For whoever is on iOS: you can create a Shortcut to turn off wifi and BT, it works as if you'd go into Settings to turn them off. You can add the shortcut to your home screen and run it as if you'd run an app.
If you have your iPhone icloud linked in your apple laptop the cellphone will also forget that network after you delete from you apple laptop or Mac as showed in this video at 13:00 It’s not the best way but at least there is a way.
I love the way how you explain rather complicated topics in a simple way. I knew most of the things mentioned in the video, but always learn at least one useful detail from each video. I'm linking your vids to friends because I can't explain these topics as good as you do :)
on an iPhone, reset internet settings in order to remove all your previous connected devices. General>Transfer or Reset iPhone>Reset>Reset Network Settings Bare in mind that internet settings could be stored on iCloud, and shared with other devices. Those might restore the wi-fi connection history on your iPhone.
I can't thank you enough to for these videos! Over the past year, I broke up with Google, Microsoft, and iOS. It was a rough separation, but big business just wanted too much out of our relationship. My new relationship with Graphene OS and Linux is much healthier! My old devices an email are used for unsecure public nonsense (like TH-cam for instance) and I've created new and private online identities. Can you make a video on anonymous services (cloud storage, vpn, etc.) that have crypto payment options? It seems like the next step I need to level up.
@@Qotroz depends who you want privacy and security from. For your average level hackers it can be pretty good. If your trying to block alphabet agencies no they can get in it. When I was in the military we could get into devices in real time no matter what they were running. What the public isn't told is all your encryption and privacy apps and programs are literally made in Langley and NSA and then released under various, clients, apps, emails etc so people will feel comfortable using them. They all have a backdoor in them. If your going out the way to use all this stuff the govt is interested in what your hiding. For most part they don't care. Usually people buying and selling drugs, or other illegal things. But the agencies make hundreds of billions off the drug trades in off the budget money so they don't care. They just look for stuff to black mail you with if they ever need to use you for something. Take it for what it's worth, don't care who believes me
I have an older android phone. I pulled up the list of "Saved Wi-Fi" locations. Holy crap, it was like a timeline of all the places I have been in the past four years! Will work on deleting them, apparently has to be done one at a time so that will take a while. Thankfully we have unlimited data now so we don't necessarily have to rely on wi-fi when we are away from home. I am super glad I watched this video. Thanks Naomi!
When Obama wanted everyone to have a phone - it wasn't an act of goodwill...... And it worked - now old people whom wouldn't ever use a computer happily glue their faces to their phones just like the kids do - just sad.
Great Video, thanks. Another piece of advice: if anyone has been to your house and used your WiFi, you should always change the password straight after, because your WiFi location, SSID and Password are stored on THEIR devices. If they get compromised, then 'bad actors' could drive to your location, connect using the password, and do malicious stuff on your connection, leaving you with the blame, and/or attack devices connected to your network.
Chapters: (if you only watch one section, skip to 09:06 for the most important part of the video, about malicious connections!) (but also watch it all, because it's useful to understand how WiFi works ;) ) 00:00 Intro 01:00 How WiFi connections work 04:29 Hidden networks 05:49 Why broadcasting SSIDs is a privacy nightmare: Tracking 07:45 Why broadcasting SSIDs is a privacy nightmare: Exposes Private Info 09:06 MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE VIDEO: malicious connections 11:03 How to protect yourself 13:11 Summary *Edit: Eric has pointed out that there is a way to reset you PNL, even if you can't view it: Settings / General / (scroll all the way down) Transfer of Reset / Reset / Reset Network Settings. This will scrub off all previous WiFi networks previously saved. Thanks, Eric!
I use the Shortcut Automation on the iPhone to disable WiFi and Bluetooth when I leave my house. I try to use it to enable them when I return but it takes longer to recognize my location so usually do it manually.
Another way to remove known SSID form your iPhone is to reset its network settings in General - Transfer or Reser iPhone - Reset - Reset network settings. Please note that it will forget all known networks, so you’ll have to reconnect manually to the ones you trust.
Why did they stop the mechanical wireless switches? You could instantly shut off your wireless devices with a switch, anytime you want. The best kind of security, other than removal of batteries.
Pretty much answered your own question. The issue here is people believe these companies and corporations have their customers best interests in mind and in reality they do not. You are harvested for your data by all of them and those items of security you listed, were taken off the market to keep you in their pockets. Simple as that.
First off, these are all excellent points, and presented in perfect order!!😀 Secondly, this is why I use a VPN that disconnects from wireless unless the signal passes through NordVPN (arguably the #1 choice) first. While it doesn't quite work like on a PC, where one can bypass this or that app for best audio/video quality, or Maps if needed, it does protect the wireless well & one can choose the server of Our choice. Great video though, I'd also say Airplane Mode is a great choice, especially when one doesn't want to be bothered, performing 2 tasks at once.💯
I recently fired up an old MacBook Pro that I hadn’t used in a while. All the wifi networks from my iPhone / iPad going back more than five years were readily viewable in the wifi settings of the computer. It took it as a sign that I had to manually forget all the old networks. Job done.
When I found out many ISP's were using customers home routers to allow other users of that ISP to connect without the usual wi-fi system as a selling point to their service I should've been surprised. I wasn't. Nothing is above these corporations using their customers in any way they can to supplement their own greed. I don't pay for internet service just so anyone driving by can connect . . . .
