Log in to your IBTimes Account

close
ID
Password

Cheap Chinese mobile phones pose threat to India



By Staff Reporter
28 September 2008 @ 3:23 pm IST

New Delhi - Cheap Chinese mobile phones are posing as a security threat to India as unlike proper, branded handsets, these duplicate copies have fake International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number. They are also eating into earnings of branded manufacturers and posing as health risk to users.


Kashmiri villagers take photographs with their mobile phones in a village near Srinagar
Kashmiri villagers take photographs with their mobile phones in a village near Srinagar. Cheap Chinese mobile phones are posing as a security threat to India as unlike proper, branded handsets, these duplicate copies have fake International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number. They are also eating into earnings of branded manufacturers and posing as health risk to users. (AP Photo)
1 of 1

advertisement

According to a government source, the Intelligence Bureau (IB), which is investigating the recent terrorist attacks that took place in India, fake IMEI numbers make it almost impossible for the law enforcement agencies and investigators to track down suspicious calls.

"SIM card details can be traced from a mobile phone only if it has a valid IMEI number," a government official said, on conditions of anonymity.

"An IMEI number consists of 15-17 digits. Genuine branded phones carry valid IMEI numbers. When the SIM card in a mobile phone gets activated, the IMEI number gets automatically registered with the GSM service provider and it becomes possible to trace a call and find out the caller's identity and the location from where the call was made," the official said.

By using the IMEI number, the security agencies not only can block the handset, but also retrieve call details from the recovered handset.

Even CDMA mobile phones have an electronic serial number equivalent to the IMEI number in GSM mobile phones.

This article is copyrighted by Ibtimes.co.in.

    Click!
  • Rate this article:

Comments

Post Your Comment

You must be an IBTimes member to post a comment. Login | Register


advertisement
More Technology News
Nine telecoms firms have applied to bid for third-generation (3G) mobile spectrum in India in an April auction, the government said after the end of the ...
The chief executive of LG Electronics Inc said competition in the TV business was expected to intensify as Japanese rivals such as Sony Corp and Panasoni...
As if a Porsche isn't enough of a status symbol, the German luxury sports car company's subsidiary, Porsche Design, is marketing a mobile phone that's ex...

advertisement
 
IBTimes.co.in Web
 
International Business Times© 2010 The Ibtimes Company. All Rights Reserved. Partners