These attacks are generally carried out by a “rogue base station” that simulates being a cell tower. It doesn’t require that there be a local 2G infrastructure.
SIMs from my two different Canadian operator doesn't allow downgrade to 2G for the home networks.
That's pretty cool, any idea how it works?
Authentication profiles. Basically one can specify on the SIM profile that for the certain PLMN (mobile operator) only certain authentication methods are allowed (2G, 3G, 4G use different auth methods).
that is good. from what i understand we dont have that in the US
What prevents these from simulating a non-"home" network?
You could by suddenly roaming when you're in your home country is a massive red flag and even normal people are aware and terrified of roaming fees.
The decommission of 2G/3G and removal of downgrades applies pretty much everywhere these days (my operator doesn't even allow 3G downgrades on their 5G plans), I read it as just an example rather than starting a very specific conversation.
That's the towers. All the handsets still support 2G, and will happily let themselves be downgrade-attacked to it.
2G lacks even the most rudimentary authentication, so you don't even have to try to look like a tower once you've done this. Just say you're a tower.