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Enabling Uncooperative Physical Localization in Cellular Networks

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conference contribution
posted on 2024-09-16, 09:01 authored by Taekkyung Oh, Sangwook Bae, Junho Ahn, Yonghwa Lee, Dinh-Tuan Hoang, Min Suk Kang, Nils Ole TippenhauerNils Ole Tippenhauer, Yongdae Kim
In cellular networks, authorities may need to physically locate user devices to track criminals or illegal equipment. This process involves authorized agents tracing devices by monitoring uplink signals with cellular operator assistance. However, tracking uncooperative uplink signal sources remains challenging, even for operators and authorities. Three key challenges persist for fine-grained localization: i) devices must generate sufficient, consistent uplink traffic over time, ii) target devices may transmit uplink signals at very low power, and iii) signals from cellular repeaters may hinder localization of the target device. While these challenges pose significant practical obstacles to localization, they have been largely overlooked in existing research. This work examines the impact of these real-world challenges on cellular localization and introduces the Uncooperative Multiangulation Attack (UMA) to address them. UMA can 1) force a target device to transmit traffic continuously, 2) boost the target’s signal strength to maximum levels, and 3) uniquely differentiate between signals from the target and repeaters. Importantly, UMA operates without requiring privileged access to cellular operators or user devices, making it applicable to any LTE network. Our evaluations demonstrate that UMA effectively overcomes practical challenges in physical localization when devices are uncooperative.

History

Primary Research Area

  • Secure Connected and Mobile Systems

Name of Conference

ACM Conference on Mobile Computing and Networking (MobiCom)

Journal

Proceedings of ACM Conference on Mobile Computing and Networking (MobiCom)

Open Access Type

  • Green

BibTeX

@conference{Oh:Bae:Ahn:Lee:Hoang:Kang:Tippenhauer:Kim:2024, title = "Enabling Uncooperative Physical Localization in Cellular Networks", author = "Oh, Taekkyung" AND "Bae, Sangwook" AND "Ahn, Junho" AND "Lee, Yonghwa" AND "Hoang, Dinh-Tuan" AND "Kang, Min Suk" AND "Tippenhauer, Nils Ole" AND "Kim, Yongdae", year = 2024, month = 11, journal = "Proceedings of ACM Conference on Mobile Computing and Networking (MobiCom)", doi = "10.1145/3636534.3690709" }

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