If you're running an Android phone open settings > Network & Internet > Internet > click on your network (e.g. Google Fi) > turn on 2G network protection (at the bottom).
Alternatively: Security & privacy > Advanced Protection > Device protection. That does other stuff too though
I'm not aware of a way to do this on iPhones...
I'm not an expert, but my understanding is that many of these attacks work by performing 2G downgrading.
A quick search suggests Lockdown mode might do it, which is corroborated by their support docs. It also does a bunch of other things that will probably degrade most users' experience, for what it's worth. https://support.apple.com/en-us/105120
> Wireless connectivity: Your device won't automatically join non-secure Wi-Fi networks and will disconnect from a non-secure Wi-Fi network when you turn on Lockdown Mode. 2G and 3G cellular support is turned off for iPhone and iPad.
(Instructions to enable it are on the linked page.)
But also WTF Apple... I appreciate that this mode exists but each of those things should be allowed to be toggled independently. People need more fine grained experience.
For things that I think will affect people more than the wireless connectivity
Messages: Most message attachment types are blocked, other than certain images, video, and audio. Some features, such as links and link previews, are unavailable.
FaceTime: Incoming FaceTime calls are blocked unless you have previously called that person or contact within the past 30 days. Features such as SharePlay and Live Photos are unavailable.
I swear... Apple really does not want to make privacy and security convenient for users. It's as if (...) they want to provide the tools to say they have the best security but then make the UX so poor that no one will end up using them (and then they can justify not developing more because "nobody uses them")
Security engineer here. Bundling these together actually makes sense.
- Message attachments are blocked because Apple has not figured out to serialize and deserialize attachments without buffer overflows. Look at how many zero days are due to message attachments. It's pretty clownish tbh.
- FaceTime is blocked because Apple has not figured out how to prevent an incoming FaceTime call from silently spying on you, which has already happened a couple times.
Government interception of your cell connection falls into a similar category of threat, so it's bundled together.
> FaceTime is blocked because Apple has not figured out how to prevent an incoming FaceTime call from silently spying on you, which has already happened a couple times.
There's also the codec problem. Apple doesn't trust itself to write secure codecs for message attachments, realtime codecs are at least as suspect. Codecs are tricky, and many vendors mess them up, so I'm not picking on Apple.
I'm sorry, but you didn't make a case for bundling together and why finer grain control is would not make sense.
I have no doubt that the problems you guys solve are incredibly complex. There is no question about that.
But does bundling really make sense? I'm not sure why being subject to a 2G downgrade attack is relevant to my threat model including message attachments or FaceTime.
For example, going to a concert, protest, or any large gathering greatly increases my chance of being subject to a 2G downgrade attack but I'm unconvinced it increases my chances of multimedia or FaceTime based attacks.
These fall together in an high enough level but doesn't all security issues? A step down in abstraction and I don't think these are linked.
But you're the expert here. I'll trust you over me, but would like to better understand what I'm missing. This is Hacker News. We can expect everyone here to be familiar with programming and basic security here. So get technical with me
Also security engineer here. You're thinking too small and in the wrong direction. You're not protecting against 2G downgrade attacks, you're protecting against an attacker who has a whole library of things to try on you to see what works.
Lockdown mode is intended to protect against sophisticated actors, the kind who will buy 0days for six or seven figures, roll it into a new version of their product and sell it to governments.
Lockdown mode blocks the riskiest parts of the platform. For example, iMessage no longer automatically unfurls links, because anyone can send you a message and potentially send an exploit that your phone happily triggers without you doing anything.
You don't get to pick a la carte because Apple wants the feature to be effective and simple to enable.
That's pretty much against the Apple ethos, you're supposed to either use the things like everyone else does, or find something else. I guess that's the great and bad part about Apple. Signed, iPhone user.
Better way to protect yourself is to get rid of Android's Google Play services.
Install a mod like GrapheneOS or LineageOS and use F-droid to get your apps.
Install Molly, the FOSS Signal client.
Don't use WhatsApp, don't use Telegram, don't use Meta apps, don't use TikTok, don't use Snapchat.
Install EFFs Rayhunter App.
Install a Bluetooth beacon tracker protection app like AirGuard.
Use a firewall app like NetGuard to protect leaking traffic.
Always remember, a device has an IMEI associated with its modem, there is no point to switch SIM cards if they're tracking you. Phones with no removable battery are always on, even when they're off, and will react to Silent SMS (class 0) that are stealthy pings that can track you. Especially iOS devices are always trackable, even in Airplane mode or when they're turned "off".
Buy used hardware from eBay, check LineageOS wiki for compatibility.
Is there a reason why Google and Apple wouldn't turn 2G downgrade off by default? Even the setting itself says "emergency calls over 2G are still allowed" so what is the reasoning behind leaving people exposed to this?
My recent experience when roaming was that calls only worked on 2G even though 4G and 5G were avaliable. After a call, phone would sometimes stay stuck on 2G which meant internet was not working. I had to disable 2G to force the phone to switch to 5G. But if I forgot to enable 2G again, calls didn't work. I checked this with multiple people and they all had the same issue.
Then your carrier has a shitty roaming agreement where you were roaming. Enabling the 4G and 5G bearers is an option they can choose to enable (and pay for) their customers — or not.