On my Iphone, once I'm on wifi settings, there is an "edit" in the upper right corner where you can find previous wifi networks. I deleted all of them but one. :)
Funny that this should come up in my suggested videos today - a couple of hours ago I read that Officeworks (a major office supply store here in Australia) is using WiFi to track customer movement throughout one of their stores. As time goes on I think more and more about going back to a dumbphone.
Same, I thought the routers did the broadcasting, & the phone wifis just listened, & then connected if it found one it knew. I usually keep my wifi off for battery saving, but I need to be mindful if I ever turn it on in a store... and clean out any old wifis my phone may have saved. I wonder if phones have a setting that " automatically forgets" every network you might connect to unless you specifically save it?
I love that "hidden" networks ironically cause the most leakage, just like a "secure" wifi in a coffee shop is not secure at all, everyone knows the password and you're all "decrypting" the same signal.
Another thing to turn off is both WiFi and Bluetooth scanning in location settings otherwise your phone is tracking your movements based on WiFi router signals. It also depletes your battery quite rapidly
12:15 thats wrong, you can go to settings -> Wi-Fi and hit the "Edit" button on the top right corner and there you can see and delete all networks, your phone has connected in the past.
Thanks for this, I normally do turn my wifi off when I am not home but I do run out of data on my mindmobile account so I end up turning it back on. Also I just looked at the saved networks and boy do I have a lot more then I thought I did.
It's downright scary the amount of neighboring WiFi signals my household smart devices will prompt me on whom to connect to, as my place is strictly hard-wired network connected, no WiFi in my house. But on occasion, a smart device in my house will ask for a WiFi connection, whereupon it will show me a list of 13 neighboring WiFi networks. To think that if I had my house WiFi active, any of those 13 neighbors could eavesdrop or pirate my WiFi.
I realized this MANY years ago with my first "smart" phone. I only activate WiFi on an "as needed" basis, then shut it down. It's NEVER on as I move around.
SAME HERE. I pretty much only use WiFi at my work location to download larger files, other than that I have it turned off on my phone at all times and I have it set to manually join never auto join. I’m about to setup Ethernet for my laptop too. I really don’t like WiFi.
A simple solution is for routers to come with their own cryptographically signed certificate and then your phone will have that public key stored after the first time it connects. During each connect the two devices do a handshake just like is done with TLS. This would stop SSID trickery.
The more I hear of this type of thing the more I think of the “pocket server/gateway” concept. The idea being based around a Raspberry Pi Zero 2, the device would have its own battery pack and its own storage, antennae, etc. and be carried in your pocket. It would act as a gateway bypassing some of the issues discussed here (particularly poorer practices from outdated Android and iOS devices) and even gateway laptops, etc. by maintaining a personal wifi network for on-person devices that use wifi. It would have dual NICs onboard and would be responsible for maintaining a stronger security layer (as well as VPN provision, etc.). As a bonus it could act as a download server (e.g. taking over the download tasks of larger files using something like Aria2 to download large files without having to clutter up your main device). There’s more scope to use this for server functions too presuming encryption is implemented well (e.g. as an incremental backup system for sync’d files). Packaging and casing would have to be worked out but AFIAK most of the kit is off-the-shelf right now - though I’m not sure what battery options exist for all-day usage for instance. I’ve discussed the idea with a few techs who have much more knowledge in this area than I do; most seem to think it viable, I think we’re heading in a direction where such devices are going to be more and more necessary it seems.
Well, it's actually super popular in China amongst the "network enthusiast" because having such a device means they could "get across the Great Fire Wall" (they call it "scientific surfing") mobily. It's a matter of personal safety if you really think about it because getting into international network without going through the GFW is considered criminal activity. That's why there's a fast growing industry there to make smaller, faster and better "software routers" as they call it, in fact this might be the first time in personal computer history that there's a specific type of computer where the industry is growing fast without significant market in the US & EU, and because these devices are somewhat unfavorable to the Chinese government, they are usually made by secretive smaller companies instead of large electronic manufactures, very often time no one knows who is actually building these thing, they "just exist and kept coming out with new versions" A lot of those devices are actually available from Aliexpress, in fact Protectli (at one point sponsored this channel I believe) is one such device. Fascinating stuff if you ask me.
@@holmiumh oh WOW - I'd not heard of this before, that's really really interesting. Are there any examples of products you can link to or is this considered "outing" such a manufacturer or product? I'd only vaguely considered such use but it makes an awful lot of sense inside the GFW's domain - especially with the angst that the COVID lockdowns and the financial collapse are causing inside China. From what you know are these generally based around an ARM platform and similar to a Zero 2W or the likes? I'd be fascinated to see how they've set one of these up. I'd even go further to conceal its carry, I even had the idea of incorporating it into a belt buckle (less crazy than it sounds, the Yanks put tool kits or knives in buckles in some products).
I have always kept wifi on my phone turned off unless I'm using it. But my phone is more than 4.5 years old & I've connected to wifi in dozens of states in all 4 US time zones. *I'm a long distance truck driver) Thanks to this video, I found where to forget those networks. But I found 2 that I don't recognize & don't have a forget button. One is called privatemobile network & the other is Verizonwifiaccess.
I regularly delete my list of saved wifi networks on my devices (except for the few networks I use every day) and only have wifi turned on when I'm using it. Saves battery too.
My cell service is no bars where I live unless I use wifi calling. But as soon as I leave the house there is no service anywhere near where I go so my phone never leaves my property
Bugger this is an important video!! Great work again. This one causes a lot of anguish though. So are we looking at a system similar to bank cards etc to block potential threats?
Wait! What? I knew your phone contains a Preferred Network List but I thought phones work with Passive Discovery. Active Discovery is indeed stupid! When did this start? Now I have another rabbit hole to research.
