Is your mobile SIM a threat to India's national security?

Your SIM card could be a major threat for national security. The threat is witnessed as Software embedded into the SIM turns it into a minicomputer, which can cause a lot of abuse. Almost 700 million SIM card users in the country may have malevolent embedded software and it can put India's security agencies in a trouble. The risk arises mostly form the imported SIM cards.

The matter has gone to the ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).According to a government source, at present, only 30 percent of the total volume of SIM cards is imported. The MHA asked the telecom industry to replace such imported SIM cards in the country with locally manufactured ones at their own cost. It has also notified DoT to remove all the fake and duplicate IMEI numbers.

The ministry feels that although domestic telecom service providers personalize the SIMs, which reduce the risk, the security threat gets aggravated as telcos then provide the encryption keys to the manufacturing facility outside India, as part of standard trade practice.

Now, after the current revelations, the security agencies are taking initiative on this matter. They are suggesting that only blank SIM card will be allowed to import. The personalized process of the SIM will done by domestic firms.