Coming just a day after the news that Lenovo had knowing delivered computers with compromised security, this example demonstrates how fragile all of our data security is. While Gemalto is doing all it can to fix the situation, I do not see the same attitude from Lenovo. I will think twice before ordering the next bit of Lenovo kit.
AMERICAN AND BRITISH spies hacked into the internal computer network of the largest manufacturer of SIM cards in the world, stealing encryption keys used to protect the privacy of cellphone communications across the globe, according to top-secret documents provided to The Intercept by National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden. The hack was perpetrated by a joint unit consisting of operatives from the NSA and its British counterpart Government Communications Headquarters, or GCHQ. The breach, detailed in a secret 2010 GCHQ document, gave the surveillance agencies the potential to secretly monitor a large portion of the world’s cellular communications, including both voice and data. The company targeted by the intelligence agencies, Gemalto, is a multinational firm incorporated in the Netherlands that makes the chips used in mobile phones and next-generation credit cards.
https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/02/19/great-sim-heist/