Great information. I'm old enoiugh to remember the good old days of pay phone booths, party lines, and rotary dialing phones. If I can understand this then anyone can understand it.
The best way to protect your privacy and prevent tracking is to switch your phone to flight mode when in public places when you’re not expecting any incoming calls or text messages. If you are expecting incoming calls or texts, turn on the cellular network but keep the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth off.
That will help, but it still won't prevent your phone's whereabouts from being tracked, as it will continue to discretely announce its presence to nearby devices.
@@invisableobserver Believe it or not my 1st cell was a Motorola BAG phone.. mid 1990s Just do NOT like what cell phones have become and what "social media" has done to society....
If you have a Mac and it's logged in to the same iCloud as your phone, you can look in "Keychain" to see all of your stored Wi-Fi networks and passwords. My phone updates the list on the Mac.
So many "that's crazy" moments! Each SSID can be easily geo-located, regardless of the description. Now that would make an impressive public display, showing SSID names and looking-up their locations & displaying on a map.
Your phone could combine the GPS info with the SSID and never try to connect to that SSID if it's not in an expected place. That would mitigate the "Starbucks" name attack to only phones inside or near a physical location. Years ago on Android I would use an app to turn off Wi-Fi if I was not near a location I trusted like work or home. And remember a "secured" wifi at a coffee shop isn't, everyone has the password and everyone can see your traffic to some degree (HTTPS websites won't show pictures being scraped on the Pineapple).
iPhone just reset network settings and it deletes the list. Then add then again individually as you need them then forget each one after use before leaving the network range.
Excellent video, great info ... even tech savvy users may not know some of this. Is there a list of what devices/OS versions send the PNL vs those that don't? (couldn't find one via Google search)
There is now an update to iOS that now allows you to remove networks from your PNL list without being near the networks. You just have to go into the Wi-Fi setting and select edit in the upper right hand corner. That will show the full list and allow the removal.
I know.... and that is how I found my cousins cellphone that was lost in the snow... she had it on mute, no vibration, no data but wifi was on. We knew the street it was lost so I made my phone a hot spot with the SSID of her home network and walked up and down to see when her phone connects on my phone as a client. When it did I had my browser logged on as her on google's find my phone and the moment the phone got internet I sent the signal to start ringing full blast, vibrating and whatever else does a lost android phone when it feels scared... eventually we heard it under us and with a little digging in the snow we found it.
For example, some of the networks I see on my Mac are those that I only connected to with my iPhone.) To delete any of these networks, click them, then press Delete, and click Delete in the confirmation dialog. Note that any changes you make on your Mac will take time to propagate to other Macs, and to iOS devices.
With Apple you can rest the network settings. Will erase all the networks you were previously connected too. Use Private Relay to hide your ip address and mask your MAC address.
Shanon and Naomi on the same video? 😱 Wow, hold your horses tiger! Getting privacy overloaded. 😜 Thanks for the content Naomi! 👍🏼 Shanon and the Hak5 team give some great insights on how hackers do what they do, so in a sense you can counter to enhance your privacy. 🤘🏼
Also note that some "randomized MAC" actually broadcast their original mac when initially connecting to a network then change the mac address to randomized one, I have observed this with my own Samsung device :( I was trying to find the source of someone attacking my wifi with a rather noisy deauth attack (how nice of them)
11:03 SAY WHAAAT?! When I turn off WiFi, my phone is still sending out WiFi identification?! That's nuts! I don't mind if it's listening, but when I've turned off WiFi it should be silent. On my phone, it's under "WiFi and Bluetooth Scanning"
I am dealing with this problem every day. I turn off wifi on my phone,15 minutes later,it's back on. All day everyday. I would like to delete it permanently. Thanks for the info.
Same goes for dedicated mobile hotspots. Power off, and like with Nighthawks, I operate without a battery unless required and unplug. I've seen the units power up on their own, usually connecting to the provider's network (e.g. utility failure). For home tablets and workstations, I use the ethernet port on the hotspot and unplug.
On iPadOS 16.3 there is a edit link in the top right of the wlan settings which shows me the list of „known“ networks. That’s probably not the connect history but at least the ones which get auto connected.
That is exactly how I do that, go in and forget all wifi networks I have previously connected to. Unless it is my home WiFi and that is it! (WiFi scanning, Blue Tooth scanning is all turned off)
Hi on IOS if you go into WiFi then on the top right click the edit button, you can see your PNL and delete unwanted ones. This may have been an update after this video was released.
Thank you Naomi. Something I haven't been able to stop thinking about is, how hard would it be to implement code into an android update specifically for this SSID probing functionality? This is in regards to how Android Devices automatically connect to an Open Network with the Same SSID as one stored in the phone, which is obviously a huge security flaw. In theory, could code be added to the SSID probe, that Validated that the last known IP address, to know if it is okay to automatically authenticate the device to the "Known" SSID, else send a single prompt telling the user about the IP address change and ask if they want to allow the device to connect?
I have a VPN running directly on my router at home so it covers ALL devices connected to it connected to the internet! I seldom use WiFi outside of home or work but when I do I use the same VPN on my phone! Been at a few bars/pubs using Wifi and I had this dude moving closer and closer to me just typing a million miles an hour on his laptop keyboard so, I got suspicious and turned off my WiFi and BOOM - he was gone! This was BEFORE I had a VPN on my phone. Now NO issues on PUBLIC WiFi as my connection is encrypted using my VPN but even what that I try to avoid at all costs now!
