The intelligence services of the United States and Britain hacked into the world’s largest SIM card maker, taking encryption keys allowing them to monitor users, a report said Friday.<\/p>\n
The hack was a joint operation by the two agencies, and would have facilitated eavesdropping on much of the world’s voice and data mobile networks, The Intercept website reported, citing a 2010 internal British document provided by former US national security contractor Edward Snowden.<\/p>\n
The unit was set up by the US National Security Agency (NSA) and Britain’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ).<\/p>\n
It targeted Gemalto, the report said, which makes 2 billion SIM cards a year for 450 mobile service providers, including AT&T, T-Mobile, China Mobile and SoftBank.<\/p>\n
The company is registered in the Netherlands and has factories around the world including in the US.<\/p>\n
Gemalto’s executive vice president Paul Beverly told The Intercept he was “disturbed” by news of the breach.<\/p>\n
“The most important thing for us now is to understand the degree” of the hack and data leak, he said.<\/p>\n
After mining the private communications of employees, the surveillance unit obtained a copy of the encryption keys, which would technically enable the agencies to monitor mobile communications without the approval or knowledge of service providers or authorities, the report said.<\/p>\n
“Once you have the keys, decrypting traffic is trivial,” Christopher Soghoian, principal technologist for the American Civil Liberties Union activist group, was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n
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