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7 Tips to Protect Your Smartphone from Getting Hacked

There’s little rest for your hard-working smartphone. If you’re like many professionals today, you use it for work, play, and a mix of personal business in between. Now, what if something went wrong with that phone, like loss or theft? Worse yet, what if your smartphone got hacked? Let’s try and keep that from happening to you. 

Globally, plenty of people pull double duty with their smartphones. In Spain, one survey found that 55% of people use the same phone for a mix of personal and and work activity. The same survey showed that up to half of people interviewed in Japan, Australia, and the U.S. do so as well, while nations like the UK and Germany trailed at 31% and 23% respectively. 

Whether these figures trend on the low or high end, the security implications remain constant. A smartphone loaded with business and personal data makes for a desirable target. Hackers target smartphones because they’re often unprotected, which gives hackers an easy “in” to your personal information and to any corporate networks you may use.  It’s like two hacks with one stone.  

Put simply, as a working professional with a smartphone, you’re a high-value target.  

Protect your smartphone from being hacked 

As both a parent and a professional, I put together a few things you can do to protect your smartphone from hacks so that you can keep your personal and work life safe: 

1. Add extra protection with your face, finger, pattern, or PIN. 

First up, the basics. Locking your phone with facial ID, a fingerprint, pattern or a pin is your most basic form of protection, particularly in the event of loss or theft. (Your options will vary depending on the device, operating system, and manufacturer.) Take it a step further for even more protection. Secure the accounts on your phone with strong passwords and use two-factor authentication on the apps that offer it, which doubles your line of defense.    

2. Use a VPN. 

Or, put another way, don’t hop onto public Wi-Fi networks without protection. A VPN masks your connection from hackers allowing you to connect privately when you are on unsecure public networks at airports, cafes, hotels, and the like. With a VPN connection, you’ll know that your sensitive data, documents, and activities you do are protected from snooping, which is definitely a great feeling given the amount of personal and professional business we manage with our smartphones. 

3. Stick to the official app stores for your apps.

Both Google Play and Apple’s App Store have measures in place to help prevent potentially dangerous apps from making it into their stores. Malicious apps are often found outside of the app stores, which can run in the background and compromise your personal data like passwords, credit card numbers, and more—practically everything that you keep on your phone. Further, when you are in the app stores, look closely at the descriptions and reviews for apps before you download them. Malicious apps and counterfeits can still find their way into stores, and here are a few ways you can keep those bad apps from getting onto your phone.    

4. Back up the data on your phone. 

Backing up your phone is always a good idea for two reasons: 

• First, it makes the process of transitioning to a new phone easy by transferring that backed up data from your old phone to your new phone. 
• Second, it ensures that your data stays with you if your phone is lost or stolen—allowing you to remotely wipe the data on your lost or stolen phone while still having a secure copy of that data stored in the cloud.  

Both iPhones and Android phones have straightforward ways of backing up your phone regularly. 

5. Learn how to lock or wipe your phone remotely in case of emergency. 

Worst case scenario—your phone is gone. Really gone. Either it’s hopelessly lost or got stolen. What now? Lock it remotely or even wipe its data entirely. While that last bit about wiping the phone seems like a drastic move, if you maintain regular backups as mentioned above, your data is secure in the cloud—ready for you to restore. In all, this means that hackers won’t be able to access you, or your company’s, sensitive information—which can keep you out of trouble and your professional business safe. Apple provides iOS users with a step-by-step guide for remotely wiping devices, and Google offers up a guide for Android users as well. 

6. Get rid of old apps—and update the ones you keep. 

We all download apps, use them once, and then forget they are on our phone. Take a few moments to swipe through your screen and see which ones you’re truly done with and delete them along with their data. Some apps have an account associated with them that may store data off your phone as well. Take the extra step and delete those accounts so any off-phone data is deleted.  

The reason for this is that every extra app is another app that needs updating or that may have a security issue associated with it. In a time of data breaches and vulnerabilities, deleting old apps is a smart move. As for the ones you keep, update them regularly and turn on auto-updates if that’s an option. Updates not only introduce new features to apps, but they also often address security issues too. 

7. Protect your phone. 

With so much of your life on your phone, getting security software installed on it can protect you and the things you keep on your phone. Whether you’re an Android owner or iOS owner, mobile security software can keep your data, your shopping, and payments secure. 

