New type of scam lets criminals steal your phone and assume your identity

[bsaambl]

A security breach in mobile phone networks may allow malicious hackers to assume their identity, according to researchers at 360 Technology Security.

Phone numbers can be the security key for many important things in your life. They are linked to social networking accounts, email, tasks, banking applications, and more. When criminals can use your phone number, things get pretty scary.

According to the information, cybercriminals can hack phones when devices need to switch from modern LTE wireless networks to 2G technology. Our phones do this all the time when the signal is weak, even when you do not realize it is happening.

When your device connects to a network, the service provider receives authentication codes that ensure that it is authentic, not a cloned number. However, when switching between LTE and 2G, these authentication codes are not required.

Perhaps the worst that Huang and his team have discovered is that if a hacker uses this technique – whose details have not been revealed – and successfully take their phone number, you will never know.

Under the nickname “Ghost Telephonist,” the attack can cause multiple headaches for victims, as criminals can use the phone number on their own devices to gain access to many of their Accounts online.

Fortunately, the failure has already been reported to international regulators of mobile networks, and researchers who reported the failure said many carriers are already correcting the problem.

Separately, few days ago, two men were arrested in the UK on suspicion of involvement in a plan to hack Microsoft and steal data from the company’s customers. The suspects, a 22-year-old from Sleaford, Lincolnshire; And another 25, from Bracknell, Berkshire, were charged under the Computer Misuse Act, a 1990 law that criminalizes cyber-attacks and piracy.

Both were allegedly involved in repeated efforts to gain unauthorized access to Microsoft systems during the first three months of this year. Detectives from the UK’s Southeastern Regional Organized Crime Unit (SEROCU) have seized devices alleged to have been used in hacking attempts.

As part of the investigation, SEROCU coordinated actions with the UK’s National Cybercrime Unit, Europol and the FBI, as well as with Microsoft itself.