And secondly, the hacker now has control over phone calls, messages, and two-factor authentication requests sent to your phone number. First, your real SIM card will get deactivated and stop working. Then, they can steal your phone number and link it to their own device. If they are successful, the phone provider will send them the SIM. They'll say they want to upgrade to a new device and, therefore, need a new SIM. They'll pretend to be you and ask for a replacement SIM card. To perform a SIM card hacking through a SIM card swap, a hacker will first call up your phone provider. The SIMalliance Toolbox Browser is a way of accessing the internet-essentially, it's a basic web browser that lets service providers interact with web applications like email. The vulnerability works by using a piece of software called Browser, which is part of the SIM Application Toolkit (STK) that many phone operators use on their SIM cards. What's particularly concerning about this kind of attack is that it can hide itself very well from the victim, giving the malicious actor more time to exploit the phone. If a user opens the message, hackers can use the code to spy on their calls and messages-and even track their location. This malicious code can then tell the SIM to take over the targeted phone. This complex attack carries out SIM card hacking ( known as SIM jacking attacks) by sending a piece of spyware-like code to a target device using an SMS message.
In September 2019, security researchers at AdaptiveMobile Security announced they had discovered a new security vulnerability they called Simjacker. Here's how hackers use SIM cards to gain access to devices, and how to keep your SIM card safe. You probably already know that your smartphone's operating system needs regular updating to stay safe from threats, but, surprisingly, a SIM card can also be a source of security vulnerabilities.