Voicemail hacking and the 'phone hacking' scandal - how it worked

A few people have asked me to explain what the whole phone hacking thing means. The first thing to mention is that the phone hacking episode has nothing at all to do with actual 'phone' hacking. It is actually illicit voicemail access. Access can be gained by using some technical knowledge and or tools, but on the whole it is through system and process weaknesses.

The second thing to mention is, this is a very long blog post. So either go and make yourself a coffee before reading this, or if you don't have time, read the really quick short version of this I've created.

It's quite clear from the press and revelations that illicit voicemail access has been a practice which has been exercised for a long time. I was speaking to a former journalist last night who told me of a private detective who would run through a checklist in a real matter-of-fact way - "so we'll do the bins, do the phones". The prices quoted were extremely low too.

Attack mechanisms

What I've tried to do is break down some of the methods to access the voicemail a bit. I should also add that nearly all of these methods and avenues of attack have been shutdown by the mobile operators, although as you will see in one case, issues remained in March of this year.

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