An Efficient Methodology to De-Anonymize the 5G-New Radio Physical Downlink Control Channel
Abstract
Over the last decade there has been tremendous growth in the number of mobile subscribers across the globe. Along with this growth in mobile device use there has been an accompanying increase in the amount of personally identifiable information that is transmitted and stored by various entities on a daily basis. This presents a significant privacy risk to users. This research paper presents a methodology by which a passive eavesdropper of a network can identify addressing information (i.e., cell-Radio Network Temporary Identifier [RNTI]) assigned to transmissions in the 5G physical downlink control channel. The ability for an eavesdropper to obtain this information degrades the degree to which the transmitted data is anonymized, thereby potentially negatively impacting users privacy. The presented methodology determines this information by examining patterns in the frozen bit indices generated via the polar encoding and decoding processes and applied scrambling sequences. Simulations examined the effectiveness of the methodology under a variety of signal-to-noise ratio conditions and presented several optimization techniques. Through the presented methodology, this research paper aims to better inform industry and standards bodies of potential privacy vulnerabilities so that the existing mobile standards may be improved upon.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2020
- Accession Number
- AD1114545
Entities
People
- Benjamin Gardner
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School