Port-Out Hijacking or SIM Swapping Explained: Safeguard Your Mobile Number

Mobile phones have become part of our daily life. Everything from banking to social media, calling, messaging, voice calling to video calls is accessible through smartphones. All these activities make our lives easier but they also come with a significant risk. Port-out hijacking is one of the risks that come with smartphones. This method of hijacking is also known as SIM swapping.

Let’s know more about the port-out hijacking, what it is, how it works, the potential impact on victims, and prevention steps.

What is Port-Out Hijacking?

Port-out hijacking is a form of identity theft where a cybercriminal fraudulently transfers your mobile phone number to a new SIM card. Once they control your phone number they can easily intercept calls and text messages they can also play with your two-factor authentication codes and can access your online accounts.

How Does SIM-Swapping or Port-Out Hijacking Work?

Firstly, the swapper gathers information about the victim. They mostly use phishing attacks, social breaches, or search in publicly available information.

The attacker impersonates the victim and contacts the victim’s mobile carrier. They provide the collected personal information to convince the carrier that they are the legitimate owner of the phone number.

Then attacker requests the carrier to port the victim’s phone number to a new SIM card that the attacker controls. If this works successfully then victim loses their service and the attacker gain control of the phone number.

Now attacker have the access of phone number, they easily can reset passwords and use your accounts.

Impact on victims

SIM-swapping attack can be devastating. Attackers can drain bank accounts. With access to email and social media accounts attackers can steal personal information and can misuse them.

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How to Protect Yourself?                 

The threat of port-out hijacking is real, to stay protected use these simple methods:

1.      Use strong passwords in your online apps.

2.      Enable Two-Factor Authentication.

3.      Contact your mobile carrier and ask about additional security measures such as adding a PIN or password to your account which must be provided before making any changes to your SIM card.

4.      Regularly check your bank, email, and social media accounts and stay alert for suspicious activity.

5.      Avoid sharing personal information publicly.

6.      Stay updated on real-time news, and cybersecurity guidelines.

Port-out hijacking, or SIM-swapping is a devastating form of cybercrime. By understanding how it works and taking proactive steps to protect your information you can reduce the risk of falling victim to this type of attack.