SIM Swapping Attack
An attack in which the attacker uses social engineering or carrier vulnerabilities to transfer the victim's phone number to a SIM card under the attacker's control, thereby intercepting SMS verification codes and bypassing SMS-based multi-factor authentication.
Core Facts
Timeline (last 90 days)
SMS verification codes may be subject to SIM swap attacks, so TOTP or hardware keys should be preferred for airline accounts.
Security experts generally recommend prioritizing authenticator apps or hardware keys, because SMS verification codes may be subject to SIM-swap attacks.
For education accounts, it is recommended to prioritize enabling MFA based on an authenticator app (such as TOTP) or a hardware security key rather than relying only on SMS verification codes, because SMS can be subject to SIM swap attacks.
All Facts (3)
Security experts generally recommend prioritizing authenticator apps or hardware keys, because SMS verification codes may be subject to SIM-swap attacks.
65%UnverifiedSMS verification codes may be subject to SIM swap attacks, so TOTP or hardware keys should be preferred for airline accounts.
50%UnverifiedFor education accounts, it is recommended to prioritize enabling MFA based on an authenticator app (such as TOTP) or a hardware security key rather than relying only on SMS verification codes, because SMS can be subject to SIM swap attacks.
50%