Exposing The Flaw In Our Phone System

Can you trust your phone? Head to to start your free 30-day trial and get 20% off an annual premium subscription. A huge thank you to Linus Sebastian and the team at Linus Tech Tips - check them out at @LinusTechTips A massive thank you to Alexandre De Oliveira and Karsten Nohl making this demo possible. A special thanks to Crofton Black, Cathal Mc Daid, and James Hobson at Hacksmith Industries. 00:00 I hacked Linus! 00:59 How Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak hacked the telephone network 02:22 Early history of the telephone 07:08 The kidnapping of Sheikha Latifa 08:41 How Signalling System No. 7 works 11:03 Why SS7 is vulnerable to hacking 12:15 How hackers gain access to phones 16:17 How I was able to spy on Linus’ phone 18:09 How hackers can intercept text messages 21:04 How your location can be tracked via SS7 29:03 How to protect your phone from hacking ▀▀▀ Special thanks to our Patreon supporters! Join the community to help us keep our videos free, forever: Adam Foreman, Albert Wenger, Anton Ragin, Balkrishna Heroor, Bertrand Serlet, Bill Linder, Blake Byers, Bruce, Burt Humburg, Dave Kircher, David Johnston, Evgeny Skvortsov, Garrett Mueller, Gnare, gpoly, I. H., Jack Cuprill, John H. Austin, Jr., john kiehl, Juan Benet, KeyWestr, Kyi, Lee Redden, Marinus Kuivenhoven, Matthias Wrobel, Meekay, meg noah, Michael Krugman, Orlando Bassotto, Paul Peijzel, Richard Sundvall, Sam Lutfi, Tj Steyn, TTST, Ubiquity Ventures and wolfee If you’re looking for a molecular modeling kit, try Snatoms, a kit I invented where the atoms snap together magnetically - ▀▀▀ References: Black, C. (2020). Spy companies using Channel Islands to track phones around the world. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism - It is dangerously easy to hack the world’s phones via The Economist - Blake, H. (2023). The Fugitive Princesses of Dubai. The New Yorker - McDaid, C. (2021). How Surveillance Companies Track You Using Mobile Networks. - Engel, T. (2014). SS7: Locate. Track. Manipulate. - Nohl, K. (2014). Mobile self-defense. - How Cell Service Actually Works via WendoverProductions - How Telephone Phreaking Worked via The 8-Bit Guy - Transmission Lines: Part 1 An Introduction via TheSiGuy - The Step-By-Step Switch via AT&T Tech Channel - Hacking Your Phone via 60 Minutes - Rosenbaum, R. (1971). Secrets of the Little Blue Box. The Esquire Magazine - Black, C. et. al. (2023). Ghost in the network. Lighthouse Reports - Kerr, D. (2019). The step-by-step telephone switching system. - Ecall and 2G/3G Network Obsolescence via PFA Plateforme Automobile - Images & Video: All references can be found here: ▀▀▀ Directed by Henry van Dyck Written by Henry van Dyck Edited by Laura Mills Animated by Fabio Albertelli, Ivy Tello, David Szakaly, and Jakub Misiek Filmed by Derek Muller and Linus Media Group Team Additional research by Gabe Bean Produced by Derek Muller, Henry van Dyck, Rob Beasley Spence, Tori Brittain, Emily Lazard, Luke Lewis, Gregor Čavlović, and Emily Zhang Thumbnail contributions by Ren Hurley and Peter Sheppard Additional video/photos supplied by Getty Images and Storyblocks Music from Epidemic Sound