The post 7 Tips to Protect Your Smartphone from Getting Hacked appeared first on McAfee Blog.

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Help! I Think My Phone’s Been Hacked

“My phone’s been hacked!” Words you probably don’t want to hear or say. Ever.  

Yes, a smartphone can get hacked just like any other device. And they make prize targets as well. Loaded as they are with personal and financial information, access to payment apps, files, photos, and contacts, bad actors have plenty to gain by tapping into your smartphone.   

How do bad actors pull it off? They have several attack vectors they can choose from.  

• They can hide malware in bogus apps that they post as free downloads in app stores. Spyware, ransomware, and adware are typical types of malware that get distributed this way. 
• They can also install it themselves by getting physical access to your phone.  
• Sometimes, bad actors along the smartphone supply chain have loaded malware onto entirely new smartphones so that they come with malware preinstalled, right out of the box.  
• And as always, phishing attacks by email, text, and other messaging apps remain popular as well. 

Today’s attackers have gotten cagier as well. It used to be that a hacked phone would run sluggishly or hot after it got infected by malware. The battery might have drained quickly as well. That was because the malware ate up system resources, created conflicts with other apps, and used your data or internet connection to pass along your personal information—all of which could make your smartphone feel a little off. That still might be the case with some mobile malware today, yet much of it works far more efficiently. The old telltale physical signs of a hacked phone might not present themselves at all. 

However, you can spot several indications that might indicate your phone has been hacked. 

How do I know if my phone has been hacked?  

A few examples follow. Note that these might be signs of a hacked phone, yet not always.  

• Popups suddenly appear on your phone: If you’re seeing more popup ads than usual or seeing them for the first time, it might be a sign that your phone has been hit with adware—a type of malicious app that hackers use to generate revenue by distributing ads without the consent of the user. Furthermore, those ads might be malicious in nature as well. They might take you to pages designed to steal personal information (which is a good reminder to never tap or click on them).   
• Mysterious apps, calls, or texts appear: A potential telltale sign that your phone has been hacked is the appearance of new apps that you didn’t download, along with spikes in data usage that you can’t account for. Likewise, if you see calls in your phone’s call log that you didn’t make, that’s a warning as well.  
• You run out of data or see unknown charges pop up: Big red flag here. This is a possible sign that a hacker has hijacked your phone and is using it to transfer data, make purchases, send messages, or make calls via your phone.  
• You have issues with your online accounts: Phones infected with spyware can skim account credentials and then transmit them to the hacker behind the attack. This could lead to credit and debit fraud. In some cases, hackers will hijack an account altogether by changing the password and locking out the original owner. If you spot unusual charges or can no longer log into your accounts with your password, a hacked phone might be the cause—among others.  

What do I do if my phone is hacked?  

Install and run online protection software on your smartphone if you haven’t already. From there, delete any apps you didn’t download, delete risky texts, and then run your mobile security software again.  

If you still have issues, wiping and restoring your phone is an option. Provided you have your photos, contacts, and other vital info backed up in the cloud, it’s a relatively straightforward process. A quick search online can show how to wipe and restore your model of phone.  

Lastly, check your accounts and your credit card statements to see if any unauthorized purchases have been made. If so, you can go through the process of freezing those accounts and getting new cards and credentials issued. Further, update your passwords for your accounts with a password that is strong and unique to prevent further theft.   

Tips to keep your phone from getting hacked   

To help keep your phone from getting hacked in the first place, there are a few relatively easy steps you can take. Inside of a few minutes, you can find yourself much safer than you were before.   

