2G networks, like 3G networks, have become obsolete after the arrival first of 4G and later of 5G. However, as things have not been done as well as they should have been, we rely on them for mobile calls (operators without VoLTE) or to connect older IoT devices. For this reason, they have even considered switching off 3G before 2G, thus leaving more room for the development of 4G and 5G.
It is not a new concept, since we have been hearing about it for a long time, but everything was blown up about three years ago when the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) detected in Washington the presence of Stingrays, also known as “IMSI catcher” . These devices that connect to the mobile network act as fake repeaters and spy on the information that passes through them.
This includes access to calls, text messages or images sent without encryption. Basically, they force the use of older, outdated and less secure 2G technology to easily intercept communications. In fact, work has been done so that this is no longer a problem with 5G since these mobiles will have a Subscription Permanent Identifier (SUPI). This will use the encryption key of the network operator and will allow the mobile to know if an antenna is legitimate.
Is the solution to disable 2G?
The EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) speaks of victory after knowing that Android will allow to disable 2G connections in its terminals. This is something that Google introduced at the end of last year and that we had not had much news about. They point out that it is a fantastic option to protect the privacy of users and the EFF applauds that the Internet giant has implemented it on mobile phones with its operating system. Now, the ball is in Apple‘s court, which must also do so for the safety of its users.
To give us an idea, 2G is a technology created in 1991, so it is more than 30 years old . That makes it have many problems because, in its design and conception, the circumstances and requirements were not the same as now. First of all, it has a very weak encryption between the repeater and the mobile, which allows the interception of the traffic. Second, it does not authenticate with the 2G tower in any way, allowing anyone to impersonate it.
To protect ourselves, the EFF invites us to deactivate 2G. To do this, we will go to Settings> Network and Internet> SIM cards> Allow 2G . By default, the option for our mobile to use 2G networks is activated. His thing would be to disable it, although this possibility would only be present in more modern mobiles such as the Pixel.
The big problem could be loss of coverage or problems making calls. If we live in areas dependent on 2G at the moment or if our operator does not allow us to make calls with the 4G network, it is possible that the remedy is worse than the disease. However, it will always be good to know that we have this possibility.
