HITCON CMT 2019 - Cheaper by the dozen: simultaneous attacks on SS7 and Diameter
Channel: HITCON
Date: 2020-07-23

Speaking about security of signaling networks, we usually mean either the old SS7 system used in the GSM and UMTS technologies or the Diameter protocol employed in LTE and 5G infrastructure. As a rule, operators use GSM and UMTS networks for voice calls, while LTE serves for data transmission. A growing trend among operators is implementing specific VoLTE solutions allowing them to use LTE networks in both cases. Very often such networks operate simultaneously with GSM, UMTS, and LTE, and soon will be integrated in 5G.

In this talk, the speaker will demonstrate how new technologies improve network security, how an attacker can bypass existing security means, and how the hacker can benefit from attacking the operator via SS7 and Diameter networks at the same time.

This report is based on a research never published before.