US and British spies 'hacked world's largest sim card maker'
Hack gave GCHQ and NSA access to billions of calls and mobile data, according to new Snowden leak

A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
US and British spies hacked into the world's largest sim card manufacturer to gain access to billions of mobile phone voice calls and data around the world, according to the latest leak from National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Edward Snowden.
A special unit, including operatives from both the NSA and its British equivalent GCHQ, hacked into Gemalto, a Netherlands sim card manufacturer. The firm produces two billion sim cards a year for AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint and around 450 wireless network providers globally.
The unit – called the Mobile Handset Exploitation Team (MHET) – was set up in 2010 to exploit vulnerabilities in mobile phones, according to documents leaked to The Intercept.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The team reportedly targeted the private email and Facebook accounts of specific Gemalto employees and planted malware (malicious software) on several of the company's computers, gaining access to "their entire network".
With this access, the spy agencies were able to steal encryption keys, used to protect the privacy of mobile phone communications, and secretly monitor voice calls and data without the knowledge of telecom companies and foreign governments.
The hacked keys "have the functional equivalent of our house keys," Mark Rumold, staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told The Guardian. "That has serious implications for privacy not just here in the US but internationally."
Rumold said there was "no doubt" that the NSA and GCHQ had violated Dutch law and suggested they had also broken the law in "many other territories" when they used the hacked keys.
Gemalto said it had been totally oblivious to the penetration of its systems and was "disturbed" by what had happened.
Paul Beverly, executive vice president at Gemalto, told The Intercept: "The most important thing for me is to understand exactly how this was done, so we can take every measure to ensure that it doesn't happen again."
NSA declined to comment, while GCHQ said the UK's interception regime was "entirely compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights".
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
-
Knotted
Cartoons
By The Week Staff Published
-
Is it time the world re-evaluated the rules on migration?
Today's Big Question Home Secretary Suella Braverman questions whether 1951 UN Refugee Convention is 'fit for our modern age'
By The Week Staff Published
-
The Liberal Democrat housing drama
Why Everyone's Talking About Ed Davey suffered a bruising defeat on the conference floor leading some to question his leadership
By Rebekah Evans Published
-
Dark side of the Moon: will the race to lunar South Pole spark conflict?
Today's Big Question Russia and India are competing for the ‘new lunar gold’ – but real contest will be between the US and China
By The Week Staff Published
-
How worried we should be about space debris
feature As part of a rocket washes up in Australia scientists warn ‘critical mass’ of orbital junk could only be decades away
By The Week Staff Published
-
How cybercriminals are hacking into the heart of the US economy
Speed Read Ransomware attacks have become a global epidemic, with more than $18.6bn paid in ransoms in 2020
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Language-learning apps speak the right lingo for UK subscribers
Speed Read Locked-down Brits turn to online lessons as a new hobby and way to upskill
By Mike Starling Published
-
Brexit-hobbled Britain ‘still tech powerhouse of Europe’
Speed Read New research shows that UK start-ups have won more funding than France and Germany combined over past year
By Mike Starling Published
-
Playing Cupid during Covid: Tinder reveals Britain’s top chat-up lines of the year
Speed Read Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and Dominic Cummings among most talked-about celebs on the dating app
By Joe Evans Last updated
-
Brits sending one less email a day would cut carbon emissions by 16,000 tonnes
Speed Read UK research suggests unnecessary online chatter increases climate change
By Joe Evans Published
-
Reach for the Moon: Nokia and Nasa to build 4G lunar network
Speed Read Deal is part of the US space agency’s plan to establish human settlements on the lunar surface
By Mike Starling Last updated