Protecting IMSI from fake base stations exploitation and spoofers impersonation in 5G and beyond cellular networks
Tarih
2022Yazar
Ali, Hamza
Khalid, Shaheer
Iqbal, Sadiq
Hamamreh, Jehad M.
Üst veri
Tüm öğe kaydını gösterÖzet
Fifth-generation (5G) mobile networks require authenticated and fully secured transmissions
between user devices and 5G base stations (gNodeB). In the current 5G technology standard, mobile devices
cannot distinguish between a real and a fake base station (BS) by following the standard 5G security
protocols. This vulnerability is a dangerous security issue identified in 5G cellular networks worldwide,
where hackers and spoofers can easily impersonate or hack the valuable information of mobile users.
Although 5G security protocols are enhanced to prevent such kinds of attacks, fake BSs still threaten the
security of wireless communication networks. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is currently no
security method available in the literature that can enable users to identify who is sending the connection
request response. Thus, this can allow an attacker to intercept the international mobile subscriber identity
(IMSI) easily in the clear. Therefore, in this work, we propose a novel hack-proof framework that can
perfectly secure IMSI resulting in prevention against spoofing attacks. The proposed algorithm includes
a user equipment device (UE) and a BS that communicate in the clear to securely authenticate each
other in a TDD fashion. For simulation purposes, an OFDM transmission scheme is considered over a
multipath wireless fading channel. The obtained results show that our proposed method works successfully
without affecting the reliability of the transmitted bits compared to plain data transmission methods. More
specifically, the performance results are shown to be similar to normal OFDM-based data transmission
schemes conducted over general multipath fading channels, where no further degradation is caused. This
indicates that the proposed method can effectively secure the IMSI of mobile user devices against active and
passive attackers by providing a safe network connection between the communicating parties (UE and BS).