Gemalto SIM Card Producer Reports Many Hack Attempts ‘Over the Years’

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — International SIM card producer Gemalto, who was allegedly hacked by the US National Security Agency (NSA) and the UK Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), has experienced many hacking attempts against their systems in the past, according to a company press release on Friday.

“Gemalto, the world leader in digital security, is especially vigilant against malicious hackers, and has detected, logged and mitigated many types of attempts over the years,” the press release said. “At present we cannot prove a link between those past attempts and what was reported yesterday.”

Gemalto explained that it is unable to verify the NSA-GCHQ hack at present, but it intends to conduct a thorough investigation.

“There have been many reported state sponsored attacks as of late, that all have gained attention both in the media and amongst businesses, this truly emphasizes how serious cyber security is in this day and age,” the press release said.

On Thursday, The Intercept online publication wrote that in 2010 and 2011, a joint GCHQ and NSA unit hacked SIM card encryption keys engraved in Gemalto and possibly other SIM card vendors. The details of the breach were discovered in a secret 2010 GCHQ document given to The Intercept by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Gemalto is a Netherlands-based company that produces SIM cards for major mobile operators, including AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon and Sprint.