On the Detection of Signaling DoS Attacks on 3G Wireless Networks

— Third Generation (3G) wireless networks based on the CDMA2000 and UMTS standards are now increasingly being deployed throughout the world. Because of their complex signaling and relatively limited bandwidth, these 3G networks are generally more vulnerable than their wireline counterparts, thus making them fertile ground for new attacks. In this paper, we identify and study a novel Denial of Service (DoS) attack, called signaling attack, that exploits the unique vulnerabilities of the signaling/control plane in 3G wireless networks. Using simulations driven by real traces, we are able to demonstrate the impact of a signaling attack. Specifically, we show how a welltimed low-volume signaling attack can potentially overload the control plane and detrimentally affect the key elements in a 3G wireless infrastructure. The low-volume nature of the signaling attack allows it to avoid detection by existing intrusion detection algorithms, which are often signature or volume-based. As a coun...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2007
• Where: INFOCOM
• Authors: Patrick P. C. Lee, Tian Bu, Thomas Y. C. Woo
• Keywords: 3G Wireless, Communications, INFOCOM 2007, Low-volume Signaling Attack, Signaling Attack