Communications of the ACM
Time to Disconnect: Why the Sim Card Has Had Its Day
A University of Cambridge researcher suggests the SIM cards used in mobile phones should be replaced.
Credit: Yui Mok/PA
SIM cards used by mobile phones to connect to phone networks will soon be 25 years old, and have been found to be vulnerable, writes University of Cambridge senior lecturer Markus Kuhn.
British and U.S. intelligence agencies reportedly stole millions of SIM card security keys, enabling spies to track users and listen in on calls. Kuhn says SIM technology could have been replaced some time ago with a simpler alternative--typing in a user identifier and password directly into the phone, similar to how Wi-Fi is accessed. Quick Response (QR) codes also could be a convenient alternative for smartphones with cameras, where an app could read the details encoded in the QR via the camera. Modern cryptographic techniques such as password-authenticated key exchange enable passwords as simple as a five-digit PIN to create highly secure encrypted connections.
Network operators would be opposed to eliminating SIM cards, which enable them to lock in customers to their network. However, Kuhn says today's Internet-based telephony has demonstrated that moving a telephone number between networks can be accomplished in seconds, and the same should be implemented in mobile phone networks.
The European Commission has long tried to improve mobile phone competition, and Kuhn says abandoning the SIM would be a major step toward this goal.
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