{"id":14896,"date":"2019-10-31T13:57:01","date_gmt":"2019-10-31T18:57:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.firewalls.com\/blog\/?p=14896"},"modified":"2020-05-22T11:50:39","modified_gmt":"2020-05-22T16:50:39","slug":"hackers-target-mobile-phone-numbers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev01.firewalls.com\/blog\/hackers-target-mobile-phone-numbers\/","title":{"rendered":"Don&#8217;t Give Me Them Digits: Cyber criminals target mobile phone numbers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>You\u2019ve got a chip in your credit card. Your social security card\u2019s locked away in a safe. Now cyber criminals are turning their attention to another number: your mobile phone number. Next time that creep at the bar asks for your digits, you may have more to worry over than turning down a date.<\/p>\n<h3>Why criminals are targeting mobile phones<\/h3>\n<p>As security around financial data tightens, hackers have set their sights on mobile numbers, which tick many of the same boxes as your social security or credit card combos:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>It\u2019s unique to you<\/li>\n<li>It\u2019s one of the most common pieces of info stored in databases<\/li>\n<li>It\u2019s a crucial step in identifying yourself to financial authorities<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Criminals are using this information to take over accounts using a patchwork of personally identifying information gleaned from multiple databases. In 2016, over 160,000 mobile accounts were usurped according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.javelinstrategy.com\/coverage-area\/2017-identity-fraud\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">studies conducted by Javelin Strategy &amp; Research<\/a>&#8211;a record high for fraudsters.<\/p>\n<p>And the kicker? Losing control of your phone number creates logistical nightmares when it comes time to prove ownership in the aftermath of an attack. Many companies request to verify account ownership either over VoiP or SMS and if you are no longer in control of the phone line, proving your identity becomes a challenge outside the norms of account recovery.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>How to prevent a mobile phone takeover<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Distribute your number judiciously<\/li>\n<li>Use a secondary or <a href=\"http:\/\/www.businessnewsdaily.com\/8955-virtual-phone-numbers.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">virtual phone number<\/a> for account signups<\/li>\n<li>Do not reuse passwords over multiple accounts<\/li>\n<li>Avoid using public WiFi when accessing sensitive information<\/li>\n<li>Use two-factor authentication where possible<\/li>\n<li>Take advantage of mobile security platforms like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.firewalls.com\/brands\/sophos\/central\/mobile-security.html\">Sophos Central\u00a0Mobile Security<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Learn about more cyber threats<\/h3>\n<p>Hungry for more insight into Internet threats?\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.firewalls.com\/blog\/threat-dictionary\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Check out the Firewalls.com Threat Dictionary<\/a>\u00a0to learn about all of the latest network security threats.<\/p>\n<p>Prefer to listen and learn?\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.firewalls.com\/blog\/spooky-cyber-threats-ping-podcast\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Check out Episode 5 of Ping: A Firewalls.com Podcast<\/a>\u00a0where we talk cyber threats with SonicWall\u2019s Daniel Kremers and Fortinet\u2019s Douglas Santos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You\u2019ve got a chip in your credit card. Your social security card\u2019s locked away in a safe. Now cyber criminals are turning their attention to another number: your mobile phone number. Next time that creep at the bar asks for your digits, you may have more to worry over than turning down a date. Why [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":14899,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[286,68],"tags":[51,111],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.14 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Cyber Criminals Now Target Mobile Phone Numbers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"You\u2019ve got a chip in your credit card. Your social security card\u2019s locked away in a safe. Now cyber criminals are turning their attention to a new target: your mobile phone number.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dev01.firewalls.com\/blog\/hackers-target-mobile-phone-numbers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cyber Criminals Now Target Mobile Phone Numbers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"You\u2019ve got a chip in your credit card. Your social security card\u2019s locked away in a safe. Now cyber criminals are turning their attention to a new target: your mobile phone number.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dev01.firewalls.com\/blog\/hackers-target-mobile-phone-numbers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Firewalls.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/firewallscom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-10-31T18:57:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-05-22T16:50:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dev01.firewalls.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/0.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"744\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Andrew Harmon\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@firewallscom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@firewallscom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Andrew Harmon\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev01.firewalls.com\/blog\/hackers-target-mobile-phone-numbers\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev01.firewalls.com\/blog\/hackers-target-mobile-phone-numbers\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Andrew Harmon\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev01.firewalls.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8e89a2f96065af1717d00dfd06dca962\"},\"headline\":\"Don&#8217;t Give Me Them Digits: Cyber criminals target mobile phone numbers\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-31T18:57:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-05-22T16:50:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev01.firewalls.com\/blog\/hackers-target-mobile-phone-numbers\/\"},\"wordCount\":342,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev01.firewalls.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"firewalls\",\"mobile security\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Cybersecurity\",\"Weekly\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev01.firewalls.com\/blog\/hackers-target-mobile-phone-numbers\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev01.firewalls.com\/blog\/hackers-target-mobile-phone-numbers\/\",\"name\":\"Cyber Criminals Now Target Mobile Phone Numbers\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev01.firewalls.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-31T18:57:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-05-22T16:50:39+00:00\",\"description\":\"You\u2019ve got a chip in your credit card. 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