Experimental analysis of the femtocell location verification techniques

Authors:
Ravishankar Borgaonkar;Kevin Redon;Jean-Pierre Seifert
Affiliations:
Security in Telecommunications, Technische Universität Berlin and Deutsche Telekom Laboratories, Berlin, Germany;Security in Telecommunications, Technische Universität Berlin and Deutsche Telekom Laboratories, Berlin, Germany;Security in Telecommunications, Technische Universität Berlin and Deutsche Telekom Laboratories, Berlin, Germany
Venue:
NordSec'10 Proceedings of the 15th Nordic conference on Information Security Technology for Applications
Year:
2010

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Abstract

Mobile network operators are adapting femtocells in order to simplify their network architecture for increased performance and greater revenue opportunities. While emerging as a new low-cost technology which assures best connectivity, it has also introduced a range of new potential risks for the mobile network operators. Here we study the risks associated with the location verification techniques of femtocells. First we state the goals of location verification and describe techniques implemented in the existing femtocells. We demonstrate how location locking techniques can be defeated by using modern attack vectors against the location verification methods. Our experimental result suggest that location security methods are insufficient to avoid femtocell's misuse. An attacker can operates the femtocell from an unregistered location, thereby creating problems for various important services such as for assisting emergency call services, for following licensed spectrum rules, for Lawful interception services, and for the commercial purposes.