Celebrities Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan are in a well-known feud that now has entered one of my favorite realms, namely VoIP. According to an InfoWorld article, (which Asterisk VoIP News reminded me about), it is alleged that Paris Hilton used a fake Caller ID seller called SpoofCard.com to hack into voicemail accounts on an un-named mobile phone network. Spoofcard.com has suspended her account along with more than 50 others.Apparently, many mobile phone companies, including Cingular Wireless and T-Mobile simply use Caller ID to identify voicemail users without requiring passwords. Have they not heard of CallerID spoofing? Sheesh, they can't even detect that their own customer's mobile phone is dialing into their network and are instead relying on unreliable CallerID info? How pathetic is that? So all you need is a celebrities' mobile phone number and a spoofing CallerID service and then you can access their voicemail.
Interestingly enough, SpoofCard.com leverages the open-source Asterisk IP-PBX to sell US$10, 60-minute calling cards that let users call a toll-free number and type in whatever Caller ID number they want their call to display. Amazing what sort of sexy applications you can do with an Asterisk box. If you don't know what I'm talking about, go check out Nerd Vittles site. He has some interesting Asterisk projects.
Last month the New York Post reported that someone had stolen the password to Lohan's BlackBerry and sent her friends "disgusting and very mean messages that everyone thought were coming from Lindsay." Lohan's representatives hinted that Paris Hilton may have been behind it. What's this world coming to when celebrity divas can hack into other people's phones or computers? Hackers used to be an elite group, now it appears anybody can be a hacker. Of course, the real hackers call people that use well-known exploits or use easy hacking tools "script kiddies" and other not-so-flattering nicknames.
Well Lindsay, if you're looking to get some revenge with Paris, you may be interested in attending Internet Telephony Conference & Expo just 2 months away. Asterisk, the CallerID spoofing enabler will be there, along with hundreds of other VoIP companies. Not to mention all the VoIP geeks and VoIP hackers that will be attending that I am sure will be more than willing to help you get even with Miss Hilton. I'm sure there will be someone there that can help you hack into Paris Hilton's Motorola Gold RAZR or any of her other communications devices.
Not that I'm advocating any sort of criminal behavior or anything. There's nothing wrong with a little tit-for-tat game between two famous Hollywood divas, right? Just some simple pranks. No harm no foul I always say. And if it escalates to an all out cat fight, well, I'm sure people would pay good money to see that on Pay-Per-View - or simply download it on YouTube.com.
]]>