China-made SIMs Pose Threat To Indian Telecom And Banking Networks

The National Security Council (NSC) has warned that SIM cards manufactured by Chinese companies could make country's telecom and banking networks vulnerable to security threats. It also called for 100% domestic manufacturing of these cards.

NSC has written a letter to the department of telecom (DoT), and asked it to take immediate measures to ensure that all SIM cards used in the country are manufactured in India. This would prevent sensitive data from being transmitted outside of India.

"Besides SIM card cloning, other security issues that can arise from compromise of keys can be location tracing, call and SMS diversion, copying of data transmitted, remote extraction of network and banking keys," NCS said in its communication.

"With increasing use of mobile phones for various value-added services including mobile banking and payments, the risk of compromise of secret keys is extending to banking and payment infrastructure as well," it added.

It has also proposed that only Indian manufacturers or other suppliers should be allowed to supply SIM cards. Moreover, it should be mandatory for each manufacturer and supplier to obtain a licence for this purpose. About 40% of the SIM cards sold in India are imported, mostly from China.