Google allows Android users to turn off 2G functionality to protect against base station simulation attacks

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) noted this week that Google quietly added a feature to the Android platform last year that allows users to manually turn off 2G functions on their phones, which will protect against base station simulation attacks, while calling on Apple to also follow Google's practices to protect users' privacy.

The second generation of mobile communication technology that came out in 1991 is still supported by mobile platforms such as Android and iOS, but at that time, the technology did not take into account some risks, such as rogue base stations or strong encryption capabilities, as the market has progressed to 5G, many security vulnerabilities related to 2G have also been exposed, one of which is its weak encryption ability so that the communication between the base station and the mobile phone may be eavesdropped, followed by the lack of authentication mechanism between the base station and the mobile phone. This allows anyone to impersonate a 2G base station, putting users at risk for privacy and becoming a surveillance channel for some governments.

In addition, although many security vulnerabilities in 2G have been patched in the 4G era, some advanced base station simulators can downgrade the user's 4G connection to 2G, thereby mining 2G vulnerabilities, which is equivalent to 4G users still bear the risk of 2G vulnerabilities.

However, last year's changes made by Google to Android will be able to solve this problem, users can manually turn off 2G through the SIMs function in the settings, unfortunately, this function is only applicable to newer Android phones including Pixel or Samsung, and the older devices are still unable to turn off 2G due to hardware limitations.