1. Use comprehensive security software on your phone. Over the years, we’ve gotten into the good habit of using this on our computers and laptops. Our phones? Not so much. Installing online protection software gives you the first line of defense against attacks, plus several of the additional security features mentioned below. 
2. Stay safer on the go with a VPN. One way that crooks can hack their way into your phone is via public Wi-Fi, such as at airports, hotels, and even libraries. These networks are public, meaning that your activities are exposed to others on the network—your banking, your password usage, all of it. One way to make a public network private is with a VPN, which can keep you and all you do protected from others on that Wi-Fi hotspot.  
3. Use a password manager. Strong, unique passwords offer another primary line of defense. Yet with all the accounts we have floating around, juggling dozens of strong and unique passwords can feel like a task—thus the temptation to use (and re-use) simpler passwords. Hackers love this because one password can be the key to several accounts. Instead, try a password manager that can create those passwords for you and safely store them as well. Comprehensive online protection software like ours will include one.
4. Avoid public charging stations. Charging up at a public station seems so simple and safe. However, some hackers have been known to “juice jack” by installing malware into the charging station. While you “juice up,” they “jack” your passwords and personal info. So what to do about power on the road? You can look into a portable power pack that you can charge up ahead of time or run on AA batteries. They’re pretty inexpensive and can prevent malware from a public charging station.  
5. Keep your eyes on your phone. Preventing the actual theft of your phone is important too, as some hacks happen because a phone falls into the wrong hands. This is a good case for password or PIN protecting your phone, as well as turning on device tracking so that you can locate your phone or wipe it remotely if you need to. Apple provides iOS users with a step-by-step guide for remotely wiping devices, and Google offers up a guide for Android users as well.  
6. Stick with trusted app stores. Stick with legitimate apps stores like Google Play and Apple’s App Store, which have measures in place to review and vet apps to help ensure that they are safe and secure. And for the malicious apps that sneak past these processes, Google and Apple are quick to remove malicious apps when discovered, making their stores that much safer.
7. Keep an eye on app permissions. Another way hackers weasel their way into your device is by getting permissions to access things like your location, contacts, and photos—and they’ll use sketchy apps to do it. So check and see what permissions the app is asking for. If it’s asking for way more than you bargained for, like a simple game wanting access to your camera or microphone, it might be a scam. Delete the app and find a legitimate one that doesn’t ask for invasive permissions like that. If you’re curious about permissions for apps that are already on your phone, iPhone users can learn how to allow or revoke app permission here, and Android can do the same here.
8. Update your phone’s operating system. Together with installing security software is keeping your phone’s operating system up to date. Updates can fix vulnerabilities that hackers rely on to pull off their malware-based attacks—it’s another tried and true method of keeping yourself safe and your phone running great too.

The post Help! I Think My Phone’s Been Hacked appeared first on McAfee Blog.

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LTESniffer - An Open-source LTE Downlink/Uplink Eavesdropper

LTESniffer is An Open-source LTE Downlink/Uplink Eavesdropper

It first decodes the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) to obtain the Downlink Control Informations (DCIs) and Radio Network Temporary Identifiers (RNTIs) of all active users. Using decoded DCIs and RNTIs, LTESniffer further decodes the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) and Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) to retrieve uplink and downlink data traffic.

LTESniffer supports an API with three functions for security applications and research. Many LTE security research assumes a passive sniffer that can capture privacy-related packets on the air. However, non of the current open-source sniffers satisfy their requirements as they cannot decode protocol packets in PDSCH and PUSCH. We developed a proof-of-concept security API that supports three tasks that were proposed by previous works: 1) Identity mapping, 2) IMSI collecting, and 3) Capability profiling.

Please refer to our paper for more details.

LTESniffer in layman's terms

LTESniffer is a tool that can capture the LTE wireless messages that are sent between a cell tower and smartphones connected to it. LTESniffer supports capturing the messages in both directions, from the tower to the smartphones, and from the smartphones back to the cell tower.

LTESniffer CANNOT DECRYPT encrypted messages between the cell tower and smartphones. It can be used for analyzing unencrypted parts of the communication between the cell tower and smartphones. For example, for encrypted messages, it can allow the user to analyze unencrypted parts, such as headers in MAC and physical layers. However, those messages sent in plaintext can be completely analyzable. For example, the broadcast messages sent by the cell tower, or the messages at the beginning of the connection are completely visible.

Ethical Consideration

The main purpose of LTESniffer is to support security and analysis research on the cellular network. Due to the collection of uplink-downlink user data, any use of LTESniffer must follow the local regulations on sniffing the LTE traffic. We are not responsible for any illegal purposes such as intentionally collecting user privacy-related information.

Features

New Update

• Supports two USRP B-series for uplink sniffing mode. Please refer to LTESniffer-multi-usrp branch and its README for more details.
• Improved the DCI 0 detected in uplink.
• Fixed some bugs.

