sysmocom SIMtrace - Debugging and tracing SIM card APDUs

sysmocom SIMtrace

The SIMtrace hardware is a device that is placed in between the mobile phone and the SIM/USIM card.

As such, it is capable of

  • capturing the communication between a GSMSIM Card and the GSM Mobile Equipment (Phone). Such captures will be forwarded via USB to a host PC, where a protocol decode
  • intercepting and modifying data that is exchanged between SIM card and phone (man-in-the-middle)
  • running a software-simulated SIM card on a PC rather than using a real SIM card

Applications of SIMtrace include

  • SIM card application development (STK)
  • SIM card remote filesystem (RFS) and Over-the-Air (OTA) development and debugging
  • Security analyisis and research regarding SIM-card malware

SIMtrace can operate in various baudrates and will automatically follow whatever the phone and SIM card negotiate. It supports GSM SIM as well as UMTS USIM specifications.

The SIMtrace hardware can be purchased from our webshop. Support as well as R&D services can be purchased optionally from sysmocom.

The firmware hand host PC software (Linux) of the SIMtrace hardware is available under a Free Software / Open Source Software and can thus be modified by the user.