Top secret documents provided by Edward Snowdon reveal that GCHQ and the NSA hacked into the internal computer network of Gemalto, a Dutch multinational reputed to be the largest manufacturer of SIM cards in the world and stole secret encryption keys so that global communications can be monitored according to 'The Intercept': https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/02/19/great-sim-heist/

Gemalto also provides chips for bank cards such as American Express, Mastercard and VISA as well as those used in electronic passports, hardware tokens for securing buildings and offices as well as mobile payment systems, and those used in luxury cars such as Audi and BMW. All these systems have also allegedly been hacked.

Having the wrong SIM card can also make you the unwitting target of a drone strike apparently: https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/02/10/the-nsas-secret-role/

I'm guessing this is the big news that the NSA has been 'bracing for' recently.

It is big news, in fact this is massive. Gemalto products are used everywhere.

I'm guessing this is the big news that the NSA has been 'bracing for' recently.

It is big news, in fact this is massive. Gemalto products are used everywhere.

Yes, indeed. And it looks this morning like Thailand is also one of the victims: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/feb/19/nsa-gchq-sim-card-billions-cellphones-hacking

I wonder is the good PM was a target.

I sense a business opportunity here....stamps, get in the market now before they raise the price....

Did people really expect that regular cell phone calls couldn't be listened in on? I'm pretty surprised this news is a surprise.

This is why if you really want privacy it's best to use an end-to-end encrypted app such as Facetime/iMessage on iOS from Apple. Or Redphone/TextSecure on Android (Signal is the complimentary app on iOS), or another alternative is Surespot on iOS and Android.