<i>SIMBox</i> Bypass Frauds in Cellular Networks: Strategies, Evolution, Detection, and Future Directions
Anne Josiane Kouam, Aline Carneiro Viana, Alain Tchana
Abstract
Due to their complexity and opaqueness, cellular networks have been subject to numerous attacks over the past few decades. These attacks are a real problem to telecom operators and cost them about USD 28.3 Billion annually, as reported by the <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Communications Fraud Control Association</i> . <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">SIMBox</i> fraud is one of the most prevalent of these telephone frauds. It consists of diverting international calls on the VoIP network and terminating them as local calls using an off-the-shelf device, referred to as <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">SIMBox</i> . This paper surveys both the existing literature and the major <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">SIMBox</i> manufacturers to provide comprehensive and analytical knowledge on <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">SIMBox</i> fraud, fraud strategies, fraud evolution, and fraud detection methods. We provide the necessary background on the telephone ecosystem while extensively exploring the <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">SIMBox</i> architecture required to understand fraud strategies. Our goal is to provide a complete introductory guide for research on <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">SIMBox</i> fraud and stimulate interest for <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">SIMBox</i> fraud detection, which remains little investigated. In this vein, we conclude the paper by presenting insights into tomorrow’s <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">SIMBox</i> fraud detection challenges and research directions.