LTE security holes could lead to fake emergency alerts
Vulnerabilities in cellular network technology definitely aren't things of the past. Researchers at Purdue and the University of Iowa have outlined exploits in LTE protocols that would let intruders conduct ten serious attacks, including spying on calls and text messages, tracking locations, knocking devices offline and even faking emergency alerts . Intuders can take advantage of three key protocol tasks (such as attaching a device to the network and maintaining a connection) to conduct authentication relay attacks that not only let them connect to the network without credentials, but masquerade as the victim's device. A hacker could not only compromise the network, but frame someone else for the crime. These aren't just theoretical attacks, either. The team tested eight of the ten attacks using SIM cards from four large US carriers. While the issues have to do with LTE itself, it is possible to fix them -- at least one of the big US carriers already has. There's...