Kerala - Kozhikode   

Police on the trail of SMS threat

Kozhikode: The city police are attempting to trace the origin of an anonymous Short Messaging Service (SMS) message received on many mobile phones, including few mediapersons and on the toll-free number of the police control room, here warning that a bomb blast will occur in Kozhikode this month.

The message read “Calicut blast planned on this month...contact Kish on 9995336022. . It was received from the number +923332631538.

Kozhikode City Police Commissioner Anup Kuruvilla John said that the number (9995336022) was that of a final-year Ayurveda student hailing from Perambra in the district and the other number could have originated from Pakistan.

However, the police strongly believe that the Pakistan number could have been spoofed through the Internet.

Investigating officials have questioned the student and collected details of his friends and acquaintances in India and abroad.

The prankster might be known to the Ayurveda student.

It also gives a hint that the anonymous sender is a native of the State. The sender could also have taken the mobile number from the student’s profile on Orkut, a social networking site.

There are several service providers that offer services free of cost and for payment for transmitting spoofed SMS messages.

Usually, service providers who provide such technology maintain a database of account holders.

But, with the mushrooming of such several providers abroad, hackers are attracted to this technology and sneak in through firewalls to send messages.

Tremendous effort is required to trace SMS spoofing unlike the Voice Over Internet Protocol, Mr. John said.

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