Oops! Glitch Makes Your Calls, Texts an Open Book

A security flaw in a system used by cellphone carriers around the world could let anyone eavesdrop on your calls and read your text messages.

The Berlin-based Security Research Lab, which discovered the flaws in August, says it opens the door to wide-ranging surveillance by any skilled person who could easily listen in on the phone calls or see the text messages and data traffic of billions of people.

The lab communicated its findings to cellphone companies earlier this month, the Washington Post reported.

According to the report, the Groupe Speciale Mobile Association, the global cellular operators' body, has already recommended security precautions to its membership.

Using applications that encrypt calls, messages and emails will allow users to protect themselves, the lab says.

Karsten Nohl, the researcher who discovered the flaw, will release full details at a hacker conference next week in Hamburg, Germany.