How to Prevent the Sim Swap Attack

Despite the rise of cybersecurity infrastructure, users still face many risks online which also includes hacks related to user' phone numbers. One of the latest victims of the sim swap attack was Bryan Pellegrino, CEO of LayerZero allowing hackers to take control of his Twitter briefly.

The sim swap attack is a type of identity theft where hackers take control of the victim's phone number allowing them to gain access to the victim's bank account, credit cards or crypto accounts.

Reportedly, more than 1,600 sim swapping complaints have been received by Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States in 2021 showing a 400% increase in complaints received compared to previous three years pointing the rise in the sim swap attacks.

The Hacker News

Sim swap attacks can often be initiated with the information that is available publicy or that can be obtained through social engineering, according to a company while other agreed that sim swapping doesn't require high level technical skills.

Prevention

Restricting the use of SIM card-based 2FA verification methods is the primary defense against a SIM swap attack. It's better use apps like Google Authenticator or Authy, instead of relying on methods like SMS.

Mutlifactor authentication and enhanced accounts verification like additional passwords, establishing strong PINs or passwords for SIM cards or mobile phone accounts are also more strategies. Personal data like name, address, phone number and date of birth may also be protected in order to avoid SIM swapping.

I have recently noticed Binance, asking for additional layers of security from me and I was made to add Google Authenticator. Platforms should add extra layers of security like Google Authenticator rather than depending wholly on SMS taking into consideration the sim swap attack.

I am okay with the Google Authenticator method while logging in to my Binance account.

What do you think?

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