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VERIZON ADDS PROTECTION AGAINST SIM SWAPPING HACKS IN MOBILE APP


Verizon’s new feature ‘Number Lock’ add an extra layer of security, but it’s not
foolproof.
by Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai
July 9, 2020, 3:18pm
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Image: Tools of Men/Flickr

Verizon has added a new feature in its official mobile app that makes it easier
to protect your phone number from hackers.

At the end of June, the company launched a feature called “Number Lock,” which
makes it easier for users to enable protection that could potentially stop SIM
swapping hacks. Verizon customers can now enable this protection directly from
the “My Verizon” app and with just a tap, as Motherboard verified this week.

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A screenshot of the My Verizon app interface. (Image: Motherboard)

The feature is essentially “an extra layer of security” and “a freeze” on the
number, as a Verizon customer support representative explained. When enabled, if
someone impersonates the customer and tries to port out their number, Verizon
notifies the customer via text message or email, attempting to verify that it’s
really them.

It's not foolproof, however. As the customer support rep said, Verizon employees
can override this once the customer verifies themselves—meaning they have the
ability to do it anyway if the hacker were to accomplish that. In any case, this
does in theory add an extra layer of security and makes it harder to pull off a
SIM swapping attack.

Verizon did not respond to a request for comment inquiring about how the feature
works, and instead linked us to its official support page.

> Do you work at Verizon or another wireless carrier? If you have any tips about
> SIM swapping or other hacks, using a non-work phone or computer, you can
> contact Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai securely on Signal at +1 917 257 1382,
> OTR chat at lorenzofb@jabber.ccc.de, or email lorenzofb@vice.com

“Presuming this user-controlled toggle can’t be overridden by a bribed customer
service rep or access to a back-end dashboard, this would appear to solve the
problem,” Michael Terpin, one of the most well-known victims of SIM swapping who
is suing AT&T for damages, told Motherboard. “If so, kudos to Verizon.
Hopefully, T-Mobile and AT&T follow their lead.”

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Thousands of people across the United States have been victims of SIM swapping
hacks, which are also called port out scams—an expression derived from the
concept of porting a number from one carrier to another—and SIM hijacking.

These kinds of hacks are aimed at defeating two-factor authentication systems
that rely on SMS, and they are relatively easy to pull off. Hackers usually
impersonate the target and pretend they need to transfer their number to a new
SIM card, or simply bribe telecom employees to achieve the same goal. Once they
have control of the phone number, they can use it to reset the victims’
passwords on sensitive accounts like their email, or steal money from their
online cryptocurrency wallets.

For years, telecom companies have been struggling to slow down these hacks, and
users have been left alone in figuring out ways to protect themselves.

Verizon has historically been one of the hardest targets for SIM swappers. Last
year, Motherboard reported that the company’s security procedures already were
making it harder for hackers to target their customers, compared to other
telecom companies. Making it easier to enable Number Lock will make it even
easier for customers to turn on protections that could significantly slow down
or even prevent SIM swapping hackers.

A spokesperson for AT&T said that the company has “security measures in place,
and continue to add more, to help prevent fraud including SIM swaps and
porting.”

“We have recently implemented a new process involving risk assessments and
text-message notification for numbers being ported to another carrier,” the
spokesperson said in an email.

T-Mobile and Sprint did not respond to a request for comment.

Subscribe to our new cybersecurity podcast, CYBER.

Tagged:hackersInfosecVerizoncellphonesT-MobileAT&TSIM SwappingSIM HijackingPort
Out Scam


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