Everything you have can be hacked automatically! I sometimes find myself wondering how many more security risks we can have now! I learned from a report in 2018-2019 that scammers can create fake cell phone towers and steal all the information from your cellphone such as SMS, incoming, outgoing call details, detailed information about cellphones. The matter seemed very interesting to me. And with that, I published today's post out of the need to inform you about the details of this security risk.
You call someone and of course expect that the call you made is correct and the call will reach the caller and your conversation will be limited to just the two of you. But unfortunately if you receive a signal from a fake cellphone tower, anyone can hear your call being intercepted by a third party.
But how is a fake cellphone tower possible? If possible, here's how it works. Who else can spy on your data using this type of tower? The answer to all the questions, I have covered in this post today.
If we talk about cell phone towers in general, then it is basically an antenna and both transmitters. Your cellphone also has antennas and transmitters, but cell phone antennas and transmitters are not so powerful, they can send signals only a few meters away, but this is not the limitation of cellphones. Cellphones are deliberately designed in this way, because a lot of power is needed to increase the signal distance between the antenna and the transmitter. Cellphones are generally designed to be used as portable, and there is also a thing called battery backup. So cellphones use separate towers, especially those mounted on the roof of a house, on an open field, on a highway, or on a hill.
These cellphone towers are giant in size and can generate very strong signals by consuming a lot of electricity. Receiving a small signal from the cellphone, the cellphone tower amplifies them and sends them to the main station. But first a cellphone needs permission to communicate with a particular operator cell tower and main station. And the SIM card helps to grant this special permission. As soon as the phone is switched on by inserting the SIM in the cellphone, the cellphone receives the IMSI from the SIM and spreads it over the network — and sends a request to the network for access. And the network receives that IMSI and checks the internal database to provide the authentication key. After exchanging some more "keys" between the SIM and the network, the SIM card connects the cellphone to the tower and the network.
But there are some things, no one will ever be able to spy on your calls or different information even if they are connected to the same network, because cellphone networks must use encryption methods. So the question that may come to the minds of many of you is, how can anyone listen to your call without your knowledge?
Yes, this can only be done using a fake cellphone tower, when the fake tower works on the algorithm of the original tower. As described in the above paragraph, how the cellphone and the cell tower are connected, the fake tower behaves in the same way and tries to prove itself as the original tower. Your SIM card and fake cellphone tower talk to each other using the same algorithm and share key or authentication information. The SIM card now thinks the fake tower is the real tower and connects the cellphone to it. And this time the fake tower first connects your cellphone to itself, then connects your phone signal to the real provider tower, so that you can stay connected to the rest of the network and continue making phone calls or separate tasks. This means that the fake tower is connected right in the middle of your real network provider and your cellphone.
Now many of you may say, why would your cellphone connect to a fake tower without a signal from the original tower? This is because of the design of your cellphone. Your cellphone is designed to receive the closest and strongest cell signals. The fake tower is presented in such a way that it generates a strong signal even from the real cellphone tower, so that your cellphone naturally thinks of connecting with it earlier.
Once your cellphone is connected to this fake tower, the tower will be able to spy on your every activity. Spying can be done from your metadata to your call. You can even send a fake message from a fake tower, but it will look real. You can also call by spoofing any number. Maybe you will get a call from your bank's calling center number and all your information will be taken away.
This is not a fantasy, Allready reported as a victim of such incidents in China to The Verge.com. At first the person gets a message from his bank and later he finds out that his bank did not send him any message. He was sent a link in the message, and following that link, his $ 650 account was blown away.
The scammers created a fake signal with the help of a device whose signal quality was stronger than the original tower, and the phone was naturally stronger.
Credit by: sobuzbanglatv (sobuz vai)