Mobile Phone Cloning

Presented:
V NARENDER
12N01F0045

CONTENTS
INTROUDCTION
IMEI
GSM AND CDMA
MOBILE CLONING
METHODS
CLONING GSM PHONES
HOW TO KNOW
TO PREVENT CLONING
IMPACT OF CLONING

INTRODUCTION

Cell phone cloning is copying the identity of

one mobile telephone to another mobile
telephone.

Usually this is done for the purpose of

making fraudulent telephone calls.

The bills for the calls go to the legitimate

subscriber. The cloner is also able to make
effectively anonymous calls.

CONTINUED

ESN- The ESN(Electric Serial Number) is the

serial number of your cellular telephone.

The ESN is transmitted to the cell site and

used to verify that you are a legitimate user
of the cellular system.

The MIN(Mobile Identification Number) is

simply the phone number of the cellular
telephone.

IMEI

IMEI stands for International Mobile

Equipment Identifier, this is a 10 digit
universally unique number of our GSM
handset.

It is used in tracking mobile phones.

GSM AND CDMA

CDMA(Code Division Multiple Access). A method

for transmitting simultaneous signals over a
shared portion of the spectrum. There is no
Subscriber Identity Module(SIM) card.

CDMA use a Mobile Identification Number(MIN)

card that contains user account information.

GSM(Global System for Mobile) Communications.

GSM uses a variation of Time Division Multiple
Access(TDMA) and is the most widely used of the
three digital wireless telephone technologies
(TDMA,GSM and CDMA).

CONTINUED

GSM digitizes and compresses data, then it sends

it down a channel with two other streams of user
data, each in its own time slot.

It operates at either the 900MHz or 1,800MHz

frequency band.

MOBILE CLONING

Each phone has an Electric Serial Number (ESN),

Identifying the phone, as well as a Mobile
Identification Number(MIN), which includes the
telephone number of the phone.

These are used to identify the subscriber.

When placing a call, the phone transmits both the

ESN and the MIN to the network.

ESN and MIN can be received using a suitable

scanner.

CONTINUED

These codes would then be programmed

into another phone, effectively cloning the
original subscription.

Any calls made on this cloned phone would

be charged on the original customer.

METHODS TO DETECT THE

CLONED PHONES ON THE
NETWORK

DUPLICATE DETECTION The network seems

the same phone in several places on the
same time. Reactions include shutting them
all off so that the real customer will contact
the operator because he lost the service he
is paying so for that the clone users will
switch to another clone but the real user
will contact the operator.

CONTINUED

PIN CODES, Prior to placing a call, the caller

unlocks the phone by entering a PIN code
and then calls as usual. After the call has
been completed, the user locks the phone
by entering the PIN code again. Operators
may share the PIN information to enable
safer roaming

CONTINUED

RF(Radio Frequency)- finger printing is

originally a military technology. So the
network software stores and compares
fingerprints for all the phones that it sees.
This way, it will spot the clones with the
same identity but different finger prints.

CONTINUED

USAGE PROFILING Profiles of the

customers phone usage are kept, and when
discrepancies are noticed, the customer is
contacted.

For example, if a customer is normally

makes only local network calls but is
suddenly placing calls to foreign countries
for hours of airtime, it indicates a possible
clone.

CONTINUED

CALL COUNTING Both the phone and

network keeps the track of calls made with
the phone, and should they differ more than
the usually allowed one call, service is
denied.

CLONING GSM PHONES

Every GSM phone has a 15digit electronic

serial number (referred to as the IMEI)

The important information is the IMSI, which

is stored on the removable SIM card that
carries all your subscribe information.

CONTINUED

The process of hacking GSM networks is simple: A

SIM card is inserted into a reader.

After it connecting to the computer using data

cables, the card details were transferred into the PC.

Then using freely available encryption software on

the Net, the card details will be encrypted on to a
blank smart card.

The result: A cloned cell phone is ready for misuse.

HOW TO KNOW THAT THE CELL

HAS BEEN CLONED ?

Frequent wrong number phone calls to your

phones or hang-ups.

Difficulty in placing outgoing calls.

Difficulty in retrieving voice mail messages.

Incoming calls constantly receiving busy

signals or wrong numbers. Unusual calls
appearing on your phone bills.

TO PREVENT CLONING

User verification using personal Identification

number(PIN) codes is one method for customer
protection against cellular phone fraud.

Tests conducted have proved that United

States found that having a PIN code reduced
fraud by more than 80%.

Traffic analysis detects cellular fraud by using

artificial intelligence software.

CONTINUED

Software detects suspicious calling patterns,

such as a sudden increase in the length of
calls or sudden increase in the number of
international calls.

The software also determines whether it is

physically possible for the subscriber to be
making for a call from a current location,
based on the location and time of the
previous call.

CONTINUED

BLACK LISTING of stolen phones is another

mechanism to prevent unauthorized use.

An Equipment Identity Register(EIR) enables

network operators to disable stolen cellular
phones on networks around the world.

IMPACT OF CLONING

Each year, the mobile phone industry loses

millions of dollars in revenue because of the
criminal actions of the persons who are able
to reconfigure mobile phones so that their
calls are billed to other phones owned by
innocent third persons.

Many criminals use cloned cellular telephones

for illegal activities, because their calls are not
billed to them, and are therefore much more
difficult to trace.

CONCLUSION

Preventive steps should be taken by the

network provider and the Government the
enactment of the legislation to prosecute
crimes related to cellular phones is not
viewed as a priority.

Existing cellular systems have a number of

potential weakness that were considered. It
is crucial that businesses and staff take
mobile phone security seriously.

REFERENCES

HTTP://wiretap.spies.com

HTTP://www.hackinthebox.org

HTTP://www.google.com

HTTP://www.wikipedia.com

THANKING
YOU