Hello, I’ve stumbled upon an information about vulnerable SIM cards that have rather weak encryption. They’ve said that more than 25% of all SIM cards all over the world have that vulnerability. I’d like to know how exactly it works and is there a way to protect my data and money on my account from that?
The first thing you can do here is to pay attention to wireless networks, no matter what you are trying to connect, the connection itself can be really dangerous. You should know that Wi-Fi networks are inherently dangerous; they can be very vulnerable to various hacks and exploits. There are even mobile applications designed to hack wireless connections, so the perpetrator will only need a tablet or even a smartphone to be able to hack into your mobile phone using Wi-Fi. It’s also essential to check your smartphone settings because many of them are trying to connect to any network they can reach by default. It will be really useful if you activate the Wi-Fi module whenever you do not need it. Or simply use a portable Wi-Fi jammer to block all wireless connections in the zone.
There is also a separate family of malicious mobile apps that can track the location and movement of your mobile device, using GPS as well as triangulating the cell tower. These mobile apps will require permissions for accurate access to GPS coordinates and approximate location, based on
That code allows evildoer to send a specific malicious code directly to the cell phone and get personal user’s information, intercept SMS messages and even make payments form the user’s account. The whole operation of hacking a phone, utilizing that vulnerability takes about 2 minutes. Also, keep in mind that your location may be found with cell phone tower triangulation if your mobile gadget is compromised.
Karsten Nohl has reported about the exploit he found to GSMA association and informed major carriers. But the problem is still unsolved. The results of his research will be puplished on the 1st of August at the Black Hat conference and also, he will tell what carriers are using those vulnerable SIM cards in December. While the bug is not fixed, the only way to protect your phone is to use a cell phone jamming device. We hope that the problem will be solved by December 2013