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SIM swappers hijacking phone numbers in eSIM attacks (www.bleepingcomputer.com)

submitted 6 months ago by Lanky_Pomegranate530@midwest.social to c/technology@lemmy.world

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cross-posted from: https://midwest.social/post/9868784

SIM swappers have adapted their attacks to steal a target's phone number by porting it into a new eSIM card, a digital SIM stored in a rewritable chip present on many recent smartphone models.

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[–] Chozo@fedia.io 36 points 6 months ago (6 children)

This says that they're able to hijack the phone numbers by scanning a QR code to configure an eSIM. But doesn't the carrier need to authenticate device swaps like that in the first place? If the carriers allow SIM swaps without anything more than a line of text, then that's a major account security issue that I have to imagine has already been accounted for when this tech and the policies for it were developed. I feel like there's some very important details missing to this.

[–] Slayer@infosec.pub 7 points 6 months ago

Now, attackers breach a user's mobile account with stolen, brute-forced, or leaked credentials and initiate porting the victim's number to another device on their own.

They can do this by generating a QR code through the hijacked mobile account that can be used to activate a new eSIM. They then scan it with their device, essentially hijacking the number.

Simultaneously, the legitimate owner has their eSIM/SIM deactivated.

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