LTESniffer is implemented on top of FALCON with the help of srsRAN library. LTESniffer supports:

• Real-time decoding LTE uplink-downlink control-data channels: PDCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH
• LTE Advanced and LTE Advanced Pro, up to 256QAM in both uplink and downlink
• DCI formats: 0, 1A, 1, 1B, 1C, 2, 2A, 2B
• Transmission modes: 1, 2, 3, 4
• FDD only
• Maximum 20 MHz base station.
• Automatically detect maximum UL/DL modulation schemes of smartphones (64QAM/256QAM on DL and 16QAM/64QAM/256QAM on UL)
• Automatically detect physical layer configuration per UE.
• LTE Security API: RNTI-TMSI mapping, IMSI collecting, UECapability Profiling.

Hardware and Software Requirement

OS Requirement

Currently, LTESniffer works stably on Ubuntu 18.04/20.04/22.04.

Hardware Requirement

Achieving real-time decoding of LTE traffic requires a high-performance CPU with multiple physical cores. Especially when the base station has many active users during the peak hour. LTESniffer was able to achieve real-time decoding when running on an Intel i7-9700K PC to decode traffic on a base station with 150 active users.

The following hardware is recommended

• Intel i7 CPU with at least 8 physical cores
• At least 16Gb RAM
• 256 Gb SSD storage

SDR

LTESniffer requires different SDR for its uplink and downlink sniffing modes.

To sniff only downlink traffic from the base station, LTESniffer is compatible with most SDRs that are supported by the srsRAN library (for example, USRP or BladeRF). The SDR should be connected to the PC via a USB 3.0 port. Also, it should be equipped with GPSDO and two RX antennas to decode downlink messages in transmission modes 3 and 4.

On the other hand, to sniff uplink traffic from smartphones to base stations, LTESniffer needs to listen to two different frequencies (Uplink and Downlink) concurrently. To solve this problem, LTESniffer supports two options:

• Using a single USRP X310. USRP X310 has two Local Oscillators (LOs) for 2 RX channels, which can turn each RX channel to a distinct Uplink/Downlink frequency. To use this option, please refer to the main branch of LTESniffer.
• Using 2 USRP B-Series. LTESniffer utilizes 2 USRP B-series (B210/B200) for uplink and downlink separately. It achieves synchronization between 2 USRPs by using GPSDO for clock source and time reference. To use this option, please refer to the LTESniffer-multi-usrp branch of LTESniffer and its README.

Installation

Important note: To avoid unexpected errors, please follow the following steps on Ubuntu 18.04/20.04/22.04.

Dependencies

• Important dependency: UHD library version >= 4.0 must be installed in advance (recommend building from source). The following steps can be used on Ubuntu 18.04. Refer to UHD Manual for full installation guidance.

UHD dependencies:

sudo apt update
sudo apt-get install autoconf automake build-essential ccache cmake cpufrequtils doxygen ethtool \
g++ git inetutils-tools libboost-all-dev libncurses5 libncurses5-dev libusb-1.0-0 libusb-1.0-0-dev \
libusb-dev python3-dev python3-mako python3-numpy python3-requests python3-scipy python3-setuptools \
python3-ruamel.yaml

Clone and build UHD from source (make sure that the current branch is higher than 4.0)

git clone https://github.com/EttusResearch/uhd.git
cd <uhd-repo-path>/host
mkdir build
cd build
cmake ../
make -j 4
make test
sudo make install
sudo ldconfig

Download firmwares for USRPs:

sudo uhd_images_downloader

We use a 10Gb card to connect USRP X310 to PC, refer to UHD Manual [1], [2] to configure USRP X310 and 10Gb card interface. For USRP B210, it should be connected to PC via a USB 3.0 port.

