The next time you see an open WiFi hotspot, you better be careful!
Another risk to smartphone security is that your device can be tracked and hacked without your knowledge, using a highly sophisticated spying tool called an IMSI. The IMSI has long been used by law enforcement personnel to track suspects, and here's how it works. By mimicking a cell phone tower, they trick their devices into connecting to them, thereby monitoring calls and internet traffic, sending fake texts, and installing spyware on the victim's phone, all while the user is unaware of what's happening.
Now it has been discovered that WiFi is capable of doing exactly the same thing. A WiFi network is able to easily capture IMSI numbers, but it can only do so on nearby smartphones. Devices that are not in range of the network will remain safe, but for how long?
In case you’re wondering, the term “IMSI” stands for: international mobile subscriber identity and is a unique 15-digit number used to authenticate a person when moving from network to network. The number is stored in the SIM card reader. During BlackHat Europe, researchers from the University of Oxford demonstrated a new type of IMSI attack that works over WiFi and allows the IMSI number of a smartphone to be captured within a second as soon as the smartphone user comes within close range of the network. This can then be used to spy on the user at any time and can affect both Android and iOS.
The great news is that you can disable the WiFi calling feature on your device, but WiFi auto-connect can only be disabled when such a network is in range. iOS 10 for iPhones and iPads has introduced better security to reduce the effectiveness of WiFi to find IMSI, but this ensures complete protection.
