U.S. Representative Ted W. Lieu, from the 33rd District of California, called on the FCC to expedite the investigation it started on the Signaling System Seven (SS7) earlier this this April. The call comes after recent reports of alleged Russian hacking of members of the U.S. Congress.
The reported hack exposed the phone numbers of 180 members of Congress, among other sensitive information. Due to the SS7 flaw, it should now be relatively easy, especially for state-sponsored attackers, to intercept all of the conversations and messages sent by those phone numbers.
The SS7 vulnerability has existed for decades. However, it’s only in the past few years that the issue has started to become more public. In April of this year, during an episode of 60 Minutes, researchers demonstrated how Rep. Ted Lieu’s phone could be intercepted through the SS7 flaw. That’s when Lieu called on the FCC and NSA to solve this major security issue that affects anyone with a cellphone.
