Recently, there were news articles appearing in the Montreal Gazette and WIRED Magazine that reported on the Rogers and Fido 2G GSM wireless networks as being vulnerable to hackers.
The articles detailed that a call over a GSM network, or more specifically the Rogers/Fido network, could be easily intercepted within 20 seconds and later decrypted and analyzed using low technology.
It is worth noting that the wireless network being hacked is the 2G wireless network which is used by Rogers and Fido in Canada for voice calls. 3G, or the Internet on your mobile device on the other hand, used by the majority of Canadian wireless carriers, is more secure.
However both of these standards are different than the HSPA+ networks used by Bell, Telus, and Vidéotron, which at this time, the vulnerability of those networks is unknown.
These articles were posted in the last week of December with no immediate reply or statement from Rogers/Fido. This week, a few days after the articles went live, Rogers/Fido have released an official statement regarding the reports. The statement is essentially what Rogers/Fido representatives should be telling their customers.
Check it out:
Response to concerned customers:
- Customer security and privacy is a priority.
- We use the latest encryption technologies as licensed through the GSM Association and network vendors.
- We adhere to GSM Association standards and support the most up to date encryption available.
- There is no practical risk for customers on the network.
Media Inquires:
Do not respond to any media inquiries. Instead, please direct requests to: Odette Coleman, Regional Communications Director at 416-935-6441 or Od************@********rs.com.
What do you think? Are you worried about your GSM calls being intercepted?
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Don’t care as I don’t use them any more
then why the hell did you post?
Sounds like damage control so they have time to check and fix if needed (or if they want to).
Id be worried if Jess a secret spy or double agent or sumthing like that. The calls to the mothership getting intercepted wouldn’t be good in that case. However, I am a regular citizen with nothing exciting happening in my life sooooo. Hey if you really wanna hear my phone calls, you must like watching paint dry and grass grow too.
old GSM is known to be unsafe. How is this new?
old GSM is known to be unsafe. how is this new?
Intercepting calls to my mother because she cant figure out how to get her nintendo wii to work. lol go ahead ^_~
in todays day n age we have more worry of some guy video taping you talking on the phone, then posting it on youtube or whatever. this is water under the bridge unless you work for a secure organization, but at that point they would probably give you an encrypted phone/line for added security anyways.
Worried no, since whoever is hacking calls or wtv is probably gonna get get a droppe call ;p
Meh if someone wants to know your business they can easily find out other ways, such as tracking your Internet activity or even getting into your computer.
So Hollywood was right then!? Don’t speak about important stuff over a non-secure connection!
Ya, I’m worried that people spying on my calls will know what’s for supper lol!
or watch your Facebook status ahaha! we divulge enough info on that that we really don’t need to be tapping our phones 😉