On the off chance that this hasn't been mentioned yet, Android users can install an app called *Tasker,* with which they can setup their own automatic routines that are triggered when any set of specific conditions are met. _Example:_ You can create a rule that turns off WiFi as soon as you move beyond a given distance from any known, secure networks that you regularly use; and then automatically turn WiFi back on again, once get within a given range of any if those networks. It's tedious to set the rules up, but once you've created them and confirmed that they're working as designed, you never need to worry about turning WiFI OFF/ON again, unless you need to join a new network, or edit/update the rule conditions. You can create all sorts of rules to accomplish just about any task that you can think of. Some tasks require root access, but when you weigh that against the fact that you can now make you device more secure, that's a trade-off that I think most people are prepared to make. Keep in mind that once you root your device, some existing apps may cease to exit; and you'll have to decide for yourselves whether that's a good trade-off for your situation. No! I don't have a list of which apps require root.
Have you done a video about stalking yet? Stalking is a big problem for a lot of women in particular. It is done mostly by (ex) intimate partners who may have access to your devices or your home or car. Women with large online followings also get stalked by strangers online. What are the risks? How can we protect ourselves from stalkers? To me, this is a much bigger concern than governments or corporations collecting my data. I am far less likely to be harrassed by them than by a man. Some 25% of women get stalked in their lifetime.
For IOS. Goto Settings, General, scroll down to “transfer or Reset iPhone”, Reset, choose Reset Network Settings. It’ll remove all your networks. You’ll just need to reconnect to the ones you use.
12:20 if you are an iPhone user and you have a mac of some description, you can edit that (PNL) list in System settings -> Network -> WiFi | Advanced -> Preferred networks ;)
First of all, why does the phone search for a custom name (ssid) instead of a more specific identifier? Second of all, if it meets an impersonating ssid, how does it connect, when it should have a saved password, which is different than the impersonating ssid?
I should have clarified that, this is for open networks like starbucks. If a network requires a password then a phone can't automatically connect to that network unless they have the password
@@NaomiBrockwellTV business's usually use their phone number as their passwords, a hacker can also use their wifi to watch free cable/satellite TV channels.
Brilliant again,l've stopped using wifi since getting an endless data plan on my phone ,deleting those wifi's I have previously used sounds like a sensible move. Seeya.
A good litmus test for any tech is the laziness factor. I've found without exception that the more convenient it is the worse it is for you. And yes low constant levels of wireless radiation does cause subtle damage to sensitive tissue in the body. To this day I always run Ethernet cables to every computer in my house. With power line adapters it's even easier. I also recommend sleeping with your phones as far away from you as possible.
Not sure how many versions before iOS 16.1, I have the latest version of iOS. Open your WiFi settings where you’ll see the list of networks around you, top right of the screen is edit button when you hit that it’ll show you the list of known networks and you can delete ones you don’t want
For whoever is on iOS: you can create a Shortcut to turn off wifi and BT, it works as if you'd go into Settings to turn them off.
You can add the shortcut to your home screen and run it as if you'd run an app.
Or you can throw the Iphone away and get a Samsung and use Bixby Routines to turn WiFi on and off
I turned my WIFI off. Now I can't get TH-cam Naomi betrayed me!🤣
That’s a funny 😂😂😂
lol I see
Please can you make one video showing how to make free calls (phreaking phones)🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
So... Ethernet is your friend ; )
If you have your iPhone icloud linked in your apple laptop the cellphone will also forget that network after you delete from you apple laptop or Mac as showed in this video at 13:00 It’s not the best way but at least there is a way.
I periodically do a 'network reset' on my iPhone for this reason.
I love the way how you explain rather complicated topics in a simple way. I knew most of the things mentioned in the video, but always learn at least one useful detail from each video. I'm linking your vids to friends because I can't explain these topics as good as you do :)
on an iPhone, reset internet settings in order to remove all your previous connected devices. General>Transfer or Reset iPhone>Reset>Reset Network Settings
Bare in mind that internet settings could be stored on iCloud, and shared with other devices. Those might restore the wi-fi connection history on your iPhone.
I can't thank you enough to for these videos! Over the past year, I broke up with Google, Microsoft, and iOS. It was a rough separation, but big business just wanted too much out of our relationship. My new relationship with Graphene OS and Linux is much healthier! My old devices an email are used for unsecure public nonsense (like TH-cam for instance) and I've created new and private online identities. Can you make a video on anonymous services (cloud storage, vpn, etc.) that have crypto payment options? It seems like the next step I need to level up.
so glad they're helpful!
skiff offers crypto payment and file storage, mullvad vpn offers crypto payment, I'll look for others!
Graphene OS and Linux are literally the worst offenders when it comes to privacy security.
@@Qotroz 😂
@@Qotroz depends who you want privacy and security from. For your average level hackers it can be pretty good. If your trying to block alphabet agencies no they can get in it. When I was in the military we could get into devices in real time no matter what they were running. What the public isn't told is all your encryption and privacy apps and programs are literally made in Langley and NSA and then released under various, clients, apps, emails etc so people will feel comfortable using them. They all have a backdoor in them. If your going out the way to use all this stuff the govt is interested in what your hiding. For most part they don't care. Usually people buying and selling drugs, or other illegal things. But the agencies make hundreds of billions off the drug trades in off the budget money so they don't care. They just look for stuff to black mail you with if they ever need to use you for something. Take it for what it's worth, don't care who believes me
I have an older android phone. I pulled up the list of "Saved Wi-Fi" locations. Holy crap, it was like a timeline of all the places I have been in the past four years! Will work on deleting them, apparently has to be done one at a time so that will take a while. Thankfully we have unlimited data now so we don't necessarily have to rely on wi-fi when we are away from home.
