We commonly criticize carriers and regulators for failing to dam SMS scams. And whereas this criticism could also be considerably warranted, Google is eager to notice that the world’s most potent SMS assaults should not transmitted by means of legit mobile networks. Such assaults are fully past your service’s management—they should be blocked at a tool degree by disabling 2G connectivity and implementing next-gen security measures.
Trendy smartphones function on LTE and 5G networks and barely, if ever, fall again to 2G. This is not only a query of pace; the 2G protocol is outdated and accommodates some main safety flaws. Most main carriers have shut down their 2G networks, however your telephone continues to be able to connecting to 2G, and this functionality could be exploited by means of cell-site simulation.
Think about if a felony constructed their very own miniature “cell tower.” They might set up it at the back of a automotive (or place it in a backpack), roll as much as a crowd of individuals, and impersonate a service’s 5G sign. This pretend cell community would bypass anti-spam protections and forcibly downgrade close by units to a 2G sign. Then, the felony might ship out phishing hyperlinks and malware over SMS. They might even spoof the telephone variety of a financial institution or another trusted establishment, as 2G lacks mutual authentication expertise.
This system, referred to as SMS blasting, would not should be imagined. It is actual. Criminals should buy cell-site simulators on-line (or construct them at dwelling) and arrange pretend “cell towers.” And cell-site simulation is not unique to criminals. It is commonly used by law enforcement to trace people, determine protestors, or carry out different investigative duties that might usually require a warrant or different types of judicial oversight.
An choice to disable 2G connectivity debuted on Android some years in the past. Google is now encouraging customers to enter “Settings,” navigate to “Community & Web,” choose “SIMs,” and manually disable 2G. This feature is supported on most Android telephones, although some OEMs have not carried out it. (For security functions, Android’s 2G-blocking mechanism doesn’t have an effect on emergency calls to 911.)
Additionally, Android’s 2G-blocking choice will quickly be accompanied by an anti-cell-site simulation characteristic that notifies customers when a connection is untrustworthy. Pixel customers will get anti-cell-site simulation in Android 15, although it might take a while for different Android OEMs to catch up.
I ought to level out that the iPhone, which is commonly marketed as a safer choice than Android, would not present any simple 2G-blocking expertise. Those that wish to block 2G connectivity on the iPhone should allow Lockdown mode, which severely limits a tool’s performance and is primarily supposed for journalists or dissidents who could also be focused by mercenary spyware.
Supply: Google
