As if receiving unsolicited SMSs on your mobile phone, advertising everything from beach holidays to three-bedroom apartments, and bumper lotteries to car wash services was not enough, here is another menace. Other people might receive nuisance messages from your mobile number even without your knowledge.
Impossible as it sounds, Deepak Jain, a commerce graduate who has floated a company named Mobile Gyaan, says it is a misdemeanour that is not only possible but also commonly committed.
“One can send SMS from one number to another without the knowledge of the mobile owners. Technically, it is called SMS spoofing,” explains Deepak. “It can be done by manipulating or disguising the information sent to a recipient SMS centre. There are several web services that facilitate spoofing, and SMS can be sent by slightly tweaking and editing the codes on the websites.”
Manipulating codes
A senior official in a reputed mobile service provider says, “Each service provider has a dedicated server or SMS centre to handle text messaging, at times they are fully owned, but in most cases they are outsourced. We have just come to know that such a thing is possible by manipulating the codes at an SMS gateway site. Thankfully, manipulating codes is not everyone's cup of tea and maybe that's one reason why it has not become very common. Most service providers are aware of it, and the research and development departments are working to plug the loopholes or develop some strong anti-spoofing mechanism.”
How did Deepak come to know of it? “Since childhood, I was very keen on mobile phones and computers and would spend hours surfing and researching new web services. It was about three years ago that I got to know about several loopholes in some SMS gateways and websites.”
He feels anyone using the short messaging service as a communication medium is vulnerable to this trend, as it becomes very easy to impersonate people. The list could include social celebrities, politicians and famous personalities. He also hints at the dangers associated with mobile banking.
Some time ago, Deepak, who hails from Jeypore, Orissa, was invited by a national news channel to demonstrate the loopholes in the SMS gateways in the presence of senior police officials.
The young Internet buff explains, “As the name suggests, Mobile Gyaan is all about sharing ‘gyaan' (knowledge) pertaining to mobile phones. The knowledge is shared through an interactive website www.mobilegyaan.com.” The website also has a dedicated help section at www.mobilegyaan.com/help, wherein mobile users can post their mobile related queries and get answers from the community members.
On what can be done to check the spoofing menace, he says, “Telecom companies can hardly do much, as they only act as bridge between SMS centres and the end users. If it is to be stopped, the authorities concerned should regulate SMS gateways. Blocking websites that act as gateways to SMS services could be a temporary solution to check improper usage of SMS services in India.”
