I'm a complete tech noob, so please go easy on me if I don't articulate myself correctly. I'm in the middle of a divorce from a black hat hacker. He's deep into what he does, and apparently he's covert enough, because the feds haven't come for him yet, which still amazes me. As a side dish to his cyber fraud, he's taken to cyber stalking me. He's completely taken control of any device i touch (remotely) be it phones, laptops, tablets, home network, even the TV via the firestick. As I said, i don't know a whole lot, and what I have learned is only the direct result of trying to get away from him. Internet and cell companies have thrown their hands up, and said good luck. The local police said they know its happening, because of the proof I can produce, but they don't understand enough to do anything. The state trooper I talked to suggested I change passwords, and hide it under my bed; so yes. That is the level of assistance I have available. He's ascended to the level of being able to manipulate bank accounts, and cell phone records now. Instead of letting me prove this, I get the "She's high or unstable" look. Grapheneos was my last hope for some shred of privacy. I haven't had a private phone conversation in almost two years. Pictures and videos are taken of me when I forget to cover the cameras. I know he steals metadata, and identities, but he does so under the cover of my identity, using my accounts. The short of it is, I'm scared, and I'm running out of options, as far as who I can get to maybe help me. The side loaded system apps he uses appeared on my 5a; However, from the logs, I can see he's having issues he hasn't had before. Its been two weeks, and last night I started getting the same notifications I'd get before when he made his way into my device. "Unknown servers, " This page isn't secure" "You aren't authorized to view blah blah. Contact admin". The webcam feature has a large service log, and the option to disable it is grayed out. There's so much to this, but I'm trying to keep it short. I also noted my messages app isn't stock. In the log it said "untrusted". I was asked if I'd like to update it, but when I try, its inaccessible. Maybe I've done something wrong? I know I need more experience with Grapheneos to utilize it optimally, but I still don't know how he wormed into this at all. If anyone has the time or patience to deal with me, I'd be beyond grateful. Again, please don't respond with anything condescending. I've had so much of that; I'm not asking for opinions about whether its possible, because its happening. I just need help learning how to use this os, so that maybe I can finally stop him, and have a tiny slice of privacy back. Thank you.
5a Compromised.
Ambs033 Contact your ISP and explain to them that your network is hacked, contact your bank, your insurance and anything else that's important to you, have all your sensitive accounts closed and destroy all your devices that require an Internet connection, you're the target of persistent attacks from someone who has fully taken control, you need to disconnect entirely first. Next, the best thing would be to use GrapheneOS on a Google Pixel 8, even though the Pixel 5a still receives security updates, it lacks important security functionality, in your situation and if you have the financial means, you might consider getting one already ready out of the box from Nitrokey, it could be much simpler for you.
Finally, learn how to use good digital hygiene on a daily basis, learn what a threat model is and what some of the best practices are, here are two great guides you can start with :
https://www.privacyguides.org/en/
https://privsec.dev/
Here are regularly updated lists of security tools and tips : https://github.com/beerisgood
Note that you should first learn what the threat model is
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I say disconnect yourself from the internet and hopefully from the entire grid, and move somewhere else. Stop using anything too electronic, when when you're fleeing. Maybe get to a rural area where electronic devices are more uncommon. Maybe you also need to directly contact someone high up in the feds and share any and all evidence you can provide against him, not just on your case, on the whole black hat thing.
Ambs033 Manually back up your data onto a USB drive. Don't use the backup system but rather do it manually. Factory reset your device and his access will be gone as long as it has genuine GrapheneOS installed. You can verify it has genuine GrapheneOS with our Auditor app from a friend's phone which you know isn't compromised. Follow https://attestation.app/tutorial.
You'll need a new phone after the Pixel 5a is end-of-life in a few months. We recommend a Pixel 8 or Pixel 8 Pro. Make sure to do the verification process after setting it up. You can use a friend's phone for the web installer and it's also easier to verify that you're running genuine GrapheneOS on the newer phones via https://grapheneos.org/install/web#verified-boot-key-hash.
