AN INDUSTRY OF SELF-IMPORTANCE
Ever get jealous about your friend who inexplicably has thousands more
IROORZHUVRQ,QVWDJUDP"'RQ¶WEHEHFDXVHWKH\SUREDEO\ERXJKWWKHP%XW
ZKHUHGRWKRVHSKRQ\IROORZHUVFRPHIURPDQGZKRDUHWKH\UHDOO\"7KDW¶VWKH
question GoSecure researchers Masarah Paquet-Clouston and Olivier Bilodeau
tried to answer in their Black Hat talk. They uncovered an enormous ecosystem
of resellers and middlemen built on a backbone of bogus IP addresses and IoT
GHYLFHVLQIHFWHGZLWKPDOZDUH7KRVHERJXVOLNHVFDQ¶WEHZRUWKDOOWKDW
5G IS (MOSTLY) SECURE
*WHFKQRORJ\LVUHDOO\FRRODQGUHDOO\IDVWDQGLW¶VEDVLFDOO\JRLQJWRVROYHDOO
RXUSUREOHPVIRUHYHULQFOXGLQJVRPHQDVW\VHFXULW\ÀDZVWKDWKDYHSHUVLVWHGLQ
wireless standards. But researchers found some unique quirks in 5G that
allowed them to identify devices, throttle their internet speed, and drain the
battery of IoT devices.
PWNED BY TEXT
(YHU\QRZDQGDJDLQ\RX¶OOVHHDVWRU\DERXWDVHFXULW\FRPSDQ\RUD
JRYHUQPHQWWKDWKDVDVXSHUVHFUHWL3KRQHYXOQHUDELOLW\LW¶VXVLQJIRUVRPHVXFK
nefarious activity. One Google security researcher wondered if such things
could really exist, and found 10 bugs in the process. In the end, she and her
FROOHDJXHZHUHDEOHWRH[WUDFW¿OHVDQGSDUWLDOO\VHL]HFRQWURORIDQL3KRQHMXVW
by sending it text messages.
Photo Credit: Black Hat Briefings & Trainings