<story><title>Who Owns Your Wireless Service? Crooks Do</title><url>https://krebsonsecurity.com/2019/08/who-owns-your-wireless-service-crooks-do/</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>3xblah</author><text>I see these problems from a different angle than the usual commentators.  I continue to ask myself: Why is mobile used for important things, e.g., banking, payments, etc.?&lt;p&gt;A great example is authenticating a person&amp;#x27;s identity via possession of a SIM card, i.e., their mobile number.  If one can switch SIM cards, then one can switch identities.  This flexibility is not a flaw in mobile communications; the ease-of-use is what makes mobile so useful.  However it is silly to pretend mobile is as safe as landline for all uses.   Mobile may be altogether more useful than landline -- few could argue otherwise -- and at the same time it can be entirely inappropriate for use in important things like banking.  This concept seems non-existant.  Instead the prevailing thinking is all-or-nothing.&lt;p&gt;In addition to &amp;quot;convenience&amp;quot;, mobile has introduced a new class of problems when used for important things like banking and payments.  These problems either do not exist or exist at a much lower scale with respect to landline.  Who owns landline service?  Crooks?&lt;p&gt;From where I stand, the risks of using mobile for important transactions outweigh the benefits.  Unfortunately, I also see that &amp;quot;convenience&amp;quot; continues to prevail over common sense.  I am willing to sacrafice convenience for peace of mind.  Meanwhile banks and others push harder and harder for customers to use mobile, including as a means of verifying identity.</text></comment>
<story><title>Who Owns Your Wireless Service? Crooks Do</title><url>https://krebsonsecurity.com/2019/08/who-owns-your-wireless-service-crooks-do/</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>nimbius</author><text>As a personal hacking project in my spare time, I switched from T-Mobile to anveo and an asterisk setup.  I can send and receive SMS on my server and can make WiFi calls on my phone.  SMS gets sent to my email as well.  This costs maybe $45 USD a year.  I&amp;#x27;ve thought about documenting my setup but I don&amp;#x27;t know if there is any interest.</text></comment>