Radiator SIM Pack 2.8 released! Major scalability improvement and other enhanced features

We are pleased to announce the release of Radiator SIM Pack version 2.8. This new release contains major scalability improvement and many enhanced features.

Scalability improvement and other enhanced features

To make it easier to manage large installations and improve performance, Radiator 3GPP AAA Server now supports configuration with multiple parallel workers that use the same Diameter identity. This update was also reflected in earlier Radiator Service Provider Pack release. 

In addition, Radiator SIM Pack has supported IMSI Privacy since release 2.5 and 2.8 release now adds support for certificate revocation and expiration notifications. For more info about IMSI Privacy features in Radiator SIM Pack, please see our new whitepaper.

Also, customers using SIGTRAN will be pleased to learn that SIGTRAN stack upper layers have been rearranged to better support additional MAP dialogues. For more detailed changes, please see the Radiator SIM Pack revision history.

Would you like to know more?

If you like to know more about Radiator, the new release and how it can help you in your use case, you can always contact our team at info(a)radiatorsoftware.com - or fill out the contact form.

Radiator provides IMSI privacy for EAP-SIM, EAP-AKA and EAP-AKA’ authentication

In many high traffic areas such as sports stadiums, shopping venues, or public transport hubs, mobile carriers may partner with the local Wi-Fi providers to improve coverage and user experience: mobile devices can be automatically connected to Wi-Fi instead of congested cellular network. Internationally, Wi-Fi roaming agreements also allow carriers to lower the cellular roaming costs. 

EAP-SIM, EAP-AKA and EAP-AKA’ are SIM-based Wi-Fi authentication methods used to achieve seamless offloading to carrier and partner Wi-Fi, with International Mobile Subscriber Identifier (IMSI) derived from the SIM card acting as a unique identifier for each user. 

On the first ever connection to such a Wi-Fi network, the mobile device communicates its permanent subscriber identity information (IMSI), which is then sent to the home operator for authentication. This identity is sent in the clear. A potential 3rd party adversary installing a Wi-Fi sniffer in the vicinity of such networks can harvest permanent identities and track users. This tracking can also be done by the venue or network owner when connecting to the Wi-Fi network. 

Because of this, mobile operating systems such as iOS15 will show the following warning when joining a Wi-Fi network without IMSI encryption: “your mobile subscriber identity will be exposed”. The similar situation can be seen from the pictures below. 

Privacy warning when authenticating to Wi-Fi network without IMSI encryption

 

Operators risk decreased user satisfaction for Wi-Fi offloading if transmitting IMSI in the open - it may cause users to feel their privacy is being compromised.

Radiator SIM Pack provides IMSI privacy protection 

The solution is to protect user privacy by implementing IMSI encryption for EAP-SIM, EAP-AKA and EAP-AKA’ authentication. As an operator, you can enable IMSI privacy easily: Radiator 3GPP AAA Server handles both encrypted and clear authentication requests. This means IMSI privacy can be offered to devices supporting it without affecting other users. 

Starting already from revision 2.5, Radiator SIM Pack supports IMSI encryption as specified in 3GPP S3-170116 document “Privacy Protection for EAP-AKA” (zip), and WBA’s IMSI Privacy Protection for Wi-Fi – Technical Specification. The feature is already implemented by some of our operator customers to cover their AAA server encryption. 

The latest release of Radiator SIM Pack is available for new licensees and for licensed customers with valid download access. To find out if Radiator SIM Pack suits your needs, you can contact us at sales@radiatorsoftware.com and a member of our sales team will be happy to assist you. 

You can also contact us to renew your support contract and get access to the newest release. A full history of Radiator SIM Pack releases is available on our website.

Radiator SIM Module 2.6 released

We are pleased to announce the release 2.6 of Radiator SIM Module. This release includes 3GPP emergency call support and overall enhanced 3GPP AAA Server support, as well as a number of enhancements and bug fixes. 

Customers with valid download access contracts can download updated software packages from our downloads site. Please note that Radiator 4.24 or later and Radiator Carrier Module 1.6 or later are required. 

If you would like to renew your download access contract, or need professional assistance with updating or migrating, please contact sales@radiatorsoftware.com and a member of our sales team will be happy to assist.

Revision 2.6 detailed updates and fixes:

• Invalid APN formats are now rejected early.
• Included APN match in S6b authorisation checks.
• Fixed a crash in 3GPP AAA Server triggered by retransmitted messages.
• Updated identity handling with IMSI encryption based on observed client behaviour.
• RAT-Type for SWx requests is now set to the value received over SWm defaulting to VIRTUAL. Previously WLAN was always used by 3GPP AAA Server.
• 3GPP-Charging-Characteristics is now copied to SWm answers when available. Subscription-Id was not added to SWm AAA messages after the user profile was updated by HSS with Push-Profile Request.
• AAA-Failure-Indication is now sent over SWx to HSS. Previously the VSA was ignored when received from an ePDG.
• Terminal-Information is now added to SWx requests as required by 29.273 version 13 and later.
• Enhanced 3GPP AAA Server support to cover 29.273 version 15.4.0. The main behaviour change is S6b triggered PGW registration which is no longer done as often. This was clarified in 29.273 13.4.0 correction CP-160220 CR 0457.
• Emergency services for authenticated users are now supported by 3GPP AAA Server. Support for emergency services needs to be enabled with a new configuration flag parameter EmergencyServices. When EmergencyServices parameter is set and SQL is used for a session database, one new column and SQL query modifications are needed.
• Updated 3GPPP AAA Server SWm, SWx and S6b dictionaries for 29.273 version 15.4.0.
• Crypt::Rijndael is no longer required when Radius::UtilXS release 2.2 or later and Radiator 4.25 or later is installed.
• 3GPP AAA Server SQL and Redis based session backends no longer trigger unnecessary lookups and SWx deregistration updates when session termination requests are received over SWm or S6b. This can reduce Diameter traffic significantly with certain configurations where lots of clients are not allowed to connect and gateway devices send STRs for these attempts.
• Removed warnings logged to STDERR by 3GPP AAA Server when processing certain request types. These warnings were harmless but cause unnecessary log entries.
• 3GPP AAA Server now supports stripping MAC address from NAI format usernames. A new optional configuration parameter StripMACFromUserName controls how this is done.
• A number of code clean up and maintenance changes were done based on Perl::Critic and other tools.
• Requires Radiator 4.24 or later and Carrier Module 1.6 or later with 3GPP AAA Server. Radiator 4.24 and later are recommended with plain EAP-SIM, EAP-AKA and EAP-AKA’.

For more information, you can see the Radiator SIM Pack product page or contact us directly at info@radiatorsoftware.com.