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Security researchers have discovered a new flaw in the SIM card, according to which more than a billion smartphones could be at risk because threat actors exploit it in the wild.
The vulnerability, called Simjacker, has been discovered in mobile SIM cards by AdaptiveMobile Security researchers. It is used to track the location of users, intercept calls, and so on. by sending an SMS message to the victim's smartphone.
The researchers published a blog post in which they revealed the vulnerability and explained that Simjacker had been operated by a private company in the past two years, as follows:
- The misappropriation of the SIM card and the flaws of traditional two-factor authentication
"This vulnerability is currently actively exploited by a specific private company that works with governments to monitor individuals. Simjacker and its associated exploits represent a considerable advance in terms of complexity and sophistication compared to previously observed attacks on mobile central networks. Simjacker's main attack involves sending an SMS containing a specific type of spyware-type code to a mobile phone, which then asks the phone's built-in SIM card to "take over" the mobile phone to recover and execute sensitive commands. "
Simjacker
Simjacker has already been used to launch attacks against individuals and telecommunication companies, including fraud, fraudulent calls, information leaks, denials of service, and spying. Since the vulnerability is related to a technology that is integrated with the SIM cards and not a particular device, it can potentially affect all smartphones using a SIM card, regardless of their make or model.
The attack itself stems from a SIM card-based technology called S @ T Browser, which represents SIMalliance Toolbox Browser. Although the technology is generally used to navigate a SIM card, it can also be used for a number of functions, such as opening a browser, setting up calls, ringing, and so on. Once a threat actor has used Simjacker for a smartphone to open a browser, he may even ask the targeted device to open known malicious sites in order to infect the device with malware.
AdaptiveMobile Security has not yet named the group that exploits Simjacker's vulnerability in nature, although he has provided more details about the identity of Simjacker, stating:
"We can say with great certainty that the source is a large professional surveillance company with very sophisticated signaling and handset capabilities."
The researchers have submitted the details of the exploit to the GSMA and they promise to continue to study the operation of the attacks while searching for other variants of Simjacker's exploits.
Via Threat Post
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