Ambs033 I have seen some people claiming that they have been hacked and their devices being controlled but actually they are just being paranoid, so to be frank i don't believe your story 100% but still I'll share few ideas.
I'm not an expert but if I was in your situation the first things I'll do is removing all the devices that are connected to internet from the home.
Maybe until things get sorted out, you may need to live a different life than others. I'm going bit extreme here trying to avoid compromising devices again.
Again I'm not an expert so take these steps in that seriousness, but some of the below steps may help you.
- Disconnect your WiFi, remove the connection to the modem. (I'll also stop the WiFi service from the ISP. So no more home WiFi)
- Power of and keep all electronic devices in Faraday bags, keep them safe as they may be helpful in the court to show as evidence. (Old phone, laptop, or anything that can communicate outside. Forget about your old data for the better.)
- Go to bank, disable internet banking, phone banking, debit,credit cards etc. Also withdraw some cash. Explain the situation and if they allow unlink your phone number and email from the account, if they won't allow we can update it with some new details later on.
- Buy a new pixel 8 and charger with cash from a google store, flash grapheneos on it. Maybe try to get help from your friends while installing not to use any compromised device. After flashing verify the signature using the steps and enable remote attestation.
Protect your phone with a very secure passphrase.
Stick some tapes on the camera.
There are USB audio adapter which block microphone. you may use it. But I trust the software tiles to block microphone.
Disable the USB connection completely on our phone so now you can charge it only when its switched off.
Enable mte for user installed apps and all similar security features in grapheneos.
Need to use a VPN, maybe proton (you may ask a friend to do purchase for you) also enable DNS filtering you may use nextdns. Continuously monitor your traffic in the next DNS console. - Create a random gmail and download apps from play store, only the necessary ones. (Proton mail, proton VPN, proton drive, keepassdx, fossify calender, signal are enough to start with)
- Create a proton mail account or something similar, proton gives 10 free aliases so use those for your remote attestation, if possible for bank also.
- Buy a simcard from retail shop, in us mint mobile is a good option but don't share the number to anyone. (Or try to get a data only simcard if possible, Tello have it I think).
- Get a VoIP service for calls, services like cloaked give free trial for one week, get a number from them and create your signal account in case you dont want normal calls at all. you may use other private messaging apps which don't require a mobile number to communicate with family.
- If possible move out if the city temporarily or change your house, or do a deep clean of your home, check for any hidden devices. Maybe you will need some kind of extra devices for this work. (But I won't dare to stay in the house if he stayed there previously)
- Do the same things for your car too. (I trust old model cars without any technology in this situation)
- Try not to use a PC, instead try to use a pixel tablet with grapheneos. Still air gap it with your new pixel 8.
- If you have some accounts which you want to recover, use the tablet to access those accounts, change the passwords and possibly schedule those for deletion.
Create a new proton account in tablet and change email id of your previous accounts, to the aliases of this new proton account.
Use services like https://whatsmyname.app/ or https://github.com/sherlock-project/sherlock to find out where accounts are created with your name or email. - Report the possibility of identity theft to the government agencies and try to ban your old documents and get new ones with new numbers. (I'm not sure whether its possible where you live.)
- If you have a work device, return it to office clearly explaining the situation. (No more work from home)
- Finally don't click on any unknown links you receive, and be careful what you do on your device.
Turn off the internet or devices itself when you don't need it.
If you think you need a professional help than some random dudes on the internet who haven't experienced with these kind of situation, you may better have a consultation with Michael Bazzell or his team at
https://inteltechniques.com/services.html
Note: all the above options mentioned above are the ones I could think of from my reading and understanding of different articles/books and may not be accurate. This should not be considered as a professional advice since I'm not an expert in dealing with these kind of situations.
@"W1zardK1ng"#p
W1zardK1ng Don't forget to use very Strong passwords for you all accounts created by password managers with 2fa whenever possible, also try hardware 2fa keys. Use anonymous accounts where you can use rather than using it with your real name and email.
The whole story makes me suspect you are suffering from extreme paranoia (as is the case with a lot of alternate OS users). Obviously the first things are to replace the router and get a new phone. Use new and strong passwords and WPA3 wifi encryption. Factory reset and/or replace the items you think your ex has hacked.
