Duplicate SIM?

[Muse]

I have had a Lumia 520 Windows Phone for over two years, just bought a Lumia 640 LTE, which has better features, double the RAM (so can support Windows 10), but is significantly bigger and heavier. I unlocked it off the bat because I figure to travel and that it would be better for it to be unlocked for travel (prepaid SIM in Europe or something).

The whole time I've been on an Airvoice Wireless AT&T MVNO $10/month plan, I have a lot of minutes built up, don't use much data.

I think I probably have the upgrade pretty much working, it's early, there's probably some issues outstanding.

I moved the Airvoice Wireless AT&T SIM from the 520 to the 640.

Now, I can still use the 520 for music, and I presume for GPS. I say this because the 640 is significantly bigger and heavier than the 520 and I can envision wanting at times to use the 520 instead. The problem, I figure, is that if I do that I won't have cellular data usage on the 520 since it doesn't have a SIM card in it. If I want the cellular in the 520, I'd have to shut down both phones, open them up, remove their batteries, then move the SIM card. And, of course, to get cellular back on the 640 I'd have to reverse that entire process... = FAIRLY A HASSLE.

So, I call Airvoice a few minutes ago, finally get the CSR to understand my dilemma (for a while she was resistant to getting the concept), and I ask what if I get another SIM card from them? The fee online is $5, free shipping.

She tells me that I'd need a separate account, with its own fees and a new phone number for the 2nd SIM. Now, I don't much use the phone aspect of these, I give out my land line number, rarely my cell number so that's not so much the issue, but I don't really want to pay monthly fees twice (i.e. two plans).

So, here's my question: What if I call them and say I lost the first SIM, or the phone or stepped on the SIM or something and need a replacement? Could I put the replacement in the other phone and essentially have both phones using the same account? How would they know? Would this work?

 

[thesmokingman]

The SIM cards are serialized. There can only be one.

 

[stlc8tr]

You can always try cloning your SIM.

Not a simple process though, from what I understand.

 

[thesmokingman]

You can always try cloning your SIM.

Not a simple process though, from what I understand.

It's real real f en hard to clone modern sims not to mention being illegal (federally as well), and if it fails you hose your sim. It's hilarious in shows like Person of Interest because they make it look like it takes seconds to do.

 

[sweenish]

It's real real f en hard to clone modern sims not to mention being illegal (federally as well), and if it fails you hose your sim. It's hilarious in shows like Person of Interest because they make it look like it takes seconds to do.

I don't ever recall Person of Interest cloning a SIM. Tangent, but still.

 

[stlc8tr]

I don't ever recall Person of Interest cloning a SIM. Tangent, but still.

POI is always showing Reese (or someone else) getting close to a target's phone and then "cloning" it so they can listen in on their calls.

But back to the topic on hand, I've never tried cloning a SIM but I can imagine that the carriers have decent security measures in place. There are a bunch of links that come up if you Google. Some of them even seem legit.

 

[thesmokingman]

I don't ever recall Person of Interest cloning a SIM. Tangent, but still.

They do it almost every episode. Clone that phone, then they can listen in on the mark's calls and receive the texts. It's a hilarious show in that respect, but I still watch it lol.


http://www.computerworld.com/articl...are-you-being-watched-----by-your-phone-.html

The show is about a lot of things. It's a detective thriller, a bromance, a shoot-em-up action show. It's about espionage, government snooping and machine consciousness. But mostly, it's a show about cellphones.

Characters in the movie routinely "clone" cellphones

 

[sweenish]

Force bluetooth pairing is what they're doing. The phone screen says as much nearly every episode. Reese has to stay close, and Finch is able to listen in through Reese.

POI does do stuff that's not realistic, but the forced bluetooth pairing is not too far from reality.

As for the topic, it's dumb. As has been said, SIM cards are serial by nature. Either get another line with a new SIM, or just use the one phone. Another "possible" solution would to get a data-only SIM.

 

[thesmokingman]

Force bluetooth pairing is what they're doing. The phone screen says as much nearly every episode. Reese has to stay close, and Finch is able to listen in through Reese.

POI does do stuff that's not realistic, but the forced bluetooth pairing is not too far from reality.

As for the topic, it's dumb. As has been said, SIM cards are serial by nature. Either get another line with a new SIM, or just use the one phone. Another "possible" solution would to get a data-only SIM.

They use the idea of bluejacking/snarfing or whatever blues as the principle of the hack but you can't monitor calls and receive texts w/o cloning the phone/sim.

 

[stlc8tr]

Force bluetooth pairing is what they're doing. The phone screen says as much nearly every episode. Reese has to stay close, and Finch is able to listen in through Reese.

POI does do stuff that's not realistic, but the forced bluetooth pairing is not too far from reality.

Ah, that's right. I guess it's been awhile since I've seen an episode.

I did just do a quick Google on bluejacking, bluesnarfing, and bluebugging. It seems most of the BT bugs were ironed out by 2004 so it's doubtful that any smart phone is susceptible nowadays.

But I guess it's more believable than some of the other stuff on the show.

 

[sweenish]

I don't recall early episodes where they first started doing it, so I guess my specifics are hazy.

But if this sort of thing is trivial to anyone, I guess it would be for the guy that single-handedly created a true AI.

Anyways, I'm sad that this is the final season, but glad they get to end it on their terms.

I guess the topic can proceed, now.

 

[Muse]

Force bluetooth pairing is what they're doing. The phone screen says as much nearly every episode. Reese has to stay close, and Finch is able to listen in through Reese.

POI does do stuff that's not realistic, but the forced bluetooth pairing is not too far from reality.

As for the topic, it's dumb. As has been said, SIM cards are serial by nature. Either get another line with a new SIM, or just use the one phone. Another "possible" solution would to get a data-only SIM.

OK, never heard of those. So, there would be no phone number associated. Hmm. :\ I suppose I'd still need a separate account?

Anyway, I guess I'll maybe just get used to using the larger phone. I can still take the 520 with me when I'm pretty sure all I'll want is the MP3 playing ability and GPS. That's a lot of the time. Making calls is something I do only occasionally. I don't give out my cell number, almost never! I use data for weather reports, mostly. That's mostly it IIRC. I'm really not trying to scam anybody, I thought it was a legit question.

All that TV stuff was news to me, I never watch that stuff.

 

[thesmokingman]

I'm really not trying to scam anybody, I thought it was a legit question.

All that TV stuff was news to me, I never watch that stuff.

Yea, not implying you were but this area is very security sensitive. It's big big stuff to the feds and the sims are specially encrypted. Hackers want the encryption keys to sim cards like the holy grail. This is NSA type stuff.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2886...edly-hacked-encryption-of-sim-card-maker.html

The Gemalto hack, by the U.S. National Security Agency and the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), allowed the two spy agencies to monitor a large portion of the world’s mobile phone voice and data traffic

 

[stlc8tr]

No idea if this side channel attack to clone a SIM is legit but it sure seems convincing.

https://www.blackhat.com/docs/us-15...cope-Lessons-Learned-In-Physical-Security.pdf

 

[thesmokingman]

lol second page of that has Snowden's face plastered all over it!

 

[Muse]

Yea, not implying you were but this area is very security sensitive. It's big big stuff to the feds and the sims are specially encrypted. Hackers want the encryption keys to sim cards like the holy grail. This is NSA type stuff.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2886...edly-hacked-encryption-of-sim-card-maker.html

Yeah, I get it... I had no clue, but this thread opened another door. Someone with a SIM identical to mine (or someone else's) presumably would have a door into their information. Serious security concern, obviously. In my case, it's my own data, I didn't consider any security implications.