US congressman calls for investigation into vulnerability that lets hackers spy on every phone

Vulnerabilities within SS7 mobile phone network brokerage system allow attackers to listen to calls, read messages and track location using just a phone number

A US congressman hacked as part of a demonstration showing that all you need is someone's phone number to record their calls, texts and location, has called for an oversight committee investigation into the "significant vulnerability".

The security flaws within the system that brokers connections, billing and transfers messages between phone networks - called Signalling System No 7 (SS7), also know as C7 in the UK or CCSS7 in the US - allow remote access to mobile phone users' data anywhere in the world regardless of the security of their smartphone, using just their phone number.