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Ambs033 Again, please don't respond with anything condescending. I've had so much of that; I'm not asking for opinions about whether its possible, because its happening.
I believe you that it is happening, because I have a acquaintance
that it is happening to as well.
With her ex husband.
She is not willing to invest into a pixel etc... But she is going a different route.
Things that go through my mind, in addition:
Keep wifi and bluetooth turned off, unless when you need it.
Activate 4g-only. Settings internet and connection, internet, settings icon.
Settings- Security- native code Debugging blocked by default (some apps need it, those that dont work any more after that setting)
For testing I'd just leave it off (wifi and Bluetooth) for a while.
See if you can get a prepaid card with as much mobile data (like 20 - 30g)
I am a noob but I can't think of another way into a phone (without a compromised app or page, except bluetooth or wifi). So you will force him in a certain direction.
Reboot device as often as possible... Like GrapheneOS wrote it will "kick" him off the device.
Good luck and prayers with you.
Edit. Did you flash GrapheneOS yourself? I ask because I was just thinking: is the bootloader locked?
Never mind the reboot, not sure on that one.
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I would disagree with some here, and advise:
do not use SMS or SIM cards, disable them completely. Keep airplane mode on, and use Wi-fi only.
From the grapheneos website:
Legacy calls and texts should be avoided as they're not secure and trust the carrier / network along with having weak security against other parties. Trying to detect some forms of interception rather than dealing with the root of the problem (unencrypted communications / data transfer) would be foolish and doomed to failure.
[...]
Airplane mode is the only way to avoid the cellular network tracking your device and works correctly on the devices we support.
https://grapheneos.org/faq#cellular-tracking
Signal via Wi-fi would be a better choice.
The challenge then is making sure that you have consistent access to a trustworthy Wi-fi network to meet your needs.
A deep reading of the GOS website for other matters could also be helpful.
Your situation will require making many sacrifices in the name of safety.
Wishing you well.
When someone says that they are a "total n00b at all this" and admit lacking proficiency within the realm on one hand, on the other, insist upon only one acceptable answer from any replies... They are merely seeking validation.
I didn't read the entire thread but the suggestions I saw were overkill. No app/device can protect you in such an extreme scenario, anyway. We trade in mitigations here. You aren't going dark, off-the-grid, anon...none of us are. So if an uber-skilled hacker with the money, time and expertise to spend stalking another person's "entire life" has picked you, law enforcement is the answer. I am of absolute certainty that they take crimes of this nature seriously. If you hit a wall, go above it. Try county, state police, FBI. The FBI will 100% hear you out.
Some good advice here, but I want to reiterate something. You need to ENSURE you have a clean system to work with for online activity, which you wont be able to avoid. Follow the advice from GrapheneOS above. This will ensure your phone is clean. Do not, under ANY circumstances use your home internet with this phone. In fact, disconnect your router for now.
This will give you a basis to be able to communicate with the outside world without his knowledge. I would keep this phone manually backed up the ti USB stick as recommended via GrapheneOS above and perhaps wipe it every several days for now.
If you need to use a laptop, use only TailsOS to do it. If you search for that you will see it’s very easy to set up and it’s probably the most secure way to use any untrusted PC.
From there you then can begin to follow some of the steps laid out above to resecure your digital life.
I have to say though, really you need a new life somewhere else with freshly obtained legal documents possibly under a new name in order to stop what is happening. If this person is sufficiently advanced, it will be next to impossible to stop him unless you yourself are sufficiently advanced to know how to apply counter measures. Starting again could be your only option.
As another poster advised, seeking out a trustworthy security expert to aid you could be a good idea.
I am sorry this is happening to you, and I believe you. Others with more expertise have replied with good suggestions -- to follow up on what someone1223 said:
Please take a look at this resource on abuse using technology:
https://www.womenslaw.org/about-abuse/abuse-using-technology
Please see here to find advocates and shelters in your jurisdiction who may help you develop an escape plan:
https://www.womenslaw.org/find-help/advocates-and-shelters
Good luck and stay well, we are thinking of you.