SS7 HACKING

Researchers had always warned that the loopholes in SS7 are allowing hackers to steal money from banks, manipulate calls and messages. However these issues were very ignored by cellular network providers as they believed SS7 attacks are done by highly professional hackers and they require good amount of investment. However some professional hackers have proved the lack of security in cellular networks and they are successful in exploiting networks and hence leaking money from bank accounts. So, hackers can hack phone with ss7 and can read your calls and messages.

Exploiting SS7 protocols is the most common attack nowadays and thus hackers use this method to hack phone with SS7 attacks.
Signalling System 7 (SS7)

SS7 known as Signalling System 7 is a set of signalling protocols that are used for maintaining connection of calls and messages to the person you want to contact to. The main role of SS7 protocols is to make sure that the network provider knows to which sim it should send the signals. Hacking the SS7 network provides the hacker power equal to security agencies and network providers. The protocols are as old as made in 1970’s and no major changes are done till today’s date. That is why the security standards of communication are very easy to exploit because they are outdated.**


How SS7 attack is done?


The SS7 attack is done by attacking on the network provider and manipulating the signals. It is actually a man in the middle attack in which the hacker can trace your location and send signals from your phones.
Communication is not just between two people but actually the data is sent through a big chain with hundreds of links. Even if any level has weak level of security, your data can be easily hacked.

Recently in 2014 it became more popular when it was found that NSA was involved in exploiting the weakness of SS7 protocols. They were able to track and trace information of millions of citizens. Those people had no idea about this until Edward Snowden opened up in the media.


How hackers use WhatsApp SS7 Hacking?


Hackers are regularly using the flaw in SS7 signalling to hack the securest platforms like Whatsapp and Telegram also. Even though they have high bits of encryption but the vulnerability lies in SS7 on which these highly used social media platforms are used.

Hackers implement Whatsapp SS7 attack by fooling the network provider that the attacker and the victim have the same phone number. When the hacker fools the telecom networkhe can access the complete network and hence secure platforms like Whatsapp. This is easier as it requires no need to break encryption of Whatsapp or other platforms which is very difficult but still Whatsapp ss7 hacking is quite possible with the help of tools and software.

In 2017 some hackers attacked on a German network provider and they diverted all the text messages to themselves. They manipulated the one time passwords and drained the bank accounts completely.


How to prevent yourself from SS7 attack?


According to security researchers and data privacy experts, a VPN is the most suitable and cost-effective solution for protection against the SS7 hack. With a diverse range of tunneling protocols, a VPN passes your data through encrypted tunnels, ensuring that the data remains unreadable to any unauthorized person on earth if it gets leaked.

Editorial reviews and individual testing suggest the following VPN services for protection against SS7 attacks. These VPNs offer a range of tunneling protocols with 128 to 256-bit encryption keys for military grade protection.

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