NSA/GCHQ stole millions of SIM cards’ encryption keys.
- The GCHQ is Britain’s NSA.
- Your phone’s SIM card contains a secret encryption key.
- Your carrier/provider also has that same encryption key.
- To connect, your SIM and provider check that they keys match.
- If they do, all communication between them is encrypted.
- Carriers like Verizon, AT&T do not make their own SIM cards.
- Gemalto is one of the world’s largest makers of SIM cards.
- The NSA/GCHQ hacked into Gemalto’s computer network.
- They stole millions of SIM card encryption keys.
- This lets them access communications without a wiretap.
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