Think talking on your iPhone is safe? Think again: hackers and data thieves can intercept your phone calls under iOS 4. That’s why Apple’s rolling out a new feature in iOS 5: a warning that pops up when you engage in a so-called ‘unsecured call.'”
The message text of the notification says: “The cellular network you are using is not encrypted. This call can be intercepted by unauthorized listeners.”
How can a call on your phone network be unsecured? It all has to do with something called an IMSI catcher, a fake GSM base station that is designed to trick a target handset into sending you its voice traffic. Obviously, this approach doesn’t work on Verizon’s CDMA network, but for most of the world’s iPhone owners, it’s a potential vulnerability… even if it’s not one that is particularly likely to be exploited.
So next time you’re talking to your girlfriend on your iPhone and hear someone breathing heavily in the background, just count down the days until iOS 5.
[via App Advice]
John Brownlee is a writer for Fast Company, and a contributing writer here at CoM. He has also written for Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, VentureBeat, and Gizmodo. He lives in Boston with his wife and two parakeets. You can follow him here on Twitter.
