Imsi-Catcher

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An IMSI catcher is an eavesdropping device used for interception of cellular phones and usually is undetectable for users of mobile phones.

Such a virtual base transceiver station (VBTS) is a device for identifying the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) of a nearby GSM mobile phone and intercepting its calls.

It was patented and first commercialized by Rohde & Schwarz.

The GSM specification requires the handset to authenticate to the network, but does not require the network to authenticate to the handset.

This well-known security hole can be exploited by an IMSI catcher.