Dutch SIM card maker Gemalto said yesterday that its networks were “probably” breached, but that no encryption keys had been stolen.
The company's statement came as it released the findings of its internal investigation into Snowden's reports that the company's systems had been breached by the NSA and GCHQ.
Gemalto said its SIM cards on the market are secure. In the report published today , it added that it had implemented a new secure transfer system for SIM keys with mobile operators since 2010, and that the breach was unlikely to impact its operations.
The company also says that even if the secret services had managed to steal these keys, they would not be able to spy on phones using 2G, 3G and 4G as these connections are not susceptible to such attacks. The security gaps in the original 2G specifications were removed with algorithms that are still used by mobile phone companies.
The findings reveal that Gemalto detected two intrusions, in 2010 and 2011, which are believed to have been carried out by US and UK intelligence agencies.
What is actually true is unknown to anyone, except for the secret services and the company involved. An admission of the breach by the Dutch company would have direct financial costs, as we saw in our previous publication.
On the other hand, Snowden has no reason to lie, he just documents what he claims with official documents from the secret services.
The conclusions are yours.
