Other industry watchers say the truth is mobile phone operators and manufacturers aren't prepared to make the switch to better security. Even a switch to 3G may not make phones any safer Image: picture-alliance / maxppp They say hackers need to be within a certain range of their victims, and they have to bypass mechanisms designed to protect the identity of mobile users. “These attacks used to cost millions of dollars, now you can do it for a lot less,” Paget told the Agence France Presse news agency at the conference on Saturday.īut the GSM Association says having the equipment doesn’t immediately provide access to private calls. The system only costs $1,500, or about 1,100 euros, to create, meaning mobile phone hacks are now more broadly available than ever before. It's the price tag that has industry insiders worried. Paget's gear can target specific numbers and may even give hackers access to credit card or account information siphoned from calls made to shops and banks. There are over four billion GSM users worldwide Image: picture-alliance / maxpppĬell phones are tricked into routing their outbound calls through the fake cell phone tower, enabling the hacker who controls it to listen in. "Although it is generally acknowledged that a ‘man in the middle attack’ using a false base station is possible, there are a number of hurdles to be overcome to launch a successful attack," it said in a statement. Paget called on telecom providers to switch to 3G networks, saying GSM is broken, but the GSM Association, an industry consortium, remains unconcerned. However, the ability to listen in on calls does not apply to the more secure third-generation, or 3G, networks. The device only works on mobile phones using the second-generation of the GSM standard, which is used by the overwhelming majority of mobile phone users around the globe. He showed, while presenting at the DefCon hackers conference in Las Vegas, how his device broadcasts a GSM signal, allowing it to pose as a cell phone tower. On Saturday, Chris Paget, an American computer security researcher, revealed how he could tap mobile calls using $1,500 worth of radio equipment and an antenna.
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