Location Tracking: Impersonate SS7 Nodes

ID Name
T1430.001 Remote Device Management Services
T1430.002 Impersonate SS7 Nodes

Adversaries may exploit the lack of authentication in signaling system network nodes to track the location of mobile devices by impersonating a node.[1][2][3][4][5]

By providing the victim’s MSISDN (phone number) and impersonating network internal nodes to query subscriber information from other nodes, adversaries may use data collected from each hop to eventually determine the device’s geographical cell area or nearest cell tower.[1]

ID: T1430.002
Sub-technique of:  T1430
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Tactics: Collection, Discovery
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Platforms: Android, iOS
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MTC ID: CEL-38
Version: 1.1
Created: 05 April 2022
Last Modified: 24 October 2025

Procedure Examples

ID Name Description
S0602 Circles

Circles can track the location of mobile devices.[6]

Mitigations

ID Mitigation Description
M1014 Interconnection Filtering

Filtering requests by checking request origin information may provide some defense against spurious operators.[7]

Detection Strategy

ID Name Analytic ID Analytic Description
DET0662 Detection of Impersonate SS7 Nodes AN1753

For Android, detect Impersonate SS7 Nodes by correlating analyst-visible device/network evidence and management state; use streaming or batched telemetry only where the documented collector is deployed. Correlate Network Communication via Android Enterprise Network Logging / Enterprise VPN [DevicePolicyManager.retrieveNetworkLogs(): DnsEvent / ConnectEvent; VPN flow metadata]; Network Traffic Content via Enterprise Secure Web Gateway / Proxy [DNS/HTTP(S) inspection or proxy transaction metadata where enterprise decryption/inspection is deployed]; Network Traffic Flow via Android Enterprise Network Logging / Enterprise VPN [DevicePolicyManager.retrieveNetworkLogs(): DnsEvent / ConnectEvent; VPN flow metadata]. Alert on a sequence or state change inconsistent with the device/app baseline, approved management policy, or expected user workflow; do not infer unobserved API calls, file/process activity, or payload content from management state alone.

AN1754

For iOS, detect Impersonate SS7 Nodes by correlating analyst-visible device/network evidence and management state; use streaming or batched telemetry only where the documented collector is deployed. Correlate Network Communication via Apple Network Extension / Enterprise VPN [NEFilterFlow / per-app VPN / secure-web-gateway flow metadata]; Network Traffic Content via Enterprise Secure Web Gateway / Proxy [DNS/HTTP(S) inspection or proxy transaction metadata where enterprise decryption/inspection is deployed]; Network Traffic Flow via Apple Network Extension / Enterprise VPN [NEFilterFlow / per-app VPN / secure-web-gateway flow metadata]. Alert on a sequence or state change inconsistent with the device/app baseline, approved management policy, or expected user workflow; do not infer unobserved API calls, file/process activity, or payload content from management state alone.

References