I am super glad I watched this video. Thanks Naomi!
So glad it was helpful!!!
I believe you have Apple surveillance
I'm sure turning it off doesn't stop it, just hides it from you.
Excellent info Naomi! Invaluable actually. Its amazing how much our phones give info away to 'anyone'
When Obama wanted everyone to have a phone - it wasn't an act of goodwill...... And it worked - now old people whom wouldn't ever use a computer happily glue their faces to their phones just like the kids do - just sad.
A Saturday Naomi upload is exactly what your soul needs.
💛
using a VPN over unsecured or public Wi-Fi should mitigate most of the risks - just make sure you trust your VPN provider
Great Video, thanks.
Another piece of advice: if anyone has been to your house and used your WiFi, you should always change the password straight after, because your WiFi location, SSID and Password are stored on THEIR devices. If they get compromised, then 'bad actors' could drive to your location, connect using the password, and do malicious stuff on your connection, leaving you with the blame, and/or attack devices connected to your network.
Chapters: (if you only watch one section, skip to 09:06 for the most important part of the video, about malicious connections!)
(but also watch it all, because it's useful to understand how WiFi works ;) )
00:00 Intro
01:00 How WiFi connections work
04:29 Hidden networks
05:49 Why broadcasting SSIDs is a privacy nightmare: Tracking
07:45 Why broadcasting SSIDs is a privacy nightmare: Exposes Private Info
09:06 MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE VIDEO: malicious connections
11:03 How to protect yourself
13:11 Summary
*Edit: Eric has pointed out that there is a way to reset you PNL, even if you can't view it:
Settings / General / (scroll all the way down) Transfer of Reset / Reset / Reset Network Settings. This will scrub off all previous WiFi networks previously saved.
Thanks, Eric!
I use the Shortcut Automation on the iPhone to disable WiFi and Bluetooth when I leave my house. I try to use it to enable them when I return but it takes longer to recognize my location so usually do it manually.
just a reminder in case u forgot...u r awesome Naomi......!! thanx again...
@@OPIXdotWORLD 💛
sure do! I am in Computer world since 1992
The upcoming iOS 16 will allow you to view a list of known Wi-Fi networks and remove them.
You've won another follower. Very clear explanations, great examples and A LOT of things I didn't know before. Thank you!
Thank you!
Another way to remove known SSID form your iPhone is to reset its network settings in General - Transfer or Reser iPhone - Reset - Reset network settings. Please note that it will forget all known networks, so you’ll have to reconnect manually to the ones you trust.
Why did they stop the mechanical wireless switches? You could instantly shut off your wireless devices with a switch, anytime you want. The best kind of security, other than removal of batteries.
Pretty much answered your own question. The issue here is people believe these companies and corporations have their customers best interests in mind and in reality they do not. You are harvested for your data by all of them and those items of security you listed, were taken off the market to keep you in their pockets. Simple as that.
First off, these are all excellent points, and presented in perfect order!!😀
Secondly, this is why I use a VPN that disconnects from wireless unless the signal passes through NordVPN (arguably the #1 choice) first. While it doesn't quite work like on a PC, where one can bypass this or that app for best audio/video quality, or Maps if needed, it does protect the wireless well & one can choose the server of Our choice.
Great video though, I'd also say Airplane Mode is a great choice, especially when one doesn't want to be bothered, performing 2 tasks at once.💯
I recently fired up an old MacBook Pro that I hadn’t used in a while. All the wifi networks from my iPhone / iPad going back more than five years were readily viewable in the wifi settings of the computer. It took it as a sign that I had to manually forget all the old networks. Job done.
Unsure if this is recent iOS update but settings Wi-Fi then edit shows a list of all known and auto-join networks the device has saved. Great vids btw
Yeah a recent update from apple, good news!
I can easily delete history of where I have been on IOS 17.4.1 but no such capability on 16.7.7 which is the highest available for the iPhone 8.
When I found out many ISP's were using customers home routers to allow other users of that ISP to connect without the usual wi-fi system as a selling point to their service I should've been surprised. I wasn't. Nothing is above these corporations using their customers in any way they can to supplement their own greed. I don't pay for internet service just so anyone driving by can connect . . . .
Don't use your ISP's router = problem solved
Thanks so much for producing these videos. They are amazing, informative, interesting, kind, useful.
On my Iphone, once I'm on wifi settings, there is an "edit" in the upper right corner where you can find previous wifi networks. I deleted all of them but one. :)
For iPhone, you can changed the settings to, asked to join network; and it won't try to connect to Wi-Fi, with out your permission.
Funny that this should come up in my suggested videos today - a couple of hours ago I read that Officeworks (a major office supply store here in Australia) is using WiFi to track customer movement throughout one of their stores. As time goes on I think more and more about going back to a dumbphone.
Do I have an opinion? Yes absolutely! Subscribed, and now I'll be waiting on batted breath for your next instalment. Great work.
Love how well and simple you explain issues.
🙏🙏
Information I was unaware of. I knew about WiFi triangulation but not the vulnerability of SSID Broadcasting. Thanks for the video much appreciated 👍
Same, I thought the routers did the broadcasting, & the phone wifis just listened, & then connected if it found one it knew. I usually keep my wifi off for battery saving, but I need to be mindful if I ever turn it on in a store... and clean out any old wifis my phone may have saved. I wonder if phones have a setting that " automatically forgets" every network you might connect to unless you specifically save it?
