• Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
MUST READ

Law enforcement operations seized BlackSuit ransomware gang’s darknet sites

 | 

Arizona woman sentenced for aiding North Korea in U.S. IT job fraud scheme

 | 

Operation CargoTalon targets Russia’s aerospace with EAGLET malware,

 | 

Unpatched flaw in EoL LG LNV5110R cameras lets hackers gain Admin access

 | 

Koske, a new AI-Generated Linux malware appears in the threat landscape

 | 

Mitel patches critical MiVoice MX-ONE Auth bypass flaw

 | 

Coyote malware is first-ever malware abusing Windows UI Automation

 | 

SonicWall fixed critical flaw in SMA 100 devices exploited in Overstep malware attacks

 | 

DSPM & AI Are Booming: $17.87B and $4.8T Markets by 2033

 | 

Stealth backdoor found in WordPress mu-Plugins folder

 | 

U.S. CISA adds CrushFTP, Google Chromium, and SysAid flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

U.S. CISA urges FCEB agencies to fix two Microsoft SharePoint flaws immediately and added them to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

Sophos fixed two critical Sophos Firewall vulnerabilities

 | 

French Authorities confirm XSS.is admin arrested in Ukraine

 | 

Microsoft linked attacks on SharePoint flaws to China-nexus actors

 | 

Cisco confirms active exploitation of ISE and ISE-PIC flaws

 | 

SharePoint under fire: new ToolShell attacks target enterprises

 | 

CrushFTP zero-day actively exploited at least since July 18

 | 

Hardcoded credentials found in HPE Aruba Instant On Wi-Fi devices

 | 

MuddyWater deploys new DCHSpy variants amid Iran-Israel conflict

 | 
  • Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
  • Home
  • Hacking
  • Researchers can hack Verizon Wireless femtocells to spy on customers

Researchers can hack Verizon Wireless femtocells to spy on customers

Pierluigi Paganini July 16, 2013

Two security researchers announced that they have succeeded to transform Verizon mobile phones into spy tools to track Verizon’s users.

The security experts revealed to the Reuters agency that it is possible to hack Verizon mobile phones for surveillance purpose, the researchers will present the discovery during the next hacking conferences this summer, the DEF CON and Black Hat.

In particular that hackers could compromise the femtocell commercialized by Verizon Wireless a joint venture between Verizon Communications Inc and Vodafone Group Plc.

According Wikipedia a femtocell is:

“In telecommunications, a femtocell is a small, low-power cellular base station, typically designed for use in a home or small business. A broader term which is more widespread in the industry is small cell, with femtocell as a subset. It connects to the service provider’s network via broadband (such as DSL or cable); current designs typically support two to four active mobile phones in a residential setting, and eight to 16 active mobile phones in enterprise settings. A femtocell allows service providers to extend service coverage indoors or at the cell edge, especially where access would otherwise be limited or unavailable. Although much attention is focused on WCDMA, the concept is applicable to all standards, including GSM, CDMA2000, TD-SCDMA, WiMAX and LTE solutions.

For a mobile operator, the attractions of a femtocell are improvements to both coverage and capacity, especially indoors. Consumers benefit from improved coverage and potentially better voice quality and battery life. Depending on the carrier they may also be offered more attractive tariffs, e.g., discounted calls from home.”

Verizon Wireless femtocell

The news doesn’t surprise me, the massive introduction of technology in our life is increasing of digital exposure, mobile phones are excellent devices to spy on victims.

Tom Ritter, a senior consultant with the security firm iSEC Partners and his colleague, Doug DePerry, demonstrated for Reuters how they can eavesdrop on text messages, photos and phone calls made with an Android phone and an iPhone that access to the network through a Verizon femtocell that they had previously hacked.

The iSEC researchers aren’t the first to discover vulnerabilities in femtocells devices, but they claim to be the first to hack the femtocells of a US carrier and also the first running on a wireless standard known as CDMA.

The two researchers announced that they don’t have intention to reveal the details of the hack to avoid emulation phenomena, they will merely propose to give more elaborate demonstrations during the popular hacking conferences planned for this summer.

