Security News > 2020 > October > Hackers hijack Telegram, email accounts in SS7 mobile attack

Hackers with access to the Signaling System 7 used for connecting mobile networks across the world were able to gain access to Telegram messenger and email data of high-profile individuals in the cryptocurrency business.
Hackers pulling an SS7 attack can intercept text messages and calls of a legitimate recipient by updating the location of their device as if it registered to a different network.
Tsachi Ganot, the co-founder of Pandora Security in Tel-Aviv, who investigated the incident and assisted victims with regaining access to their accounts, told BleepingComputer that all clues point to an SS7 attack.
Ganot told us that the hackers likely spoofed the short message service center of a mobile network operator to send an update location request for the targeted phone numbers to Partner.
"In some cases, the hackers posed as the victims in their [Telegram] IM accounts and wrote to some of their acquaintances, asking to exchange BTC for ETC and the like" - Tsachi Ganot.
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