International. The number of successful denial-of-service attacks on networks using the Diameter protocol increased by 3% from 2018 (38%) to 2019 (41%), posing a direct threat to IoT devices and showing that mobile operators need to continuously update their cyber defenses. The information comes from the report "Security assessment of Diameter networks", published by Positive Technologies, a global cybersecurity company.
The Diameter signaling protocol is used to authenticate and authorize messages and information distribution on 4G networks. Vulnerabilities in the protocol mean that 5G networks, built on previous-generation networks, will inherit the same threats, such as tracking users' locations and obtaining sensitive data.
To assess network security, Positive Technologies researchers simulated the actions of cybercriminals and their attempts to infiltrate mobile networks were 100% successful. Experts have found that the biggest threat is denial of service attacks, which affect 4G and 5G users.
According to Giovani Henrique, positive technologies' general manager for Latin America, many major operators are already starting to deploy their 5G networks and it will be necessary to keep security ahead of any network design. "If this is not done, their 5G networks will not be immune to the same vulnerabilities as previous-generation networks. Late security implementation means that, later on, problems will inevitably arise and operators will be forced to modernize security, which will affect their original budget," he says.
For the executive, as the world becomes more interconnected, the threat landscape expands and the consequences become even more dangerous. "In the last two years, there have been no improvements in the sector in terms of strengthening security measures in the Diameter protocol, which is worrying," he says.
"Gartner predicts that 25 billion IoT devices will be connected by 2021. Therefore, a denial-of-service attack becomes much larger than a slow internet connection, preventing the user from posting a photo on Instagram," he explains. "It can cripple cities that are starting to use IoT devices in a variety of ways, from national infrastructure to industry. If an alarm system is not activated during an emergency, for example, it can literally be a life-and-death situation," he warns.
According to Henrique, today mobile operators do not have the resources and equipment necessary to carry out a thorough traffic analysis, which makes it difficult to distinguish between fake and legitimate subscribers. "Proper filtering of incoming messages is necessary and operators should use threat detection systems that analyze signal traffic in real time and detect illegitimate activity from external hosts, as well as flag configuration errors in accordance with GSMA guidelines," he concludes.
Positive Technologies' report is the penultimate in a four-part series on telecom security and reveals the biggest threats and vulnerabilities in the existing mobile network ecosystem. The research is based on studies of the networks of 28 telecom operators in Europe, Asia, Africa and South America, between 2018 and 2019.
