The flaws and vulnerabilities of cellular networks are regularly exploited to attack subscribers. Malicious actors use devices with catchy names like IMSI Catcher (Stingray) or SMS blaster to track people’s movements and send them spam and malware. These attacks were easiest to carry out on 2G networks, becoming more difficult on 3G and 4G networks through the introduction of security features. But even 4G networks had implementation flaws that made it possible to track subscriber movements and cause other information leaks. Can we breathe a sigh of relief when we upgrade to 5G? Unfortunately not… An upgrade in reverse Many practical attacks, such as the aforementioned SMS blaster, rely on a downgrade: forcing the victim’s smartphone to switch to an older communication standard. Legacy…