Security News > 2020 > February > LTE vulnerability allows impersonation of other mobile devices
Researchers have found a way to impersonate mobile devices on 4G and 5G mobile networks, and are calling on operators and standards bodies to fix the flaw that caused it.
Research into the vulnerability, conducted by academics at Ruhr Universität Bochum and New York University Abu Dhabi, is called Impersonation Attacks in 4G Networks, although deployment requirements for 5G networks mean that it could work on those newer systems too.
The attack targets LTE networks, exploiting a vulnerability in the way that they authenticate and communicate with mobile devices.
The IMP4GT attack takes this vulnerability a step further by using it to manipulate data at layer three of the LTE network.
The researchers liken the theoretical practical equipment used in an attack to the Stingray devices that law enforcement has used in the past to eavesdrop on mobile phones and track their location.