Saudi Arabia May be Spying on its Citizens Via US Mobile Networks

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for SoyCow8162:

Saudi Arabia may be spying on its citizens via US mobile networks:

Data shared by a whistleblower suggests Saudi Arabia may be using a weakness in mobile telecom networks to track its citizens in the US, The Guardian reports. The data shows that over a four-month period, Saudi Arabia's three biggest mobile phone companies sent 2.3 million requests for Provider Subscriber Information (PSI). Normally, that data is used to help foreign operators register roaming charges, but the high volume of requests could also give the Saudi telecoms enough info to track users within hundreds of meters of accuracy.

This takes advantage of long-standing vulnerabilities in a global messaging system called SS7, which routes mobile calls when a user from one country is traveling in another. According to the data shared with The Guardian, the Saudi telecoms sent millions of these PSI SS7 requests to US carriers, including AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon (Engadget&aposs parent company) between November 2019 and March 1st -- sometimes requesting data as often as two to 13 times per hour.

It isn't clear if the Saudi telecoms were spying on behalf of the government, but the kingdom doesn't have the best track record. Earlier this year, The Guardian reported that Amazon's Jeff Bezos's phone was hacked via a WhatsApp message from the personal account of Prince Mohammed. Twitter has banned thousands of accounts linked with a state-backed effort to promote the Saudi government's message, and the Department of Justice has charged former Twitter employees with spying for Saudi Arabia.

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