🛠️ Introduction to SIM Card Hooking & Cloning
🛠️ Introduction to SIM Card Hooking & Cloning
SIM card attacks have been increasingly weaponized in recent years, often used for identity theft, surveillance, and financial fraud. This thread will cover
✔️ What is SIM hooking?
✔️ How SIM cloning works
✔️ Real-world cases of SIM hijacking
✔️ Red Team (Attacker) perspectives
✔️ Blue Team (Defensive) strategies
✔️ Purple Team (Attack Simulation & Defense Improvement)
✔️ How to secure your SIM from these attacks
Let’s break it all down.
🔴 Red Team: SIM Hooking & Cloning Explained
1️⃣ What is SIM Hooking?
SIM hooking refers to exploiting vulnerabilities in SIM cards to intercept communications, steal authentication codes (2FA), or gain control over mobile accounts.
2️⃣ How SIM Hooking Works
SIM Swap Attack: Social engineering or bribing a telecom employee to transfer a victim’s number to an attacker’s SIM.
OTA (Over-the-Air) Exploits: Using OTA commands to reprogram the SIM remotely.
SIM Jacking (Silent SMS & S@T Browser Exploits): Exploiting SIM-based apps to execute hidden commands.
Baseband Attacks: Exploiting the GSM baseband firmware to control SIM functions.
3️⃣ SIM Cloning — Duplicating a SIM
SIM cloning is the process of copying the IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity) and Ki (Authentication Key) from a SIM card onto another SIM.
🔧 Tools Used for SIM Cloning
🛠 Osmocom SIMtrace — Intercept SIM communications
🛠 Milenage Algorithm Crackers — Attack the authentication algorithm
🛠 Comp128v1 Attack — Extract Ki from older SIMs
🛠 Smart Card Readers — Read and write SIM data
🔵 Blue Team: Defending Against SIM Hooking & Cloning
1️⃣ How to Detect SIM Hooking Attacks
🔹 Unexpected SIM card behavior — Frequent disconnections or unrecognized messages.
🔹 Silent SMS attacks — Use tools like SnoopSnitch (Android) to detect hidden SIM activity.
🔹 IMEI/IMSI changes — Monitor device logs for mismatches.
2️⃣ Preventative Measures for SIM Swap & Cloning
✅ Enable PIN & PUK Codes: Prevent unauthorized SIM changes.
✅ Use eSIM when possible: Harder to physically swap.
✅ Disable Remote SIM Provisioning (RSP): Prevents OTA attacks.
✅ Use Carrier Lock Features: Prevent unauthorized number porting.
✅ Monitor SIM Toolkit Permissions: Remove unused SIM-based apps.
✅ Use Physical Security Tokens for 2FA: Don’t rely on SMS-based authentication.
🟣 Purple Team: Testing Defenses with Attack Simulations
For penetration testers and security researchers, Purple Teaming involves simulating these attacks ethically to test defenses.
🔍 Test SIM Swap Readiness — See if your carrier allows swaps with minimal verification.
🔍 Analyze OTA Messages — Use SIMtrace to inspect network commands.
🔍 Deploy Silent SMS Monitors — Detect hidden tracking attempts.
🔍 Red vs. Blue Drills — Simulate an attack and measure the response time.
🛡️ Protect Yourself: Best Security Practices
🚀 Proactive Steps to Stay Secure
✔️ Use Carrier Security Features: Some carriers offer extra SIM security like T-Mobile’s “Number Lock.”
✔️ Use App-Based 2FA: Replace SMS authentication with Google Authenticator, YubiKey, or Authy.
✔️ Monitor Your Phone Bill: Unexpected SMS or calls can signal unauthorized SIM activity.
✔️ Check for Unknown SIM Toolkit Commands: Review phone logs for hidden commands.
🚧 Advanced Protections
✔️ IMSI Catcher Detection Apps — Use AIMSICD (Android IMSI-Catcher Detector) to spot rogue cell towers.
✔️ Custom Baseband Firmware — Protect against baseband-level exploits with hardened firmware.
✔️ Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) Beyond SMS — Use biometric, email-based, or hardware MFA instead of SMS.
📝 Conclusion
SIM hooking, cloning, and hijacking are serious threats that target your identity and financial security. Understanding both offensive and defensive perspectives helps in building better security strategies.
🔥 Stay secure. Stay educated. Never misuse this information. 🔥
💬 Discuss below! Have you encountered SIM-based threats? What’s your experience?
[💬 References & Further Reading]
📖 GSM Security Overview — https://www.3gpp.org/
📖 SIM Cloning Research — https://osmocom.org/
📖 SnoopSnitch — GitHub https://github.com/CellularPrivacy/Android-IMSI-Catcher-Detector
