[EAS] Battery-powered transmitter could crash a city’s 4G LTE network

[Bill Ruck]

An interesting perspective.

http://blog.tcomeng.com/

<http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/12/11/14/1932211/battery-powered-transmitter-could-crash-a-citys-4g-network?utm_source=slashdot&utm_medium=twitter>From 
SlashDot – 11/14/2012

“With a £400 transmitter, a laptop and a little 
knowledge 
<http://www.technologyreview.com/news/507381/one-simple-trick-could-disable-a-citys-4g-phone-network/>you 
could bring down an entire city’s high-speed 4G 
network. This information comes from research 
carried out in the U.S. into the possibility of 
using LTE networks as the basis for a 
<http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/404962/20121114/transmitter-crash-4g-lte-network.htm>next-generation 
emergency response communications system. Jeff 
Reed, director of the wireless research group at 
Virginia Tech, along with research assistant Marc 
Lichtman, described the vulnerabilities to the 
National Telecommunications and Information 
Administration, which advises the White House on 
telecom and information policy. ‘If LTE 
technology is to be used for the air interface of 
the public safety network, then we should 
consider the types of 
<http://www.ntia.doc.gov/files/ntia/va_tech_response.pdf>jamming 
attacks that could occur five or ten years from 
now (PDF). It is very possible for radio jamming 
to accompany a terrorist attack, for the purpose 
of preventing communications and increasing destruction,’ Reed said.”

–

Dr. Jeffrey H. Reed of the Virginia Tech College 
of Engineering filed this document with NTIA in 
response to a Notice of Inquiry regarding the 
proposed FirstNet nationwide public-safety 
broadband network to express concerns about security vulnerabilities.

Bottom line: Analog is the Future

Bill Ruck
Curmudgeon
San Francisco