Karsten Nohl, chief scientist with Berlin’s Security Research Labs, told Reuters that the carriers had failed to fully address vulnerabilities that would allow hackers to clone and remotely gain control of certain SIM cards. Those vulnerabilities were pointed out in July.
Nohl uncovered the issue while working on a project known as the GSM Security Map, which evaluates security of mobile operators around the globe. The map, which can be found at www.gsmmap.org, is partially funded with a grant from the U.S. government’s Open Technology Fund, according to Nohl.