Emerging threats abusing phone numbers exploiting cross-platform features
Srishti Gupta · 2016 IEEE/ACM International Conference on Advances in Social Networks Analysis and Mining (ASONAM) · 2016
Phone number, a unique identifier has emerged as an important Personally Identifiable Information (PII) in the last few years. Other PII like e-mail and online identity have been exploited in the past to launch phishing and spam attacks against them. The reach and security of a phone number provide a genuine advantage over e-mail or online identity, making it the most vulnerable attack vector. In this work, we explore the emerging threats that abuse phone numbers by exploiting cross-platform features. Given that phone number space hasn't been extensively studied in the past, there is a dire need to understand the threat landscape and develop solutions to prevent its abuse.