Shock Msg Service
By:
Krishnakumar
Website lets people send SMS and make phone calls to
anyone using any number they wish; cellular service
providers refuse to acknowledge the problem
Call a friend: Patanjal Vyas, who sent the messages
for MiD DAY, is not a hacker. He wants to create
awareness
Farah Khan was all excitement when Shah Rukh Khan sent
her an SMS that read: Lets plan a big Idd bash this
year.
Imagine her shock when MiD DAY called her up and told
her that it was Mumbais favourite afternoon daily and
not the filmstar who had sent her the SMS.
MiD DAY did it using a website that allows Voice-over
Internet Protocol (VoIP).
This is so scary. I got two messages from Shah Rukhs
number and he hadnt sent any of them.
People can use the service easily to create
misunderstandings, said Farah after MiD DAY told her
how it had pulled this off.
Patanjal Vyas (20), from Ahmedabad, was eager to show
the world the vulnerability of mobile networks.
I realised sometime back that anyones number could
be used to make calls using VoIP. Its like creating a
fake profile on the Internet. If this service
is exploited, marriages could end up in divorces and a
stock market crash could be triggered if a wrong
message is sent from a leading brokerage firm CEOs
number, said Patanjal.
The possibilities are endless and the consequences
disastrous. Patanjal is not a hacker and he is not
doing this for any publicity. All he wants to do
is alert the cellular service providers.
He has already sent warnings to all service providers
in the country. Except Airtel no one has bothered to
respond,said Patanjal. MiD DAY is deliberately
not revealing the websites IP address.
He has also informed the telecom ministry about the
loopholes but nothing has been done. Vyas is planning
to file a PIL if no action is taken soon.
When MiD DAY crosschecked with the service providers,
they dismissed the threat saying it plain speculation.
I cant comment on such speculative things, I have
got meetings and I have got things to do, said Harit
Nagpal, Vodafones director for marketing and
new services.
Reliance, Airtel and BPL spokespersons said that they
were unaware of such loopholes.
I think this is a b****y con, I dont believe this,
someone is trying to market his product, said T V
Ramchandran, director-general of Cellular Operators
Association of India, an organisation of GSM
operators.
Union telecom secretary D Mathur was livid when we
quizzed him over the issue. I will not comment on
this. What do you want me to do?
Anti-terrorist squad chief K P S Raghuvanshi, however,
was more forthcoming when he said that his department
is aware of such technologies. We are aware
of this and we are confident of nabbing anyone who
misuses this, said Raghuvanshi.
How SRKs SMS was sent to Farah
MiD DAY sent SMSes from Shah Rukhs number to his
close friend Farah Khan
* MiD DAY used Voice-over Internet Protocol
* VoIP sends voice information in digital format in
discrete packets instead of using the traditional
circuit-committed protocols of the public switched
telephone network
SMSes from SRKs no...
- Upala (MiD DAY journalist) is trying to talk to me
about walking the ramp. What to do?
- Lets plan a big Idd bash this year
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