Gemalto, a French-Dutch digital security company, said on Friday that it was investigating a possible hacking by United States and British intelligence agencies that may have given them access to worldwide mobile phone communications.The investigation follows news reports on Thursday that the National Security Agency in the United States and the Government Communications Headquarters in Britain had hacked Gemalto’s networks to steal SIM card encryption codes.
www.nytimes.com/2015/02/21/world/europe/chip-maker-to-investigate-claims-of-hacking-by-nsa-and-british-spy-agencies.htmlAlso see:GCHQ and NSA Collaborate to Steal the Keys to Your Cellphone
Anyone interested in privacy and security should think twice about their cell phone dependence right now. That’s because today, The Intercept revealed that British spy agency GCHQ led successful efforts to hack into the internal networks of Gemalto, “the largest manufacturer of SIM cards in the world, stealing encryption keys used to protect the privacy of cellphone communications” made on the world’s largest telecommunications carriers, including “AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint and some 450 wireless network providers around the world.”In other words, for millions or even billions of users around the world, global cellular communications are about as secure from GCHQ and NSA as an FM radio broadcast.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/02/gchq-and-nsa-collaborate-steal-keys-your-cellphoneUS and UK accused of hacking Sim card firm to steal codes
US and British intelligence agencies hacked into a major manufacturer of Sim cards in order to steal codes that facilitate eavesdropping on mobiles, a US news website says.The Intercept says the revelations came from US intelligence contractor turned whistleblower Edward Snowden.The Dutch company allegedly targeted – Gemalto – says it is taking the allegations “very seriously”.
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-31545050Mobile phones hacked: can the NSA and GCHQ listen to all our phone calls?
The latest revelations from the NSA files have shown that US and UK surveillance agencies could have the ability to listen in on billions of mobile phone calls from around the world. But how can they do that, and what does it mean for the general public? And should you be worried?What’s happened?The biggest manufacturer of Sim cards in the world has reportedly been hacked into by the US NSA and UK GCHQ.The security agencies stole the encryption keys that are built into every one of the Sim cards made by the Dutch firm Gemalto.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/feb/20/mobile-phones-hacked-can-nsa-gchq-listen-to-our-phone-calls
