Implementing an affordable and effective gsm imsi catcher with 3g authentication

Abstract

Recently revealed information on secret agencies eavesdropping on the politicians’ phone calls all over the world, have shown how common practice it is. Although the insecurity of the mobile telecommunication system GSM has been known in the scientific community, these events made it clear to the public. Particularly, the extent and usage of such techniques demonstrates its relevance in the current society. In this paper, we will demonstrate techniques used to intercept mobile calls and analyze the feasibility of man-in-the-middle attacks in real-life scenarios. We show how to build an affordable and effective IMSI catcher which works even when mutual authentication between phone and a network is enforced. The methods to detect it and other potential countermeasures are discussed as well.