Indian security agencies are pulling out all the stops to ensure the country?s communication channels are secure.
The first step was asking the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to request operators to provide the details of subscribers accessing the internet via their mobile handsets.
Thereafter, DoT had asked Vodafone India and Idea Cellular to provide the same. Now, the agencies have asked DoT to make it mandatory for operators to use indigenously manufactured SIM cards.
Currently, all operators use SIM cards manufactured by overseas companies, such as Schulmberger, Gemalto and Oberthur. This is largely owing to the current duty structure, which leans towards imported goods.
Nevertheless, the Ministry of Home Affairs is reportedly of the opinion that imported SIM cards poses a security threat, as security agencies and operators cannot monitor them once issued to a user.
According to the security agencies, once the encryption keys of any SIM card are compromised, it can be used to trigger various attacks including denial of service, disclosure of location of subscriber, diverting and routing calls.
