facility in Portland.

Marlin works by detecting the percentage of messages that ask phones at any given moment for their IMSI, or International Mobile Subscriber Identity.

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Mikael Thalen @mikaelthalen.bsky.social · 15h

EXCLUSIVE: A cell-site simulator, commonly referred to as an IMSI-catcher or "Stingray," may have been used at the ICE facility in Portland.

Analysis of cellular signals in the area showed phones receiving abnormal spikes in requests for their unique identifiers. san.com/cc/exclusive...

Exclusive: Fake cellphone tower likely surveilled protesters at Portland ICE facility

Law enforcement officials may have deployed a secretive cellphone surveillance technology last weekend at Portland’s ICE facility.

san.com

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Mikael Thalen @mikaelthalen.bsky.social · 1d

I met the OG frog guy in Portland last weekend. Wish I'd chatted more. He's become iconic haha

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Mikael Thalen @mikaelthalen.bsky.social · 1d

This is so rad. Killer report.

Reposted by Mikael Thalen

Andy Greenberg @agreenberg.bsky.social · 1d

For the latest episode of Hacklab, we carried out one of the more fun and stressful hacking experiments of my career: We hacked a casino card shuffler to help me cheat in a game of poker against unsuspecting players in Vegas. www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQ20...

I Cheated At Poker By Hacking A Casino Card Shuffling Machine | Hacklab | WIRED

YouTube video by WIRED

www.youtube.com

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Reposted by Mikael Thalen

Patrick Howell O’Neill @patrickhowelloneill.com · 3d

New: DHS has reassigned hundreds of national security specialists, including cyber personnel from CISA, into jobs that support President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts and said it would fire anyone who refuses to go along. Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Homeland Security Cyber Personnel Reassigned to Jobs in Trump’s Deportation Push

The US Department of Homeland Security has shifted hundreds of national security specialists, including cyber personnel, into jobs that support President Donald Trump’s deportations and said it would ...

www.bloomberg.com

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Mikael Thalen @mikaelthalen.bsky.social · 3d

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFYy...

"We are currently clean on OPSEC": The Signalgate Saga (DEFCON 33)

YouTube video by Micah Lee

www.youtube.com

Reposted by Mikael Thalen

Joseph Cox @josephcox.bsky.social · 3d

New: Apple banned an app that simply archived videos of ICE abuses. Rather than other apps that record ICE official's real-time location, Eyes Up is to "preserve evidence until it can be used in court." Videos from TikTok etc. Every submission manually reviewed

www.404media.co/apple-banned...

Apple Banned an App That Simply Archived Videos of ICE Abuses

Eyes Up's purpose is to "preserve evidence until it can be used in court." But it has been swept up in Apple's crackdown on ICE-spotting apps.

www.404media.co

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Mikael Thalen @mikaelthalen.bsky.social · 3d

I'm losing count of all the "we're clean on opsec" moments from the admin.

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 3d

Good lord.

@apnews.com

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Mikael Thalen @mikaelthalen.bsky.social · 4d

Once again clean on opsec.

Reposted by Mikael Thalen

Zack Whittaker @zackwhittaker.com · 4d

Scoop, by @lorenzofb.bsky.social: A federal contract shows ICE spent $825,000 on vans equipped with fake cellphone towers known as cell-site simulators, which can be used to spy on nearby phones.

ICE bought vehicles equipped with fake cell towers to spy on phones | TechCrunch

The federal contract shows ICE spent $825,000 on vans equipped with “cell-site simulators” which allow the real-world location tracking of nearby phones and their owners.

techcrunch.com

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Reposted by Mikael Thalen

David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 5d

“People over Papers, a crowdsourcing project that maps sightings of US immigration agents, was taken offline yesterday by Padlet, the collaborative bulletin board platform on which it was built. It’s just the latest ICE-tracking initiative to be pulled by tech platforms in the past few days.”

Another effort to track ICE raids was just taken offline

People over Papers was removed by Padlet, the platform it was built on, yesterday.

www.technologyreview.com

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