Last year, Google rolled out a new feature on Android. It allows you to deactivate 2G on smartphones, which is good news to reduce monitoring.
You may feel that a file 2G It’s not really in use today however it is still around and modern phones are still connected to it, especially in certain areas not poorly covered by the mobile internet.
Monitor tools use 2G, easier to attack
But connecting to 2G network may cause problems according toEFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) which praises the functionality provided by Google. According to the association, 2G has two problems. First, this technique, which now dates back to 1991, uses a file Very weak encryption between the moving pylon and the station. It can be hacked in real time by an attacker who can thus recover calls and messages.
Second, there is no There is no antenna authentication by your phone, which means anyone can pass the interceptor as a 2G antenna that your phone will connect to.
Monitoring tools work like this, EFF adds. They are intercepting your 2G connections and even if your phone is fully connected to 4G you are not necessarily protected as some of these devices can cause your phone to switch to 2G only. So anyone can be targeted by such a device.
The feature is not open to everyone
However, this new feature is not available to all Android users. In fact, it’s reserved for the newer models due to hardware limitations but some slightly older phones can still get it. To check, just go to Settings > Networks & Internet > SIMs > Allow 2G and then choose whether you want to activate it or not.
EFF is also urging Apple to do the same with iPhones, providing better protection for its customers.
