Any smartphone can be spied on without having to install third-party software. This is the warning of the founder of the start-up Dust Mobile at the International Cybersecurity Forum (FIC) in Lille, where it received the grand jury prize.
“For 500 dollars a month on the “dark net” [la partie la plus difficilement accessible d’internet]only by knowing your number, a hacker can, remotely and without your knowledge, locate your phone, intercept and listen to your calls and your SMS and MMS, send them back to you modified or send or call them as if it were you”, explained to AFP, Jean-Michel Henrard.
Faults as old as the networks
His company has therefore developed a protection system against this little-known risk of hacking, which sees hackers using security flaws in SIM cards or systems that allow two people who do not have the same operator to communicate. These are faults as old as the networks.
“These communication protocols between operators were originally designed without protection because only operators had access to them. Now everyone can potentially have access to it. The “hackers” can thus launch attack commands, they just need to have your “06”, said Jean-Michel Henrard, a former employee of Fujitsu Telecom, Airbus Defense and Thalès. On the other hand, the Dust Mobile system does not concern internet messaging apps.
Dust Mobile, a mobile cyber defense operator, has been marketing a firewall SIM card since 2020: the user is alerted in the event of an attack and can thus block them. It is only intended for companies and state services, “to avoid protecting those who should not be,” said the leader.
More and more sophisticated hacks
In 2022, the start-up raised 12 million funds and has more than a hundred customers. It also detects attacks by “IMSI-Catcher”, a more well-known modus operandi used in particular by the intelligence services. It makes it possible to intercept data or conversations by simulating a network antenna.
“These flaws, already reported by the European Cybersecurity Agency and the global operator group GSMA, concern all operators, including 5G, even if some have implemented more robust protections”, noted Jean-Michel Hennard. Phone hacks have become more and more sophisticated, with software that discreetly installs itself on a phone and spy on its contents. One of the best known, Pegasus, has recently targeted world leaders including Emmanuel Macron.