hackertube.io

Defcon 21 - The Secret Life of SIM Cards

HackersOnBoard · talk · Watch on YouTube

Security & hackingNetworking & internet infrastructure

What it is

A DEF CON 21 talk by Karl Koscher and Eric Butler on how SIM cards work, including Java Card applets, the SIM toolkit and the OS running on the card. It shows how much control the network and the card have independent of the phone.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN cites it as the go-to overview of what SIM cards can run and do, usually in threads about Java Card, SIM attacks or phone security.

  • 3 people recommended it
  • 3 different months
  • 0 strong recommendations
  • first 2014, last 2026

What HN commenters said

  1. “talks about some of the capabilities of the SIM OS (some of them run Java!)”

    SIM OS capabilities and power over phones from the network.

    adamnew123456, 2021-04 · Recommendation · in “This Blog is now hosted on a GPS/LTE modem”

  2. “This video from defcon gives a good overview of what Java Card applets is”

    Good overview of Java Card applets, limits and capabilities.

    Silasdev, 2021-11 · Recommendation · in “What is AT&T doing at 1111340002?”

  3. “there's also this [2] which seems more thorough so I'm gonna watch it too later”

    More thorough talk on SIM cards.

    comboy, 2021-12 · Recommendation · in “Apple said to be preparing for iPhones without SIM card slot in 2022”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: sim cards, java card, defcon, mobile security, sim toolkit

Also recommended by the same people