Test the connection and firmware (for USRP X310 only):

sudo sysctl -w net.core.rmem_max=33554432
sudo sysctl -w net.core.wmem_max=33554432
sudo ifconfig <10Gb card interface> mtu 9000
sudo uhd_usrp_probe

• srsRAN dependencies:

sudo apt-get install build-essential git cmake libfftw3-dev libmbedtls-dev libboost-program-options-dev libconfig++-dev libsctp-dev

• LTESniffer dependencies:

sudo apt-get install libglib2.0-dev libudev-dev libcurl4-gnutls-dev libboost-all-dev qtdeclarative5-dev libqt5charts5-dev

Build LTESniffer from source:

git clone https://github.com/SysSec-KAIST/LTESniffer.git
cd LTESniffer
mkdir build
cd build
cmake ../
make -j 4 (use 4 threads)

Usage

LTESniffer has 3 main functions:

• Sniffing LTE downlink traffic from the base station
• Sniffing LTE uplink traffic from smartphones
• Security API

After building from source, LTESniffer is located in <build-dir>/src/LTESniffer

Note that before using LTESniffer on the commercial, one should have to check the local regulations on sniffing LTE traffic, as we explained in the Ethical Consideration.

To figure out the base station and Uplink-Downlink band the test smartphone is connected to, install Cellular-Z app on the test smartphone (the app only supports Android). It will show the cell ID and Uplink-Downlink band/frequency to which the test smartphone is connected. Make sure that LTESniffer also connects to the same cell and frequency.

General downlink sniffing

sudo ./<build-dir>/src/LTESniffer -A 2 -W <number of threads> -f <DL Freq> -C -m 0
example: sudo ./src/LTESniffer -A 2 -W 4 -f 1840e6 -C -m 0
-A: number of antennas
-W: number of threads
-f: downlink frequency
-C: turn on cell search
-m: sniffer mode, 0 for downlink sniffing and 1 for uplink sniffing

Note: to run LTESniffer with USRP B210 in the downlink mode, add option -a "num_recv_frames=512" to the command line. This option extends the receiving buffer for USRP B210 to achieve better synchronization.

sudo ./<build-dir>/src/LTESniffer -A 2 -W <number of threads> -f <DL Freq> -C -m 0 -a "num_recv_frames=512"
example: sudo ./src/LTESniffer -A 2 -W 4 -f 1840e6 -C -m 0 -a "num_recv_frames=512"

General uplink sniffing

Note: In the uplink sniffing mode, the test smartphones should be located nearby the sniffer, because the uplink signal power from UE is significantly weaker compared to the downlink signal from the base station.

sudo ./<build-dir>/src/LTESniffer -A 2 -W <number of threads> -f <DL Freq> -u <UL Freq> -C -m 1
example: sudo ./src/LTESniffer -A 2 -W 4 -f 1840e6 -u 1745e6 -C -m 1
-u: uplink frequency

Security API

sudo ./<build-dir>/src/LTESniffer -A 2 -W <number of threads> -f <DL Freq> -u <UL Freq> -C -m 1 -z 3
example: sudo ./src/LTESniffer -A 2 -W 4 -f 1840e6 -u 1745e6 -C -m 1 -z 3
-z: 3 for turnning on 3 functions of sniffer, which are identity mapping, IMSI collecting, and UECapability profiling.
    2 for UECapability profiling
    1 for IMSI collecting
    0 for identity mapping

Specify a base station

LTESniffer can sniff on a specific base station by using options -I <Phycial Cell ID (PCI)> -p <number of Physical Resource Block (PRB)>. In this case, LTESniffer does not do the cell search but connects directly to the specified cell.

sudo ./<build-dir>/src/LTESniffer -A 2 -W <number of threads> -f <DL Freq> -I <PCI> -p <PRB> -m 0
sudo ./<build-dir>/src/LTESniffer -A 2 -W <number of threads> -f <DL Freq> -u <UL Freq> -I <PCI> -p <PRB> -m 1
example: sudo ./src/LTESniffer -A 2 -W 4 -f 1840e6 -u 1745e6 -I 379 -p 100 -m 1

The debug mode can be enabled by using option -d. In this case, the debug messages will be printed on the terminal.

Output of LTESniffer

LTESniffer provides pcap files in the output. The pcap file can be opened by WireShark for further analysis and packet trace. The name of downlink pcap file: sniffer_dl_mode.pcap, uplink pcap file: sniffer_ul_mode.pcap, and API pcap file: api_collector.pcap. The pcap files are located in the same directory LTESniffer has been executed. To enable the WireShark to analyze the decoded packets correctly, please refer to the WireShark configuration guide here. There are also some examples of pcap files in the link.
Note: The uplink pcap file contains both uplink and downlink messages. On the WireShark, use this filter to monitor only uplink messages: mac-lte.direction == 0; or this filter to monitor only downlink messages: mac-lte.direction == 1.

