Govt takes step to curb mobile hacking

NEW DELHI, INDIA: The committee set up by the Ministry of Communications and IT to check the misuse of technology by hacking SMSes, has recommended the blocking of level +91 overseas SMSes which do not bear party address starting with +91.

The committee set up with the objective to check mobile hacking through SMS gateways has recommended strict vigilance on the control mechanism including SMS providers on the application and content when it passes through the gateways.

The Department of Telecom (DoT) has taken a serious note against hacking of mobile phones through SMS or through manipulating mobile numbers. The department has termed mobile hacking a cyber crime.

The committee stated, “It is a criminal offence using somebody else’s identity like telephone or mobile number for communication.’’

According to DoT, there have been many instances where customers were cheated through false SMSes from banks and financial institutions. The department has already registered complaints on the fake SMSes. “A subscriber may receive a message from his bank asking to confirm the details of the banking account. And once the customer replies back to the SMS it may not reach the destined number, rather may reach another number, which could be overseas,” the committee said.

Currently, SMSes are routed through application servers, SMS gateways, SMSCs and Mobile Switching Centres. According to experts if the transfer protocol between SMS gateways and SMSCs can be intervened the hacker would be able to access vital information from the subscriber.

With mobile phones enabled with email, Bluetooth, GPRS and banking transactions, it has become more prone to infiltration from outside.

However, the department has already blocked a couple of websites, which facilitate manipulation of phone numbers. DoT is also taking special initiative to control illegal routing of international calls through local lines.