Hackers Breached Military Personnel Cell Phones and Nobody Knew

A leading digital security team sounded the alarm regarding the use of telecoms to create “global surveillance systems.” Could it affect you? Can you protect yourself? Let’s dive in.

Hackers Tapped Into Telecoms and Got All the Goods

At a recent industry event, Lior Div of Cybereason, a digital security company, rattled attendees when he explained that sophisticated hackers were able to use national telecoms to access the phones of several high-profile people. The intruders were able to track call records, location, and device info.

Div posited that the twenty or so affected parties — from the world of politics and the military —probably had no idea they were breached because the individual phones weren’t accessed. As he put it: “Those individuals don’t know they were hacked — because they weren’t.” Instead, agents snaked their way into the billing server where call records are logged and stole data in 100-gigabyte-sized chunks. Theoretically, cars and smart watches could have also been targeted.

Though Div couldn’t reveal much about the attack, not even the continents on which the breaches occurred, he did explain that it’s spawned ten other investigations that are turning up discouraging data.

Some analysts speculate that APT10 — a nickname for a cyber-espionage group allegedly tied to the Chinese government — is behind the intrusion. Others, however, believe the signs that point to the group are blatant false flags.

The Scary Digital Age: You ARE Being Watched

We hate to think about it, but it is happening. Businesses, hackers, and scam artists are all discovering ways to track and see what you’re doing — both online and off, both legal and illegal. Why? Simple: Because that’s where the money is. Information is sold and traded, and a host of entities are lined up to purchase. Businesses want the data to individualize ads; scammers want it to exploit personally identifiable information and credit card data.

Online Privacy Laws

Currently, the European Union has the most comprehensive online privacy laws. Under their dictates, individuals have a “right to be forgotten,” which the governing body hopes will hinder ne’er-do-wells.

The European Union’s main online privacy law is known as the General Protection Data Rule, and the majority of stateside websites are beholden to its dictates. If you have a website registered or hosted in the United States and you have yet to make sure it’s GDPR compliant, stop reading and get in touch with an online privacy lawyer right now. We’ll put you in contact with the right person for your needs and location.

But did you know that the United States doesn’t have a federal online privacy law? Which is reason for individuals should take steps to keep their data private. {Link to resource center on site}

Do You Have An Online Privacy Legal Question?

Are you a business that wants to make sure you’re compliant with all the applicable online privacy laws? Are you an individual who feels that a business has illegally compromised your online privacy rights? Do you want to learn how to better secure your personal information? We can help. Get in touch today with your questions. We have the answers.

Source Article: https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2019/06/26/report-hackers-using-telecoms-like-global-spy-system/