Your phone is not as secure as you think.
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN commenters cite it as a concrete demonstration that SS7 access lets attackers track phones and intercept SMS codes, to argue against SMS-based 2FA and to support claims about telecom insecurity.
Recommended by 0 people across 0 different months, 2025 to 2026.
What it is
Derek Muller of Veritasium explains how the SS7 telephone signalling protocol works and why it is vulnerable, then demonstrates with Linus Sebastian's consent how a hacker with SS7 access can track his location and intercept his texts. It also covers the history of the phone network and ends with advice on protecting yourself.
Cited in 1 Wikipedia article, including Signalling System No. 7.
What people said
Cites amiga386 · 2025-01 · Hacker News · on “More telcos confirm Salt Typhoon breaches as White House weighs in”
You may not have seen it, but do you care to explain this Veritasium video of 3 months ago where they specifically gain (not entirely legal) access to the SS7 network to hack Linus Sebastian's phone? [this video] Are you saying the SS7 messages they're looking at of a Canadian telephone subscriber just aren't there? And this is the EFF saying in July 2024 that the FCC should really make telcos address vulnerabilities in SS7: [LINK] Are you saying they're just wrong, those SS7 networks don't exist in the USA? I mean, the article links the FCC request-for-comment on SS7 networks. Just as a quote: [LINK] The Signaling System 7 (SS7) and Diameter protocols play a critical role in U.S. telecommunicati
Cites Joel_Mckay · 2025-01 · Hacker News · on “Launch HN: Karsa (YC W25) – Buy and save stablecoins internationally”
Keep in mind any centralized authority is subject to disclosure laws like the patriot act. i.e. people can jack your phone/sms line for around $23, or access any email server on US soil for free. [this video] This is why 2FA is actually more dangerous in some situations.
Cites welder · 2025-11 · Hacker News · on “Europe to decide if 6 GHz is shared between Wi-Fi and cellular networks”
No, I'm talking about anyone with SS7 access basically has root on the whole network and can query for locations of any phone number anonymously... no audit trail, no access control. [LINK] [this video]
Cites _rtff · 2026-09 · Hacker News · on “How Trail of Bits helps verify the integrity of Signal chats”
It is possible to intercept text messages and phone calls in such a way that the recipient never even knows a text message or phone call was sent to them in the first place. SMS is an extremely insecure channel for handling authentication codes. [this video]