What is SMS Spoofing?

It is important to begin by stating, as world recognised messaging experts, what Openmind Networks' definition of SMS Spoofing is:

SMS Spoofing occurs when a fraudster manipulates address information in order to impersonate a user that has roamed onto a foreign network and is submitting messages to the home network. Frequently, these messages are addressed to destinations outside the home network – with the home SMSC essentially being “hijacked” to send messages into other networks.

SMS Spoofing is more than the work of hacking amateurs. Industry message boards are now reporting SMS Spoofing attacks on major operators in Europe and the most recent reports relate to just over two weeks ago where a SMS Spoofing attack was executed on subscribers of a major operator in three countries. SMS Spoofing is not an occurrence of other less policed jurisdictions but is now a mainstream reality for European mobile operators. What both the GSMA and Openmind Networks both know is that the reported incidences of SMS Spoofing by mobile operators is well below the actual number of SMS Spoofing attacks taking place.

SMS Spoofing is a serious threat to mobile operators on several fronts:

1. Mischarging subscribers.

2. Being charged interconnect fees by the hubs.

3. Blocking legitimate traffic in an effort to stop the spoofing.

4. Assigning highly trained and scarce resources to tackle the problem.

According to the GSMA there is now over 3 billion GSM subscribers and one of the key challenges facing the GSM community is that is must address key questions in order to build a network that caters for the messaging needs of its subscriber base today and the additional services that will be a retention prerequisite going forward. If you can not guarantee the integrity of the network then looking to add additional services based on financial transactions will be next to impossible to implement. That is why SMS spoofing is proving to be a litmus test of the mobile operator's ability to protect its subscriber base.

What should Fraud and Security managers do to address SMS Spoofing?

Add an intelligent routing function to the network that can query originating subscriber details from the HLR before the message is submitted for delivery because the only 100%-sure way of detecting and blocking spoofed messages is to screen incoming mobile originated messages to verify that the sender is a valid subscriber and that the message is coming from a valid and correct location.

Protect from Openmind Networks blocks SMS Spoofing!

Openmind Networks’ Traffic Control next generation message router gives mobile operators the intelligence, flexibility, scalability and reliability needed to cope with the uncertainties, capacity requirements and technological demands of current and emerging messaging services. The system supports the in-flight capture and control of protocol messages in order to provide intelligent message handling and routing applications. The Protect module augments Traffic Control with some specific anti-fraud features, including the ability to detect and block occurrences of SMS Spoofing.

What next?

Download the white paper on SMS Spoofing and contact Openmind Networks to talk with one of our messaging experts who will provide you with precise information geared specifically to addressing your SMS Spoofing challenges.