All quiet on the signalling front? Dispatches from the front-line of telecom network security

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Presented at Virus Bulletin 2024 by

Cathal Daid

In 2014 a series of news reports, investigations and research findings blew open the fact that the world’s mobile networks were being exploited, potentially turning every phone on the planet into a tracking device. An ecosystem of nation states and surveillance companies were using telecom protocols like SS7 and Diameter to gather information, track locations and intercept phone calls, messages and data of mobile phone users around the world. Since then the malicious use of these networks has continued to feature in the news – from intercepting politicians' conversations in the US, tracking journalists in Mexico, emptying bank wallets in Europe, to its use today in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. What we don’t hear about is what is happening in the background – how is it that incidents like these continue to happen and what is being done to prevent them? In this presentation the main events over the last 10 years will be explored, from the perspectives of both the attacker and the defender, what has really changed, and what is the current situation. We also will look at what's next: what does the future of security look like for telecom networks – are we any closer to solving these problems, or will new generations continue to have the same risks?