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The offer makes you sit up and take notice: On an underground forum in Russia, a hacker is currently offering access to a $12,000 tool that can allegedly be used to clone cell phone numbers from a Swiss provider. From a technical perspective, this means that so-called eSIM devices are “cloned”. A third party can thus gain full access to someone else’s phone number and use it to, for example, reset the number owner’s passwords and access services linked to the owner’s mobile number, such as online banking.
In addition to traditional SIM cards that are physically inserted into mobile phones, telecommunications companies now also offer these electronic SIM accesses. To do this, customers create a profile on their provider. The network operator then uploads the subscription-related information and phone number to the device. This means that multiple eSIM profiles and therefore multiple numbers can be stored on a single device.
Apparently the Russian underground forum sells access to management software for these profiles. So this is not a real data theft. The possible cause is a security vulnerability or an authorized person has delegated access to the software. The cybercriminal writes that the tool also provides access to customer data: “In addition to cloning, you can also access all customer information.” It is not stated which provider it is in the ad.
Many experts interviewed by the Observer doubt the authenticity of the offer. The $12,000 price seems disproportionately low. The seller, on the other hand, offers what is called an escrow transaction. In other words: A buyer pays the purchase price into a forum escrow account. The money will be transferred to the seller only if the buyer is satisfied with the data. This escrow service is common among hackers who want to protect themselves from being deceived.
But there are some indications that “this is not a fake offer” for Cornelius, Abdelkader said. According to Cornelius, Chief of Operations for the German branch of Israeli cybersecurity provider Code Blue, the hacker had already sold this access on another forum and had received positive feedback from a buyer.
In fact, one buyer enthusiastically reported that he was able to access the Swiss network operator’s software for 48 hours. During this time it copied several dozen eSIM profiles. This means that individual mobile phone numbers have to be copied manually, which explains the low price.
When asked, Swisscom spokeswoman Annina Merk said: “We are not aware of any cyber incidents based on this sales offer.” Salt and Sunrise emphasize to the watchdog that there is no evidence of a cyber incident.
Source :Blick
I’m Tim David and I work as an author for 24 Instant News, covering the Market section. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism, my mission is to provide accurate, timely and insightful news coverage that helps our readers stay informed about the latest trends in the market. My writing style is focused on making complex economic topics easy to understand for everyone.
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