Beware of SIM swapping attacks, your phone is at risk

In today’s digital world, most of our digital life is connected to our phone numbers, so keeping them safe becomes a necessity. Sad news: hackers don’t need your phone to access your number. 

What is SIM swapping?

Also known as SIMjacking, SIM swapping is a tactic where a cybercriminal convinces your ISP to port your phone number to their own SIM card. This results in the user losing access to their phone number and service provider, while the cybercriminal gains full access. 

To convince the ISP of a SIM swap, the threat actor has to know about you. They can get the information from data breaches available on the dark web. You might also get tricked by a phishing scam and end up giving your info, or the threat actor may harvest your social media in case you have public information. 

Once the information is received, the threat actor calls the customer support, requesting to move your number to a new SIM card. In most cases, your carrier doesn’t need much convincing. 

Threats concerning SIM swapping

An attacker with your phone number can impersonate you to friends and family, and extort money. Your phone security is also at risk, as most online services ask for your phone number for account recovery. 

SIM swapping is dangerous as SMS based two-factor-authentication is still in use. Many services require us to activate 2FA on our accounts, and sometimes through SMS. 

You can also check your carrier’s website to see if there’s any option to deactivate SIM change requests. This way, you can secure your phone number. 

But when this isn’t available with your carrier, look out for the option to enable a PIN or secret phrase. A few companies allow users to set these, and call you back to confirm about your account.

How to stay safe from SIM swapping?

Avoid using 2FA; use passkeys.

Use a SIM PIN for your phone to lock your SIM card.