Recently, security firm Adaptive Mobile discovered a new vulnerability, Simjacker , that affects victims' SIM cards and gains access to the phone. The company published a list of countries whose mobile phone providers offer SIM cards vulnerable to Simjacker yesterday.
The list includes 29 countries around the world. The company, however, did not mention the telecom companies that are vulnerable.
The countries are as follows:
Central America: Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay
Africa: Ivory Coast, Ghana, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon
Europe: Italy, Bulgaria, Cyprus
Asia: Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine
Adaptive Mobile disclosed the Simjacker vulnerability in mid-September. Hackers exploit SIM cards that come pre-installed with the Java applet, Browser S@T.
Hackers send a special SMS (OTA SMS) to the victim and execute malicious commands, without the user knowing . They can track the device's location , send messages, open the browser , and more.
Simjacker attacks in Mexico, Colombia and Peru
The company provided more information about the attacksit detected.
The list it published includes countries that are vulnerable to the attack due to the telecommunications companies that provide the vulnerable SIM cards. However, Adaptive Mobile has identified some attacks in three specific countries. These are Mexico, Colombia and Peru.
Simjacker attacks can be used by hackers for many things. However, in the attacks that the researchers identified, the goal was to track users' locations only.
The security firm said that behind the attacks is a company that sells software spy governments around the world.
The judges stated that they have not disclosed the company's name because they need more evidence to do so.
The Simjacker attack can cause a lot of problems for victims. However, Adaptive Mobile reassures users: "The average person is not usually a target. The main targets are those related to the government."
SRLabs updated its SIMTester app last month to check for the Simjacker vulnerability. The app notifies users if S@T Browser is installed on their SIM card, which could make it vulnerable to the attack.
