Gemalto
More info
- Released
- 2006
- Type
- Smart cards and SIM cards
- Owner
- Thales (from 2019)
The world's largest SIM card maker, and for exactly that reason an obvious target for spy agencies.
Gemalto was formed in 2006 when Axalto, a Franco-Dutch spin-off from Schlumberger, merged with Gemplus. It made billions of SIM cards, bank cards and e-passports a year, and the secret key each SIM shares with its carrier was written in at the factory.
Which is why NSA and GCHQ wanted in. Documents leaked by Edward Snowden showed in 2015 that the two agencies had stolen such keys on a large scale, making it possible to listen in on mobile traffic without the carrier noticing. Gemalto played down the damage. Thales bought the company in 2019.