The discovery of the surveillance problem such as PRISM and Tempora should make us reflect on the risks connected to the abuse of technology to violate the user’s privacy, what is really concerning is the possibility that hackers and ordinary individuals could exploit the intelligence components within the objects that surround us.

“This is not about how the NSA would attack ordinary people. This is about how ordinary people would attack ordinary people,” said Ritter.

The good news is that Verizon company has already announced to have updated the software on its signal-boosting devices, also known as femtocells or network extenders, to avoid that hackers will adopt the technique of the two researchers.

Verizon Wireless released a software update for the Linux distribution that equips its network extenders to avoid that hackers could compromise femtocells with technique described by Ritter and DePerry, as announced by Verizon spokesman David Samberg.

“The Verizon Wireless Network Extender remains a very secure and effective solution for our customers,” said Samberg.

According Verizon Wireless company no customer has been impacted since now, the  Verizon Wireless spokesman remarked that every delivered product is carefully tested by a company security team that search for vulnerabilities during the entire product Lifecycle.

The bad news is that the two experts declared to be still able to use the hacked femtocell to spy on Verizon mobile devices although Verizon Wireless released that software update, it seems in fact that the spying activity is still possible on the femtocell that researchers had modified before the company issued the software fix.

The researchers built their “proof of concept” system that they will demonstrate in Las Vegas with femtocells manufactured by Samsung Electronics Co and a $50 antenna from Wilson Electronics Inc.

Ritter and DePerry will demonstrate the hack during the next conference in Las Vegas with a “proof of concept” system and testing it with femtocells manufactured by Samsung Electronics Co and a $50 antenna from Wilson Electronics Inc.

The evolution of the POC could be represented by a portable appliance, housed in a backpack, that could be used for a surveillance operation once located near a target, Verizon Wireless in fact sustains that the device has a 40-foot range that could be expanded by adding specialized antennas.

According Reuters post other companies already warned on the possibility to attack femtocells:

“CTIA, a wireless industry group based in Washington, in February released a report that identified femtocells as a potential point of attack. John Marinho, CTIA’s vice president for cyber security and Technology, said that the group is more concerned about other potential cyber threats, such as malicious apps. He is not aware of any case where attacks were launched via femtocells.

It’s clear that the telecom industry has to monitor carefully the security of infrastructures and the possibility to exploit vulnerability within them for sabotage and cyber espionage purposes.

Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs – Verizon Wireless, hacking, surveillance)


facebook linkedin twitter

Cyberespionage femtocells Hacking mobile mobile phones monitoring surveillance Verizon Wireless

you might also like

Pierluigi Paganini July 24, 2025
U.S. CISA adds CrushFTP, Google Chromium, and SysAid flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog
Read more
Pierluigi Paganini July 23, 2025
U.S. CISA urges FCEB agencies to fix two Microsoft SharePoint flaws immediately and added them to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog
Read more

leave a comment

newsletter

Subscribe to my email list and stay
up-to-date!

    recent articles

    Law enforcement operations seized BlackSuit ransomware gang’s darknet sites

    Cyber Crime / July 26, 2025

    Arizona woman sentenced for aiding North Korea in U.S. IT job fraud scheme

    Intelligence / July 26, 2025

    Operation CargoTalon targets Russia’s aerospace with EAGLET malware,

    Intelligence / July 25, 2025

    Unpatched flaw in EoL LG LNV5110R cameras lets hackers gain Admin access

    Security / July 25, 2025

    Koske, a new AI-Generated Linux malware appears in the threat landscape

    Malware / July 25, 2025

    To contact me write an email to:

    Pierluigi Paganini :
    pierluigi.paganini@securityaffairs.co

    LEARN MORE

    QUICK LINKS

    • Home
    • Cyber Crime
    • Cyber warfare
    • APT
    • Data Breach
    • Deep Web
    • Digital ID
    • Hacking
    • Hacktivism
    • Intelligence
    • Internet of Things
    • Laws and regulations
    • Malware
    • Mobile
    • Reports
    • Security
    • Social Networks
    • Terrorism
    • ICS-SCADA
    • POLICIES
    • Contact me

    Copyright@securityaffairs 2024

    We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
    Cookie SettingsAccept All
    Manage consent

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities...
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT