"What Can Hackers Do with Your Mobile Number?"

Hackers and cybercriminals can do a lot of damage using mobile phone numbers. Using mobile phone numbers, malicious actors could execute SIM swapping attacks, conduct surveillance, and gain access to an individual's online profiles such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Gmail. In a SIM swapping attack, a hacker uses an individual's exposed phone number to call the victim's mobile phone provider. The hacker impersonates the victim and requests to port-out the phone number to a different carrier or a new SIM card. Once the port-out is complete, the phone number activates on the attacker's SIM card, allowing them to send and receive messages, as well as make calls as the victim. Phone companies' solution to this issue is to offer PIN codes that a phone owner must provide before they can switch devices. However, this solution has been proven ineffective as hackers can bribe phone company employees to get the codes. This article continues to discuss some malicious activities that hackers can perform through the use of mobile phone numbers. 

The Conversation reports "What Can Hackers Do with Your Mobile Number?"