This is totally speculative but I bet 2G is more reliable and has longer range. If your reception is bad, it may be necessary to downgrade to get any connection at all.
> Europe's size may not lead you to comprehending the US' size.
Why not?
Europe seems to be about 10 million km2 in land size, and the USA 9 million km2. Are you trying to say that because Europe has bigger land size, it's hard for Europeans to imagine individual states' sizes?
Here's some quick facts comparing population and area
- There are 17 European countries >100km2 but 37 US states are
- 13 states (only one of those is <100km2) has a population density <= Norway.
- The most population dense state is Jersey, at 488 people/km2. 5 European countries are more dense than that.
- 10 US states have >100 people/km2 but 25 European countries do (I'm rounding Albania up)
- California, the most populous state, is smaller than Sweeden, but larger than Germany in area. It has half the population of Germany. 90% of CA's population lives in 5% of the area (near SF and LA)
- Driving North-South through California takes a bit over 13hrs but if you add 30 minutes you'll only hit one of those areas.
- Driving East-West across Texas takes 12 hrs and you'll only go through 2 major cities. You are likely to see more tornadoes than cities and definitely more cows than people (I know from experience)
Most of the US population is in the East and West coasts. With far more in the east. Most of the US is just empty, but also the land is not nearly as nice as in Europe.
I don't think it is hard for Europeans to imagine individual state sizes, but likely won't imagine how empty it is. Hell, even Americans aren't good at that
By everyone thinking you can get 100% coverage across the Great Basin Desert? Yes. Yes I do think that the population density of Europe leads them to think everything is closer and easier than it is.
That one desert, of many, is about 190,000 miles in size. That's half the size of the whole of France.
Are you really saying covering that, with 100% coverage, with no dead spots at all, is a reasonable task to undertake?
If you want to challenge the myth of coverage in Europe forget about size comparisons and look to some of the hard walking trails in remote areas; Via Dinarica Kosovo is known for it's beauty and harsh terrain, not for it's cell reception.
Elsewhere in the Balkans, Romania, et al you'll find blind spots.
The signal in the Kimberley's is shithouse, mate. Last time I was there, I went three days with zero signal, because I was in some more remote communities. That's not really an argument against what I was suggesting, is it?
> That's not really an argument against what I was suggesting, is it?
No, that's pretty much just a tangential straw interpretation of your own design as the signal quality in Kimberley, or lack thereof, has got three tenths of f'all to do with the issue being population distribution rather than size.
Both Europe and the US have low population regions with poor signal.
Upthread I suspect the anecdata about good quality signal in Europe came from somebody who had more exposure to the well trod higher population density parts of Europe and hadn't encounter less covered corners.
> I'm running LTE-only with zero problems for 2 years now without a single coverage gap. Even in the rural parts.
The anecdote, was suggesting that our vast and empty lands are trivial to cover. But as you know, that has nothing to do with reality. I'm so sorry I tried to convey it with a tinch of kindness to them. Next time I'll tell them to pull their fucking head in.
> Are you really saying covering that, with 100% coverage, with no dead spots at all, is a reasonable task to undertake?
Well, do people live in this desert? If not, then I wouldn't say that's reasonable.
But then I don't feel like your replies here are reasonable either and pretty disingenuous overall, so maybe lets just leave it at that, and you can continue believe your country is much bigger than it is.
> Well, do people live in this desert? If not, then I wouldn't say that's reasonable.
It stretches from Reno Nevada to Salt Lake City Utah. It also includes Las Vegas, Ogden Utah, and Provo Utah. But there are plenty of small cities in between. If you drove on the I-80 from Reno to SLC you'd pass through Fernley (23k people), Lovelock (2k), Imlay (200), Winnemucca (8.5k), Carlin (2.4k), Elko (21k), Wells (1.3k), Oasis (34), West Wendover (4.5k), and a few dozen more cities comparable to Imlay or Oasis as well as just as many ghost towns. That drive would take over 7hrs and is over 800km long.
This is not an uncommon setting in the US either. I'm sure there's a few unique paths like this in Europe, but honestly, are there that many? I once drove the majority of the US (I started in The South, so think 24 -> 70 -> 29 -> 80 -> 29 -> 90) and despite driving across almost all of America the biggest city I drove through was St Louis, which doesn't even have 300k people. I think if you counted all the people that were <5km distance from me over the subsequent several days and several thousand kilometers I doubt the number would add up to my stop in St Louis and would only have happened because I went through Sioux Falls (~200k at the time).
But no, I don't live in America. I live in the much, much, much less dense country of Australia. Where tourists frequently die, because they believe that they'll have cell signal everywhere.
Just because the map shows you can get 5G (or 4G) does not mean you'll actually be able to use that network. It's tricky and telecom companies like to play these bullshit games. It's pretty similar to how they'll advertise "up to X MBPS" internet speeds but the average speed is far lower.
You'll actually have these experiences in congested cities. Ever go to a concert and realize you don't actually have cell service? That's because the tower is fully occupied. Unfortunately phones might not report this to you and might not report the downgrade. Making Android and Apple complacent...
Alternatively: Security & privacy > Advanced Protection > Device protection. That does other stuff too though
I'm not aware of a way to do this on iPhones...
I'm not an expert, but my understanding is that many of these attacks work by performing 2G downgrading.