I love that "hidden" networks ironically cause the most leakage, just like a "secure" wifi in a coffee shop is not secure at all, everyone knows the password and you're all "decrypting" the same signal.
Another thing to turn off is both WiFi and Bluetooth scanning in location settings otherwise your phone is tracking your movements based on WiFi router signals. It also depletes your battery quite rapidly
Thank you very much Naomi. It was concise and easily understood
12:15 thats wrong, you can go to settings -> Wi-Fi and hit the "Edit" button on the top right corner and there you can see and delete all networks, your phone has connected in the past.
When this video was made that setting didn't exist.
Very smart, Naomi. Thank you so much for this.
OMG!! All the security issues with cell phones just want to make me bury it in a field and hide in a cupboard!
I have seen more about I Phones being hacked through stuff like this than Android
Thanks for this, I normally do turn my wifi off when I am not home but I do run out of data on my mindmobile account so I end up turning it back on. Also I just looked at the saved networks and boy do I have a lot more then I thought I did.
It's downright scary the amount of neighboring WiFi signals my household smart devices will prompt me on whom to connect to, as my place is strictly hard-wired network connected, no WiFi in my house. But on occasion, a smart device in my house will ask for a WiFi connection, whereupon it will show me a list of 13 neighboring WiFi networks. To think that if I had my house WiFi active, any of those 13 neighbors could eavesdrop or pirate my WiFi.
I realized this MANY years ago with my first "smart" phone. I only activate WiFi on an "as needed" basis, then shut it down. It's NEVER on as I move around.
SAME HERE. I pretty much only use WiFi at my work location to download larger files, other than that I have it turned off on my phone at all times and I have it set to manually join never auto join. I’m about to setup Ethernet for my laptop too. I really don’t like WiFi.
A simple solution is for routers to come with their own cryptographically signed certificate and then your phone will have that public key stored after the first time it connects. During each connect the two devices do a handshake just like is done with TLS. This would stop SSID trickery.
The way Naomi broadcast herself is so adorable!
I use Tasker to turn off wifi when leaving home and turning it on when arriving at home.
Do you need to be rooted?
@@vimvigour3327 Nah, it's a normal android app.
@@erikschiegg68 What's your trigger for returning home?
@@vimvigour3327 GPS Location
@@erikschiegg68 It needs Google location to be on all the time.
The more I hear of this type of thing the more I think of the “pocket server/gateway” concept. The idea being based around a Raspberry Pi Zero 2, the device would have its own battery pack and its own storage, antennae, etc. and be carried in your pocket. It would act as a gateway bypassing some of the issues discussed here (particularly poorer practices from outdated Android and iOS devices) and even gateway laptops, etc. by maintaining a personal wifi network for on-person devices that use wifi.
It would have dual NICs onboard and would be responsible for maintaining a stronger security layer (as well as VPN provision, etc.). As a bonus it could act as a download server (e.g. taking over the download tasks of larger files using something like Aria2 to download large files without having to clutter up your main device). There’s more scope to use this for server functions too presuming encryption is implemented well (e.g. as an incremental backup system for sync’d files).
Packaging and casing would have to be worked out but AFIAK most of the kit is off-the-shelf right now - though I’m not sure what battery options exist for all-day usage for instance. I’ve discussed the idea with a few techs who have much more knowledge in this area than I do; most seem to think it viable, I think we’re heading in a direction where such devices are going to be more and more necessary it seems.
Well, it's actually super popular in China amongst the "network enthusiast" because having such a device means they could "get across the Great Fire Wall" (they call it "scientific surfing") mobily. It's a matter of personal safety if you really think about it because getting into international network without going through the GFW is considered criminal activity.
That's why there's a fast growing industry there to make smaller, faster and better "software routers" as they call it, in fact this might be the first time in personal computer history that there's a specific type of computer where the industry is growing fast without significant market in the US & EU, and because these devices are somewhat unfavorable to the Chinese government, they are usually made by secretive smaller companies instead of large electronic manufactures, very often time no one knows who is actually building these thing, they "just exist and kept coming out with new versions" A lot of those devices are actually available from Aliexpress, in fact Protectli (at one point sponsored this channel I believe) is one such device.
Fascinating stuff if you ask me.
@@holmiumh oh WOW - I'd not heard of this before, that's really really interesting. Are there any examples of products you can link to or is this considered "outing" such a manufacturer or product? I'd only vaguely considered such use but it makes an awful lot of sense inside the GFW's domain - especially with the angst that the COVID lockdowns and the financial collapse are causing inside China. From what you know are these generally based around an ARM platform and similar to a Zero 2W or the likes? I'd be fascinated to see how they've set one of these up. I'd even go further to conceal its carry, I even had the idea of incorporating it into a belt buckle (less crazy than it sounds, the Yanks put tool kits or knives in buckles in some products).
I have always kept wifi on my phone turned off unless I'm using it. But my phone is more than 4.5 years old & I've connected to wifi in dozens of states in all 4 US time zones. *I'm a long distance truck driver) Thanks to this video, I found where to forget those networks. But I found 2 that I don't recognize & don't have a forget button. One is called privatemobile network & the other is Verizonwifiaccess.
I regularly delete my list of saved wifi networks on my devices (except for the few networks I use every day) and only have wifi turned on when I'm using it. Saves battery too.
My cell service is no bars where I live unless I use wifi calling. But as soon as I leave the house there is no service anywhere near where I go so my phone never leaves my property
Great video! Quick question,
For iPhone users would the “Reset Network Settings” wipe off all saved SSID’s?
