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posted by martyb on Friday May 05 2017, @12:59PM   Printer-friendly
from the what-next? dept.

After years of warnings, mobile network hackers have exploited SS7 flaws to drain bank accounts. SS7 is a set of telephony signaling protocols developed in the 1980s, to handle the public switched telephone network (PSTN), SMS etc.

The hackers first spammed out malware to victims' computers, which collected the bank account balance, login details and passwords for their accounts, along with their mobile number. Then they purchased access to a rogue telecommunications provider and set up a redirect for the victim's mobile phone number to a handset controlled by the attackers.

Next, usually in the middle of the night when the mark was asleep, the attackers logged into their online bank accounts and transferred money out. When the transaction numbers were sent they were routed to the criminals, who then finalized the transaction.

So any security that depend on PSTN-SS7 security is proven to be inadequate.


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  • (Score: 1) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Friday May 05 2017, @02:54PM

    by Scruffy Beard 2 (6030) on Friday May 05 2017, @02:54PM (#504898)

    Oh yeah, you can even get an over-draft on a closed account: Got charged again because the closed account did not have enough funds to cover the over-draft fees after I discovered the problem.