On forensics: A silent SMS attack

Silent messages often referred to as Silent SMS or Stealth SMS, when delivered to a mobile handset is indicated neither on the display nor by an acoustic alert signal. In the paper [2], the authors highlighted the technical details of sending a silent SMS, furthermore sending multiple incessant silent SMSs performing A silent SMS denial of Service (DoS) attack. These stealth messages are not only used to perform DoS attacks but are increasingly sent in order to force the continuous update of subscriber location information. In doing so, anyone with access to the network infrastructure, may use the technology to better track the movements of any subscriber on the mobile network. This paper describes, from a forensic perspective, how a silent application-generated SMS (attack) is discovered. We then investigate the possibilities of retrieving silent SMS evidence at both the handset and network level. Furthermore, using propositional logic, we explore related SMS network configurations which might thwart the forensic ability of a silent SMS attack.