Evaluation of mobile network security

Mobile Transactions are on the increase in third world countries enabling access to banking services and payment solution. With this rapid increase, most of the underlying platforms are GSM Networks. This presents a potential security risk because most third world countries do not use encryption due to export restrictions on cryptographic algorithms as well as the inherent security risks associated with the GSM network especially 2G networks which are still being used greatly in these nations. As a result, the security threat is even greater as it reduces the complexity of the kind of attacks that may be leveled against unsuspecting users. This paper develops a case and points out the weakest link in the security chain in GSM networks. The primary focus in this paper is security in Mobile banking with respect to the Zambian market. However all other Mobile transactions face the same security threats and risk. The aim of this paper is to point out that there is a window which can be exploited in mobile phones when subscriber identity modules are removed from a mobile phone, during this window, the signal is still active on the phone before it completely fades.