This article was 1st published on our sister Site, Digital World Native.
Cybercryminals are targeting SIM cards in an effort to hijack personal data & takeover the functionality of mobile devices.
This newly uncovered criminal effort, been written about in this article by Telcom’s Adaptive Mobile, threatens the security of over a billion mobile users in over 30 countries across all phone models.
Unscrupulous elements are taking advantage of the interface mobile carriers used to communicate with their subscribers (for example to send you an account balance) to hack into phones, steal personal data, locate users & hijack the device’s operation for their own use. Initiated by a simple, undetectable SMS, hackers use the S@T Browser software on a UICC (Universal Integrated Circuit Card) SIM card to install their own malicious script. Once they’ve achieved a connection they can send a return SMS to their own device, which provides them with information about their target, such as location, battery level, device ID & much more. Also, they can use the device to send calls & SMS, or disable the phone altogether.
According to researchers, this type of hacking, which is now known as SIMjacking, has been going on unheeded for the past 2 years. Even more worrying is the fact that many users don’t realize that they’ve been targeted, they simply think their data usage is higher than normal, or that their phone is broken, meanwhile the device has been infected by the criminals’ ‘virus’.
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