A US legislator has discovered belatedly that hackers were able to pry on his communications just by using his smartphone's number. This could portend dangers to businesses and jobs since confidential information between businesses and clients can be accessed surreptitiously by unauthorized persons.
Hackers are now able to eavesdrop on any cellphone conversation and track a person's geographical movement if they know the individual's phone number. They can record his conversation and use it to milk him out for some money or jeopardize his job. This is a dangerous situation that the US congressman has found himself in.
Surprisingly, Ted Lieu, the US lawmaker's current problem with his smartphone was carried out with his cooperation in connection with a 60 Minutes' piece broadcast aired last Sunday night.
An employee of Security Research Labs, Karsten Nohl recorded the calls made to or from Lieu's phone and was also able to track the phone's exact location in real-time as the lawmaker travelled to different parts of Southern California.
The 60 Minutes broadcast clearly showed how hackers only need the phone number of a smartphone to be able to record its calls and track its location. As a response to the breach, Lieu demanded that those who are connected with intelligence agencies who know about the SS7 flaw should be dismissed.
This 60 Minutes broadcast has opened the minds of people who are not normally security minded. That means the broad sector of society whose activities, business and personal, could be in danger of being monitored for nefarious ends.
Most people think that such kind of hacks or hacking are only seen in movies. But the experience of Lieu shows that it happens in the everyday lives of everyday people.
To illustrate the dangers, at one point, the 60 Minute broadcast played a recording made by Research Labs of Lieu's call that discussed the data collection process of the US National Security Agency. The call was crystal clear.
While the hacking was with Lieu's permission, there's nothing that will stop unscrupulous hackers from doing the same.
