So, what is SS7?
Good Question. Signaling system 7 or for US readers CCSS7, was first developed in 1975 and is a signaling system used to support all global communication. It is the system used to route and bill telecommunications and it is the same architecture that supports SMS, 5G, and all mobile and landline telecommunications. (Sidenote: Does your organization use SMS for multi-factor authentication?) Its most recent update was in March of 1993, before encryption and authentication were used as often as today.
What does this mean from a security perspective? Well truthfully it means that anyone with operational access (legitimate or not)could have relatively unrestricted access to the system’s communications and the only way to not have your messages at risk is to use encrypted, IP-based services (Signal, WhatsApp, et cetera.) For locational tracking security, you would have to disable telephone and mobile data services. While SS7 may be more secure than previous architectural implementations, it is still highly vulnerable. For more information regarding SS7, please email me directly.