NSA catalog lets agents deliver cloned hardware to targets

A new examination of the seemingly bottomless well of Snowden documents describes an internal NSA catalog of dead ringers for consumer hardware that the NSA can deploy on unsuspecting targets' systems. For example, when a target orders a new hard drive, router, monitor cable, or USB plug online, the NSA can intercept the order and send a bugged clone, which the target would then install by his own volition. The catalog includes hardware by Seagate, Samsung, Cisco, Huawei, Dell and many others.

Western Digital and Maxtor are two other hardware providers named in the monitoring device catalog. It also includes back door access to firewalls by Juniper Networks, as well as ready-made hacks for the BIOS firmware that runs when a personal computer starts up.

The catalog was produced by the Advanced/Access Network Technology (ANT) division of the NSA hacker unit Tailored Access Operations (TAO).

Der Spiegel reported that the NSA can intercept automated personal computer communications like Windows crash reports to ferret out vulnerabilities in users' systems. It does this via a so-called "shadow Internet" that runs alongside the regular Internet. SlashGear has previously reported on the NSA's "quantum insert" technique of serving copies of popular sites like LinkedIn to target users by dint of beating the legitimate websites to the server punch.

In other words, any of your electronics and favorite websites could actually be NSA-created resources should the spy agency deem you an asset.

On the industrial side, the catalog lets agents acquire and physically install bugged base stations that stand in for proprietary mobile network equipment. The NSA can use the stations to collect mobile communications data from personal devices in range.

Finally, the Der Spiegel analysis delved into how the NSA and its partners in private telecommunications companies have tapped major intercontinental data cables to conduct mass data surveillance. For example, the agency in early 2013 mapped the "SEA-ME-WE-4" undersea cable that connects Europe, North Africa and Asia.




SOURCE: Der Spiegel

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SIM card hack possible with a couple of text messages

Almost every phone in existence uses a SIM card, especially GSM-based devices. It turns out, that while SIM cards are encrypted, they can easily be breached with just a couple of text messages, and it apparently takes only a couple of minutes. The hack allows someone to listen in on calls and steal mobile data from a phone.

The hack consists of cloaking a text message so that it looks like it was sent from the carrier, and about a quarter of the time, an error message is sent back containing information about the SIM card that can be used to break into it. After that, another text can be sent that officially finishes the job, allowing hackers into your phone.

Security researcher Karsten Nohl of Security Research Labs discovered the exploit and says that up to 750 million handsets could be vulnerable to the hack. However, he notes that only SIM cards using older data encryption methods are at risk, while SIM cards using the newer Triple DES encryption are safe.

Out of all the mobile phones littering the world, about half of them use SIM cards that still use the older DES encryption. However, the exploit probably won’t last for long, since Nohl reported the vulnerability to the GSM Association, and they plan to speak with all carriers about fixing the exploit.

Nohl also plans to reveal his findings during the upcoming Black Hat conference. Don’t worry too much, though, as Nohl believes cyber criminals haven’t figured out the hack, and it would most likely take around six months for someone to figure it out. By then, carriers are hoping to have already patched the vulnerability.






VIA: New York Times

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