Security in the field of information is very important because information sent to someone can be confidential information. This is the reason we need to know how IMSI catcher works. The security standards provided by the operator do not guarantee one's communications.
The Important to Know About IMSI
IMSI is a globally unique 15 digit customer identification number. IMSI is attached to the SIM card. For security reasons, IMSI cannot be viewed from the user's perspective. This IMSI is used as the primary key to identify users in GSM or CDMA provider networks.
What is an IMSI catcher and why is it important? IMSI catcher stands for Individual Mobile Subscriber Identity. It is present in all phones and it helps the cellular network to track individual phones and thus connect them to their respective network plans.
What does IMSI catcher do? IMSI Catcher is a specialized surveillance tool that can help law enforcement officers track cell phones and collect data. How IMSI catcher works is the officers can pinpoint the exact location of the suspect even if the person is not on their phone.
The targeted phone only needs to be turned on for the IMSI catcher to work. To understand how IMSI catcher works, you need to understand how a cell phone works. Cell phones are manufactured to find the nearest compatible cell tower.
IMSI catchers simply trick the targeted phones into believing they are the nearest cell tower. After the smartphone is connected to the IMSI catcher, the device only works as a liaison with the cellphone tower and the target cell phone.
What is a Passive IMSI Catcher?
The IMSI Catcher is a tool that helps law enforcement and intelligence agencies around the world to track the cell phone of someone under surveillance. IMSI catcher is designed to record the IMSI number which contains the unique identity of the mobile phone subscriber.
IMSI numbers can access personal identity which sometimes creates privacy issues for a person. Passive IMSI differs from regular IMSI catcher because passive IMSI does not interfere with cellular networks in any way.
IMSI catcher is considered illegal in most countries, especially in the UK. IMSI catcher transmits on cellular frequency which is supposed to require a license, but IMSI catchers legal stealth surveillance between phone and cell station breaking all sorts of anti hacking laws. While passive IMSI does not do this.
One thing to note is that personal data collected by IMSI numbers may be subject to privacy laws, so be careful about storing, processing and sharing the data these devices collect.
What is a passive IMSI catcher? Passive IMSI works by capturing the IMSI number when the phone is initializing a connection to the base station. Passive IMSI only captures the connection at the start.
To maintain one's privacy, all telecommunications connectivity is directed to a network that uses a Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity (TMSI) number at random. This means that you will only collect the IMSI number on the device when switching connections between BTS.
The Cost Using an IMSI catcher
How to detect devices from IMSI catcher? In this situation, the mobile user does not know for sure if there is an IMSI catcher in the phone. Phone users need to block the device.
Smartphone users also have a hard time preventing connection with the IMSI catcher. Because there is no notification when cellular connection and network changes in smartphones for example change from LTE to 2G.
IMSI catchers exploit weaknesses inherent in mobile networks and are difficult to detect, there was a push by 3GPP, the organization responsible for defining the 5G protocol, to eliminate the presence of an IMSI catcher on the phone that the user uses.
5G has been designed in such a way that IMSI was never clearly connected when the mobile device was made. In contrast, 5G only uses temporary identifiers that must be refreshed after each use.
One industry in the field of legal wiretapping works with a company that provides Wi-Fi hacking and IMSI capture technology, saying that Wi-Fi wiretapping tools and IMSI catchers can earn up to $200,000. There is a difference between 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G with estimated costs ranging from $50,000 to $200,000.