Short version is it’s a man-in-the-middle detector to see if you’re being spied on, using a cheap off the shelf cellular device.
Comment on Meet Rayhunter: A New Open Source Tool from EFF to Detect Cellular Spying
Ulrich@feddit.org 4 weeks ago
I did not understand any of that…
db2@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
Andromxda@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 weeks ago
This is the easiest explanation I could come up with:
Your phone (or other cellular devices) constantly broadcasts a few identifiers. The IMEI, which is tied directly to the cellular hardware in your device, and the IMSI, which is tied to your SIM card. Law enforcement uses so called cell-site simulators, which basically pretend to be cellular antennas, while actually just grabbing IMEIs and IMSIs from every device in the area. This is often used during protests, in order to identify those who attend them.
Rayhunter is a piece of software that detects the presence of cell-site simulators, making attendants of protests aware of the hidden danger.
This is especially important, now that the US basically transformed into an authoritarian state. We’ve already seen how Trump strategically uses law enforcement to crack down on protests, such as the BLM movement in 2020. (www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_a63r5Km9I) Being aware of law enforcement/intelligence operations that try to identify and track down protest attendants is more important than ever.
surph_ninja@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
They do this so consistently at protests, the Georgia AG tried to claim it showed criminal intent to not bring your phone to a protest for tracking.
Akip@discuss.tchncs.de 4 weeks ago
link?