SMS Routing Company 'Syniverse' Admits it was Hacked in 2016

· Andrew Orr · Link

Image containing the words “data breach”

Syniverse provides backbone services to wireless carriers like AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and several other carriers. It discovered the breach in May 2021 but it began in May of 2016.

Syniverse repeatedly declined to answer specific questions from Motherboard about the scale of the breach and what specific data was affected, but according to a person who works at a telephone carrier, whoever hacked Syniverse could have had access to metadata such as length and cost, caller and receiver’s numbers, the location of the parties in the call, as well as the content of SMS text messages.

Phone Companies Must Block Carriers That Don't Follow FCC Rules

· Andrew Orr · Link

internet web network cyberspace

Phone companies must now block traffic from voice service providers that don’t comply with new FCC robocall rules.

Specifically, phone companies must block traffic from other “voice service providers that have neither certified to implementation of STIR/SHAKEN caller ID authentication standards nor filed a detailed robocall mitigation plan with the FCC.”

‘Non-Standalone’ 5G Exposes Phones to Stingray Police Surveillance

· Andrew Orr · Link

5G antenna tower

5G that uses “non-standalone architecture” is rife with security issues and doesn’t protect people from Stingray police surveillance.

Borgaonkar and fellow researcher Altaf Shaik, a senior research scientist at TU Berlin, found that major carriers in Norway and Germany are still putting out 5G in non-standalone mode, which means that those connections are still susceptible to stingrays. The two presented at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas last week.

Visible Adds eSIM Support to its Phone Plan

· Andrew Orr · Cool Stuff Found

Prepaid carrier Visible updated its app recently with two major features. First, it now supports eSIM, which can be used on iPhone Xs and later. But this appears to be an option only for new phone numbers. I contacted customer support yesterday to see if I could transfer my existing number to the eSIM but I wasn’t able to. Another new feature with this update: You can pay for your Visible plan with cash at over 12,000 Wells Fargo ATMs across the U.S., and you don’t need to be a Wells Fargo member to do this.

Visible Adds eSIM Support to its Phone Plan

Visible Offers Deal for iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPhone 12 Mini

· Andrew Orr · Cool Stuff Found

Phone carrier Visible has launched a new campaign with Dan Levy of Schitt’s Creek called “Unlimited Eyebrowsing.” They’re sharing a deal for US$20 off your first month with the code BROWS20 (the YouTube page also mentions SAVE20). Additionally, Visible is offering a deal for the iPhone 12 Pro Max and iPhone 12 mini. Purchase one of these devices through them and get a free pair of Bose wireless headphones with a port-in of your phone number. Plus you can get a US$50 Mastercard virtual account.