It would! I added that to the show notes 🙏
Bugger this is an important video!! Great work again. This one causes a lot of anguish though. So are we looking at a system similar to bank cards etc to block potential threats?
Wait! What? I knew your phone contains a Preferred Network List but I thought phones work with Passive Discovery. Active Discovery is indeed stupid! When did this start? Now I have another rabbit hole to research.
Great information. I'm old enoiugh to remember the good old days of pay phone booths, party lines, and rotary dialing phones. If I can understand this then anyone can understand it.
The best way to protect your privacy and prevent tracking is to switch your phone to flight mode when in public places when you’re not expecting any incoming calls or text messages. If you are expecting incoming calls or texts, turn on the cellular network but keep the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth off.
That will help, but it still won't prevent your phone's whereabouts from being tracked, as it will continue to discretely announce its presence to nearby devices.
NOT having owned a cell phone for over TEN years I don't seem to have to put up with this bullshiz!!
You are a smart girl Donna. Life was so much better before cell phones
@@invisableobserver Believe it or not my 1st cell was a Motorola BAG phone.. mid 1990s Just do NOT like what cell phones have become and what "social media" has done to society....
On iOS 16 you there is now an option to edit your known networks list and remove networks.
It's like getting a bank account robbed that you can't touch, anyway.
If you have a Mac and it's logged in to the same iCloud as your phone, you can look in "Keychain" to see all of your stored Wi-Fi networks and passwords. My phone updates the list on the Mac.
I like the snippets, Your editing is awesome
🙏
So whats up when device drops wifi connection? Did they have a fight? What happens when they hook back up?
So many "that's crazy" moments! Each SSID can be easily geo-located, regardless of the description. Now that would make an impressive public display, showing SSID names and looking-up their locations & displaying on a map.
Your phone could combine the GPS info with the SSID and never try to connect to that SSID if it's not in an expected place. That would mitigate the "Starbucks" name attack to only phones inside or near a physical location. Years ago on Android I would use an app to turn off Wi-Fi if I was not near a location I trusted like work or home. And remember a "secured" wifi at a coffee shop isn't, everyone has the password and everyone can see your traffic to some degree (HTTPS websites won't show pictures being scraped on the Pineapple).
I so appreciate every gem of timely information you share here. 💚😇🥰💛
Thank you for being here!
This why I always turned my wifi off, you should do a video on Bluetooth venerability's
iPhone just reset network settings and it deletes the list. Then add then again individually as you need them then forget each one after use before leaving the network range.
Excellent video, great info ... even tech savvy users may not know some of this.
Is there a list of what devices/OS versions send the PNL vs those that don't? (couldn't find one via Google search)
How do we know the security updates are trying to help us ? ? I don't know if I trust anything anymore.
Great video Naomi-I do keep wifi off unless uploading some large update but didn't know about the scan setting. Thanks for all your info.
Most welcome - thanks for watching!
There is now an update to iOS that now allows you to remove networks from your PNL list without being near the networks. You just have to go into the Wi-Fi setting and select edit in the upper right hand corner. That will show the full list and allow the removal.
Yup came to say this ! Very cool !
I know.... and that is how I found my cousins cellphone that was lost in the snow... she had it on mute, no vibration, no data but wifi was on. We knew the street it was lost so I made my phone a hot spot with the SSID of her home network and walked up and down to see when her phone connects on my phone as a client. When it did I had my browser logged on as her on google's find my phone and the moment the phone got internet I sent the signal to start ringing full blast, vibrating and whatever else does a lost android phone when it feels scared... eventually we heard it under us and with a little digging in the snow we found it.
For example, some of the networks I see on my Mac are those that I only connected to with my iPhone.) To delete any of these networks, click them, then press Delete, and click Delete in the confirmation dialog.
Note that any changes you make on your Mac will take time to propagate to other Macs, and to iOS devices.
Trun off SSID then nobody can find that and SSID shout is not possible any more
Known Networks are in Settings>Wifi>Edit on the iPhone. Can be easily deleted and it's all networks, not just those in range.
With Apple you can rest the network settings. Will erase all the networks you were previously connected too. Use Private Relay to hide your ip address and mask your MAC address.
Update. On iOS you can now forget the known SSID by going to settings > wifi > Edit and then select and forget the wifi networks you wish to.
I appreciate your videos and I've subscribed. Keep up the good work....
Thanks so much!
Shanon and Naomi on the same video? 😱
Wow, hold your horses tiger! Getting privacy overloaded. 😜
Thanks for the content Naomi! 👍🏼 Shanon and the Hak5 team give some great insights on how hackers do what they do, so in a sense you can counter to enhance your privacy. 🤘🏼
Yeah Hak5 is great
Does this also apply to windows PC's. Is there a way to harden the wifi for that or some options in the adapter settings I could turn off?
Also note that some "randomized MAC" actually broadcast their original mac when initially connecting to a network then change the mac address to randomized one, I have observed this with my own Samsung device :( I was trying to find the source of someone attacking my wifi with a rather noisy deauth attack (how nice of them)
oh really? Goodness, thanks for the update
With how cheap mobile data is now, I typically just leave wifi off on my phone most of the time
11:03 SAY WHAAAT?! When I turn off WiFi, my phone is still sending out WiFi identification?! That's nuts! I don't mind if it's listening, but when I've turned off WiFi it should be silent. On my phone, it's under "WiFi and Bluetooth Scanning"
you can remove the saved wifi networks on iOS 16
I am dealing with this problem every day. I turn off wifi on my phone,15 minutes later,it's back on. All day everyday. I would like to delete it permanently. Thanks for the info.