Application Note

Distance for uplink sniffing

The effective range for sniffing uplink is limited in LTESniffer due to the capability of the RF front-end of the hardware (i.e. SDR). The uplink signal power from UE is significantly weaker compared to the downlink signal because UE is a handheld device that optimizes battery usage, while the eNB uses sufficient power to cover a large area. To successfully capture the uplink traffic, LTESniffer can increase the strength of the signal power by i) being physically close to the UE, or ii) improving the signal reception capability with specialized hardware, such as a directional antenna, dedicated RF front-end, and signal amplifier.

The information displayed on the terminal

Downlink Sniffing Mode

Processed 1000/1000 subframes: Number of subframes was processed by LTESniffer last 1 second. There are 1000 LTE subframes per second by design.
RNTI: Radio Network Temporary Identifier of UEs.
Table: The maximum modulation scheme that is used by smartphones in downlink. LTESniffer supports up to 256QAM in the downlink. Refer to our paper for more details.
Active: Number of detected messages of RNTIs.
Success: Number of successfully decoded messages over number of detected messages (Active).
New TX, ReTX, HARQ, Normal: Statistic of new messages and retransmitted messages. This function is in development.
W_MIMO, W_pinfor, Other: Number of messages with wrong radio configuration, only for debugging.

Uplink Sniffing Mode

Max Mod: The maximum modulation scheme that is used by smartphones in uplink. It can be 16/64/256QAM depending on the support of smartphones and the configuration of the network. Refer to our paper for more details.
SNR: Signal-to-noise ratio (dB). Low SNR means the uplink signal quality from the smartphone is bad. One possible reason is the smartphone is far from the sniffer.
DL-UL_delay: The average of time delay between downlink signal from the base station and uplink signal from the smartphone.
Other Info: Information only for debugging.

API Mode

Detected Identity: The name of detected identity.
Value: The value of detected identity.
From Message: The name of the message that contains the detected identity.

Credits

We sincerely appreciate the FALCON and SRS team for making their great softwares available.

BibTex

Please refer to our paper for more details.

@inproceedings{hoang:ltesniffer,
  title = {{LTESniffer: An Open-source LTE Downlink/Uplink Eavesdropper}},
  author = {Hoang, Dinh Tuan and Park, CheolJun and Son, Mincheol and Oh, Taekkyung and Bae, Sangwook and Ahn, Junho and Oh, BeomSeok and Kim, Yongdae},
  booktitle = {16th ACM Conference on Security and Privacy in Wireless and Mobile Networks (WiSec '23)},
  year = {2023}
}

FAQ

Q: Is it mandatory to use GPSDO with the USRP in order to run LTESniffer?
A: GPSDO is useful for more stable synchronization. However, for downlink sniffing mode, LTESniffer still can synchronize with the LTE signal to decode the packets without GPSDO. For uplink sniffing mode, GPSDO is only required when using 2 USRP B-series, as it is the time and clock reference sources for synchrozation between uplink and downlink channels. Another uplink SDR option, using a single USRP X310, does not require GPSDO.

Q: For downlink traffic, can I use a cheaper SDR?
A: Technically, any SDRs supported by srsRAN library such as Blade RF can be used to run LTESniffer in the downlink sniffing mode. However, we only tested the downlink sniffing function of LTESniffer with USRP B210 and X310.

Q: Is it illegal to use LTESniffer to sniff the LTE traffic?
A: You should have to check the local regulations on sniffing (unencrypted) LTE traffic. Another way to test LTESniffer is setting up a personal LTE network by using srsRAN - an open-source LTE implementation in a Faraday cage.

Q: Can LTESniffer be used to view the content of messages between two users?
A: One can see only the "unencrypted" part of the messages. Note that the air traffic between the base station and users is mostly encrypted.

Q: Is there any device identity exposed in plaintext in the LTE network?
A: Yes, literature shows that there are multiple identities exposed, such as TMSI, GUTI, IMSI, and RNTI. Please refer to the academic literature for more details. e.g. Watching the Watchers: Practical Video Identification Attack in LTE Networks

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