Enabling Critical Investigative Capabilities to Strengthen Public Safety
SS8 Networks (“SS8”), a global leader in the extraction, fusion and analytics of investigative data and monitoring center platforms, today announced the publication of their patent for the immediate Identity Resolution of a User Equipment (UE) Connectable to a 5G Mobile Networks.
Cell Site Simulators (CSS) are widely used by law enforcement to locate fugitives, find missing persons, and investigate serious and organized crimes. A CSS is a portable device that replicates key functions of a mobile network base station, prompting nearby devices to connect and, in doing so, identify themselves.
In standalone 5G (5GSA) networks, new security procedures prevent device identifiers from being transmitted over the air. Instead, device information is combined with home network data and concealed using encryption, limiting the effectiveness of traditional CSS use cases. The CSS equipment today forces the devices to downgrade to a 4G LTE connection, bypassing the security procedures introduced by 5GSA networks. This also impacts cellular service around the CSS equipment and makes it potentially visible to the criminals.
Working in collaboration with law enforcement, telecom operators, and leading CSS vendors, SS8 inventors Dr. Cemal Dikmen and Kevin McTiernan developed a patented approach that immediately restores lawful identity resolution in 5GSA environments. The SS8 solution identifies devices in a fraction of a second and presents the information to authorized investigators without requiring devices to be forced back to 4G.
“The evolution to 5G reshaped how identity is protected on mobile networks, creating new challenges for lawful investigations worldwide,” said Dr. Keith Bhatia, CEO at SS8 Networks. “This patent is a major step forward for the industry, demonstrating that it’s possible to uphold advanced privacy standards while still enabling critical investigative capabilities that protect public safety.”
The patented solution is:
- More effective than current standard methodologies
- Capable of near real-time device identification
- More transparent than approaches that downgrade devices to 4G
- Available for global deployment
Built on the SS8 mediation platform used worldwide for lawful intercept compliance, the solution balances the operational needs of CSS with the security, oversight, and regulatory safeguards required by telecom operators.
“Our goal was to solve the 5G identity challenge without compromising network architecture or user privacy safeguards,” said Dr. Cemal Dikmen, Chief Technology and Security Officer at SS8 Networks. “By leveraging the existing mediation framework trusted by operators worldwide, we created a method that is both operationally effective for investigators and aligned with how modern 5G networks are designed to function.”
