13033: Security vulnerability detected - What to do to protect ourselves

There is a risk of personal data being intercepted with a "tool" the five-digit number «13033» for the movement of citizens during the curfew due coronavirus.

Σaccording to the cybersecurity company TwelveSec, the security loophole at "13033", can be used by criminals to deceive the public.

The problem with the SMS in the number "13033" highlights in an article of the newspaper "Free Press", Which presents the report of the cybersecurity company and states in this regard:

The problem lies in its technology GSM network, through which the reply SMS are sent from the five-digit number to confirm the movement of citizens. However, this weakness does not only concern Greece, but all the countries that have corresponding text messaging platforms and have been known for the last 20 years. In this context, TwelveSec emphasizes that the competent authorities responsible for the operation of the 13033 service should launch an information "campaign" that will educate as many citizens as possible about the potential dangers of malicious actions.

The officials of the Ministry of Digital Governance, admit that there is this risk, however it is something they can not face, as it is issue of mobile providers. The same sources warn the citizens pointing out that they should be very careful in the messages they receive and add that 13033 has a very specific function, which is limited to the confirmation sent for the movements.

"Under no circumstances will the five-digit number send a message to the General Secretariat for Civil Protection, nor will it ever ask citizens to enter a link," ministry circles said.

In the same vein, the cyber security company emphasizes that "the public should be informed that they should never visit URLs received from 13033 and that 13033 will not send them messages asking them to pay fines or ask them to take any action ".

What to do if you receive such a message

At the same time, it calls on citizens in case they receive such messages to ignore them and inform the competent authorities. For their part, cell phone providers say that bulk SMS applications are more "vulnerable" to malware, but it is practically difficult to cheat through messages as users who do so can be detected.

However, cybersecurity experts point out to "ET" that the solution to the problem can only be given by the mobile telephony companies, upgrading their networks, a fact which of course has the corresponding cost.

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