A SIM card, i.e., Subscriber Identity Module card, enables the carrier to identify you and make a link between the network and your device. This lets you connect to the network, and the network itself to provide you with services. With that in mind, a SIM card in the hands of a thief or hacker can wreak havoc on your personal and financial matters. Unfortunately, phone security measures are given more importance. SIM security is typically taken for granted while being a crucial thing that should be protected right away. A SIM card in its physical form without a PIN (Personal Identification Number) is not secure at all.
If your phone is lost or stolen, you are at an immense risk of a security breach. Even when your phone screen is locked, it doesn’t matter. The perpetrator can remove the SIM card and use it on another device. Screen lock can protect your phone to some extent, but not your SIM card.
Things that can go wrong with an unprotected SIM card
Your SIM card is the key to all your social media accounts and your bank accounts. With the advent of end-to-end encryption technology, two-way authentication is the new norm. When you log in to your account, an OTP (One-Time Password) is sent to your SIM card number. When you enter the OTP, you can log into your account, be it for social media, banks, payment portals, streaming services, and so forth. Now just imagine your SIM card in the wrong hands even for a few minutes. It could give the offender a chance to access all your accounts.
If your SIM card has a good amount of airtime (main credit balance) or if you are a postpaid user, the thief can use your SIM card to make calls and texts, charging everything from your account. Once you lose the SIM card to the wrong person, they may impersonate you as well, which could land you in big trouble. It may also happen that the culprit calls your carrier’s Customer Care executive posing as you and gets your private information out of them.
What to do when a SIM card is lost or stolen?
It is recommended to immediately call the Customer Support personnel when you no longer have your SIM card. Alternatively, visit your mobile network provider’s nearest outlet. In both cases, you must report you no longer own a SIM card. This lets you get your SIM card blocked instantly so that it becomes useless and nobody could make unauthorized access. After that, get a new SIM card with the same mobile phone number, whether from the outlet or to your doorstep.
We presume SIM was inside a phone. Hence, notify a local police station or cybercrime branch so that the phone can be traced down as soon as possible. Even if the phone or the SIM card is stolen late at night or early in the morning, you can call your carrier’s 24×7 helpline number, since most offer that option.
How to secure your SIM card
SIM card security is of the utmost importance in the digital world but is nonetheless pushed aside. The screen lock or the phone lock is the most widely used protection, but people forget that it doesn’t secure the SIM card. As soon as the SIM card is out of the phone, it is completely vulnerable and unsecured. To protect your SIM card, use the SIM lock function, which protects your SIM card with a 4 to 8 digit PIN of your choice.
When you use the SIM lock feature for the first time, it will ask for the default PIN set up by your mobile network carrier. Generally, it is 0000, 1234, or 1111, but don’t take a stab in the dark if you can’t confirm that somehow. That’s because you only have three attempts to punch in the right code. After three continuous wrong tries, your SIM card will be locked, and it will only unlock with a PUK code. It is better to ask the customer service representative or visit the official website than to enter it incorrectly and put a padlock, so to say.
To keep it truly secure, the SIM card PIN must be hard to guess for others, but easy for you to remember. Once the new, complicated number is configured, your SIM card is well protected. Now, even if the SIM card falls into the wrong hands, that person cannot misuse your SIM card no matter the device they put it in.
Things to keep in mind to protect SIM cards
In the present day, your SIM card is not only a tool to make calls, send texts, and use data. Your phone number is the most important form of security, too. Because it’s tied to your SIM card, it has a primary role in protecting all the user accounts you have across platforms. Therefore, you should undertake extra measures besides PIN. Here are several noteworthy actions you should or shouldn’t take to protect your SIM card:
- Don’t give the SIM card to anybody, known or not. Even if the person is a phone technician or works for your carrier, if the problem is isolated to the device, take the SIM card out first.
- Report the lost or stolen SIM immediately and block it instantly, as we demonstrated.
- If you plan to get rid of it, it’s always better to destroy a SIM card instead. That way nobody else can use it for regular functionality, and malicious people can’t extract your SIM data from the chip.
- A few minutes of unlocked phone or SIM card are enough to breach your security. Lock your phone whenever it’s away from sight.
- Don’t give confidential information over the call or SMS to an unknown person. They could be a hacker posing as your bank manager or mobile network representative.
- Lock the SIM card with a strong PIN.
SIM cards are not that secure by default. However, the new generation SIM cards are much better at it. The biggest responsibility in terms of protection lies with the owner of the SIM card. Even experienced culprits will struggle to do bad deeds with a SIM card if it isn’t with them physically. That’s why you should always keep the SIM card shielded, both while out and about and through software or firmware.