Spies and hackers are actively exploiting a backbone of how mobile phones communicate—and telecoms have known about it for 19 years.
By targeting a network and set of related protocol known as SS7, for-profit surveillance companies and financially motivated criminals can track phones across the planet, or intercept calls and text messages.
In recent years, security researchers and the media have highlighted these problems, with one news outlet even eavesdropping on the calls of Congressman Ted Lieu to demonstrate the vulnerabilities. Despite high-profile coverage, generally the problems in SS7 persist.
But at least some members of the telecom community have known about the serious security issues in SS7 for nearly two decades, according to a document reviewed by The Daily Beast. The news highlights the snail’s pace at which the industry has addressed glaring holes in the world’s mobile infrastructure, leaving U.S. citizens and others around the world open to spying.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/telecoms-knew-about-spying-loophole-for-decades-did-nothing