A hacker could hear what you’re saying on the phone right now. I realize that such an announcement is both something to scoff at but at the same I find it terrible. But since the Sony incident, hackers are all the rage right now. A recent Australian report reveals some disturbing information for those that live with the illusion that any conversation on their mobile phones is private. Apparently, German scientists discovered the Achilles’ heel regarding the SS7 network security used by all phone carriers worldwide for general content, conversations and text messages. This report states that the said vulnerability allows a skillful hacker to listen to people’s private phone calls and to intercept their text messages even if encrypted. The German scientists responsible for this report intend to publish this information at a hacking conference based in Hamburg.
The SS7 network dates back from the 80s and is antiquated by today’s standards. It was developed and built in a time where no one could have foreseen the overwhelming communication growth that we experience these days and the usage of mobile phones was in its infancy. The German scientists that conducted this study say that this very network has outdated security that the hackers can exploit at their leisure. This happens due to the fact that the signal traveling between transmission towers can be intercepted every time we make a phone call or text a message to someone. But telecommunications carriers and operators still use the SS7 network because a lot of money has been spent in securing this system and changing a whole network overnight is no easy task even nowadays. Mobile phone users still need to make calls and send text messages between other phone carriers so the SS7 network is for the time being, necessary to keep the communication flow going.
The German scientists have discovered two methods used by hackers to listen to phone conversations. As the first method suggests, anyone with specific knowledge in this area can take hold of the call forward function and redirect the phone conversations towards a hacker’s phone. The result is that the phone conversation would reach its destination but the hacker could listen to the said conversation taking place or even record it. I find this knowledge a little disturbing but somehow nothing seems to amaze me these days. The second method is that there are special types of antennas that can capture all the phone signals-hence mobile phone conversations and text messages within an area. Then these could be recorded by hackers which would then ask for a temporary encryption key from the phone carriers. The encryption key would then be used to access the recordings. I just realixed that there are actually people in the world who spend their time doing…this.
The SS7 (Signalling System 7) network vulnerability tests behind this study were conducted over 20 phone carriers worldwide, including the US and T-Mobile. There are of course some messaging apps that possess encryption of their own that works along the regular messaging connection. That means that the installed WhatsApp or iMessage on your smartphone are more secure against hacking than the old and vulnerable SS7. With the knowledge revealed by the German scientists I find myself wondering: When I need to make a private call to someone should I revert to the good old landline?