Voicemail Hacking In Thailand?

[george]

With reference to the Murdoch Voicemail hacking scandal abroad where they apparently used easy voicemail PINs/passwords:

Are you guys using Voicemail in Thailand, and do you protect yourself with a strong PIN? Or are you using the [default] PIN you got from your telecom operator?

In the UK, private investigators and journalists allegedly gained access to voicemail accounts for famous people often by dialling an operator's dedicated voicemail line and then trying the default 4-digit Personal Identification Number (PIN) assigned to the account.

That was highly successful, since few of the victims changed the default PIN. And if they did change it, there was always the possibility of tricking or bribing a customer service representative at the operator into resetting the PIN to the default value.

Source: http://www.computerworlduk.com/news/security/3292248/voicemail-hacking-scandal-forces-response-from-uk-networks/

Personally I have no idea what my Voicemail PIN is, as I long time ago disabled the mediocre voicemail service provided.

[bangkockney]

I don't use voicemail in Thailand.

In the UK where I do have pin-access services, I always change them. Kind of a no brainer, or not as it seems.

I think the article misses the point somewhat; no need to bribe an operator to call and get info when it can be done yourself with social engineering.

Who has ever challenged a call from say a credit card company, who asks you for personal details to verify your identity? Very few people I bet.

[ScubaBuddha]

Who has ever challenged a call from say a credit card company, who asks you for personal details to verify your identity? Very few people I bet.

Er..I thought pretty much everyone did. Maybe not the really really stupid. That's like life 101 stuff.

Edited July 20, 2011 by ScubaBuddha

[Atmos]

not sure if this is for all Nokia models, but the factory default on my Nokia phone is 12345 for all services where a PIN is used.

[bangkockney]

I'll bite. How did you get them to proove their Id before releasing your own personal details?

It's impossible for Data Protection reasons.

Who has ever challenged a call from say a credit card company, who asks you for personal details to verify your identity? Very few people I bet.

Er..I thought pretty much everyone did. Maybe not the really really stupid. That's like life 101 stuff.

[borovik]

Anybody still using answering machines?

My first one - had pin 6digits.Nobody could break it(they tried).Other machines had pin - 3 or 4 digits.

lazy people used pins like:147 or 741 or 759 etc. - very easy to guess.

My last ans machine had pin 2(two)digits,from Panasonic;I dont know what genious in Matsushita came with that idea.

I sold it away,after machine recorded evidence of hack - my so called"friend" tried out my easy to gues pin(only 99 combinations)

and then - tables were turned - his mobile did not hang off - and my machine recorded his conversation

until the end of tape.I had a lot of fun quizing him with details of his 1 hour long comments.

Edited July 21, 2011 by borovik

[Atmos]

Who has ever challenged a call from say a credit card company, who asks you for personal details to verify your identity? Very few people I bet.

Er..I thought pretty much everyone did. Maybe not the really really stupid. That's like life 101 stuff.

I have; my (NZ) bank when I recently changed the account for telegraphic transfers - woman rung wanting to confirm my ID, saying it was bank policy to check any transactions involving Thailand.

Being the cautious type, I wanted to confirm her ID.

Settled on her sending me an email using their secure/log-in email, me sending a response then her calling me back.

On the positive side - at least they're doing their job looking out for potential fraud.

[lomatopo]

Most voicemail services here do not have PINs by default. They simply use the CPID (SIM) as verification. So if someone steals your phone or SIM they can access your voicemail. I know/use the AIS and True systems, and they allow you to enable a separate PIN, which is required when checking vmail from a phone other than yours. Voicemail doesn't seem to be part of the culture here, except perhaps in the business world. Most prefer to call 100's of times, use SMS or call-back/missed call service.

[supashot]

It's no called hacking but phreaking when related to telephony.