this post was submitted on 12 Jun 2024
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Privacy
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Forgive my ignorance, but isn't preventing this type of man in the middle attack exactly what VPNs are for?
That's not how a VPN works. A VPN masks the information you are actually accessing by showing you query the VPN instead. To make a connection to a service you still need an address. This info is what they are using to identify your device.
Most traffic is already encrypted (httpS) so someone spying on you wouldn't know the content of your communication only who you contact. But without a VPN a man in the Middle could see who you are contacting. E.g. looking up pornhub. With the VPN it only shows you looking up the VPN.
Right, that's what I understood. So using a VPN, a CSS will be able to identify that my phone is active, but not the content I'm accessing, or who I am accessing it from, correct?
The previous comment said VPNs do nothing against this type of attack- were they just referring to identifying your device?
CSS wouldn't be used to spy on your network traffic; if they wanted your internet data, they'd have much simpler methods to collect it than CSS (and they wouldn't be able to decode most of that data anyways in normal cases).
What do you mean by that?
Suggesting that a VPN could mitigate stuff relating to CSS is like wearing a floating vest 24/7 when flying in a Boeing plane: you might feel a bit safer with it on, but it'd probably be smarter to have a parachute instead.
Ok, I'm missing something then.
What is CSS used for?
CSS are used to establish whose phone (the therefore who) is in a location and whose phone (and therefore whomst) sent and received data at what times.
That information is what police will use as probable cause to get warrants against the services you use if not your person or home.