Are you on iPhone? Make sure you toggle it in settings
Same goes for dedicated mobile hotspots. Power off, and like with Nighthawks, I operate without a battery unless required and unplug. I've seen the units power up on their own, usually connecting to the provider's network (e.g. utility failure). For home tablets and workstations, I use the ethernet port on the hotspot and unplug.
My older android doesn't have the "scanning for WiFi" option. I can only turn WiFi itself off and on
On iPadOS 16.3 there is a edit link in the top right of the wlan settings which shows me the list of „known“ networks. That’s probably not the connect history but at least the ones which get auto connected.
@ 6:39 that's absolutely true.. #Sadness
thanks Naomi 🙏🏾
That is exactly how I do that, go in and forget all wifi networks I have previously connected to. Unless it is my home WiFi and that is it! (WiFi scanning, Blue Tooth scanning is all turned off)
I have never logged on to a Starbucks Wi-Fi
Hi on IOS if you go into WiFi then on the top right click the edit button, you can see your PNL and delete unwanted ones. This may have been an update after this video was released.
Thank you Naomi. Something I haven't been able to stop thinking about is, how hard would it be to implement code into an android update specifically for this SSID probing functionality? This is in regards to how Android Devices automatically connect to an Open Network with the Same SSID as one stored in the phone, which is obviously a huge security flaw. In theory, could code be added to the SSID probe, that Validated that the last known IP address, to know if it is okay to automatically authenticate the device to the "Known" SSID, else send a single prompt telling the user about the IP address change and ask if they want to allow the device to connect?
I have a VPN running directly on my router at home so it covers ALL devices connected to it connected to the internet! I seldom use WiFi outside of home or work but when I do I use the same VPN on my phone! Been at a few bars/pubs using Wifi and I had this dude moving closer and closer to me just typing a million miles an hour on his laptop keyboard so, I got suspicious and turned off my WiFi and BOOM - he was gone! This was BEFORE I had a VPN on my phone. Now NO issues on PUBLIC WiFi as my connection is encrypted using my VPN but even what that I try to avoid at all costs now!
On the off chance that this hasn't been mentioned yet, Android users can install an app called *Tasker,* with which they can setup their own automatic routines that are triggered when any set of specific conditions are met.
_Example:_
You can create a rule that turns off WiFi as soon as you move beyond a given distance from any known, secure networks that you regularly use; and then automatically turn WiFi back on again, once get within a given range of any if those networks.
It's tedious to set the rules up, but once you've created them and confirmed that they're working as designed, you never need to worry about turning WiFI OFF/ON again, unless you need to join a new network, or edit/update the rule conditions.
You can create all sorts of rules to accomplish just about any task that you can think of. Some tasks require root access, but when you weigh that against the fact that you can now make you device more secure, that's a trade-off that I think most people are prepared to make.
Keep in mind that once you root your device, some existing apps may cease to exit; and you'll have to decide for yourselves whether that's a good trade-off for your situation.
No! I don't have a list of which apps require root.
Have you done a video about stalking yet?
Stalking is a big problem for a lot of women in particular. It is done mostly by (ex) intimate partners who may have access to your devices or your home or car.
Women with large online followings also get stalked by strangers online.
What are the risks? How can we protect ourselves from stalkers?
To me, this is a much bigger concern than governments or corporations collecting my data. I am far less likely to be harrassed by them than by a man. Some 25% of women get stalked in their lifetime.
For IOS. Goto Settings, General, scroll down to “transfer or Reset iPhone”, Reset, choose Reset Network Settings. It’ll remove all your networks. You’ll just need to reconnect to the ones you use.
Thanks Naomi your TH-cam channel has helped me,so l don't appear paranoid.
12:20 if you are an iPhone user and you have a mac of some description, you can edit that (PNL) list in System settings -> Network -> WiFi | Advanced -> Preferred networks ;)
Not just a masterchef but a mastertech
lol
First of all, why does the phone search for a custom name (ssid) instead of a more specific identifier?
Second of all, if it meets an impersonating ssid, how does it connect, when it should have a saved password, which is different than the impersonating ssid?
I should have clarified that, this is for open networks like starbucks. If a network requires a password then a phone can't automatically connect to that network unless they have the password
@@NaomiBrockwellTV business's usually use their phone number as their passwords, a hacker can also use their wifi to watch free cable/satellite TV channels.
We do take much for granted.
Brilliant again,l've stopped using wifi since getting an endless data plan on my phone ,deleting those wifi's I have previously used sounds like a sensible move.
Seeya.
🙏
A good litmus test for any tech is the laziness factor. I've found without exception that the more convenient it is the worse it is for you. And yes low constant levels of wireless radiation does cause subtle damage to sensitive tissue in the body. To this day I always run Ethernet cables to every computer in my house. With power line adapters it's even easier. I also recommend sleeping with your phones as far away from you as possible.
@@jbrock8596 No. It connects via hard line to the router.
Not sure how many versions before iOS 16.1, I have the latest version of iOS. Open your WiFi settings where you’ll see the list of networks around you, top right of the screen is edit button when you hit that it’ll show you the list of known networks and you can delete ones you don’t want
My Samsung S10e won't let me forget available networks around where I am sitting tonight. Phone is showing me 8 available networks.
Hello and thank you from Montana!
Unfortunately on iPhone the only way is to reset your network settings. After that you have to start all over again.
Thanks for warning people about this!
Thanks for watching!