How to Detect SIM Card Swapping in Android & iOS Apps

Last updated July 29, 2024 by Appdome

This Knowledge Base article describes how to use Appdome’s AI/ML in your CI/CD pipeline to continuously deliver plugins that Detect SIM Swap in Mobile apps.

What is a SIM Swap Attack?

A SIM swap attack is a form of identity theft where cybercriminals trick a cellular service provider into transferring a victim’s service to a SIM card under their control. This allows the attacker to hijack the victim’s phone number and intercept texts and calls, including crucial password recovery and account verification codes. The primary objective of SIM swapping is to exploit two-factor authentication to gain unauthorized access to sensitive accounts like banking or social media.

Why Detecting SIM Card Swapping is Vital ?

Each SIM card has a unique identifier, which mobile networks use to deliver services and communications to the correct device. In a SIM swap scenario, the victim’s cellular account gets linked to a different SIM card, diverting all incoming network traffic to the attacker. This kind of attack is a significant threat because it can bypass two-factor authentication, rendering standard security measures ineffective. Appdome’s ‘Detect SIM Swap’ feature is designed to detect the presence of a SIM swap within a mobile application and send a threat event notification to the app developer. This early detection is fundamental in enabling a prompt response to potential security breaches. This is especially important for apps that handle financial transactions or personal data, where the consequences of unauthorized access can be severe. Detecting SIM swaps in real time helps maintain the integrity of the user’s mobile experience and trust in the application’s security protocols.

Note: If you receive the following message, please ensure to add the following permissions to your app.

App Without Read Phone State Permission

Prerequisites for Using Appdome's Detect SIM Swap Plugins:

To use Appdome’s mobile app security build system to Detect SIM Swap , you’ll need:

How to Implement Detect SIM Swap in Mobile Apps Using Appdome

On Appdome, follow these 3 simple steps to create self-defending Mobile Apps that Detect SIM Swap without an SDK or gateway:

  1. Designate the Mobile App to be protected.

    1. Upload an app via the Appdome Mobile Defense platform GUI or via Appdome’s DEV-API or CI/CD Plugins.

    2. Mobile App Formats: .ipa for iOS, or .apk or .aab for Android
    3. Detect SIM Swap is compatible with: Obj-C, Java, JS, C#, C++, Swift, Kotlin, Flutter, React Native, Unity, Xamarin, and more.
  2. Select the defense: Detect SIM Swap.

      1. Create and name the Fusion Set (security template) that will contain the Detect SIM Swap feature as shown below:
        fusion set that contains Detect SIM Swap .

        Figure 1: Fusion Set that will contain the Detect SIM Swap feature
        Note: Naming the Fusion Set to correspond to the protection(s) selected is for illustration purposes only (not required).

      2. Follow the steps in Sections 2.2-2.2.2 of this article to add the Detect SIM Swap feature to your Fusion Set via the Appdome Console.

      3. When you select the Detect SIM Swap you'll notice that the Fusion Set you created in step 2.1 now bears the icon of the protection category that contains Detect SIM Swap.

        Fusion Set applied Detect SIM Swap

        Figure 2: Fusion Set that displays the newly added Detect SIM Swap protection
        Note: Annotating the Fusion Set to identify the protection(s) selected is optional only (not mandatory).

      4. Open the Fusion Set Detail Summary by clicking the “...” symbol on the far-right corner of the Fusion Set. Copy the Fusion Set ID from the Fusion Set Detail Summary (as shown below): fusion Set Detail Summary image

        Figure 3: Fusion Set Detail Summary

      5. Follow the instructions below to use the Fusion Set ID inside any standard mobile DevOps or CI/CD toolkit like Bitrise, Jenkins, Travis, Team City, Circle CI or other system:
        1. Refer to the Appdome API Reference Guide for API building instructions.
        2. Look for sample APIs in Appdome’s GitHub Repository.
    1. Add the Detect SIM Swap feature to your security template.

      1. Navigate to Build > Anti Fraud tab > Social Engineering Prevention section in the Appdome Console.
      2. Toggle On > Detect SIM Swap.

        (a) Choose to monitor this attack vector by checking the Threat Events checkbox associated with Detect SIM Swap as shown below.

        (b) To receive mobile Threat Monitoring, check the ThreatScope™ box as shown below. For more details, see our knowledge base article on ThreatScope™ Mobile XDR.
        Detect SIM Swap option

        Figure 4: Selecting Detect SIM Swap

        Note: The Appdome Platform displays the Mobile Operation Systems supported by each defense in real-time. For more details, see our OS Support Policy KB.

      3. Select the Threat-Event™ in-app mobile Threat Defense and Intelligence policy for Detect SIM Swap:
        1. Threat-Events™ OFF > In-App Defense

          If the Threat-Events™ setting is not selected. Appdome will detect and defend the user and app by enforcing SIM Swap.

        2. Threat-Events™ ON > In-App Detection

          When this setting is used, Appdome detects the presence of SIM card swapping and passes Appdome’s Threat-Event™ attack intelligence to the app’s business logic for processing, enforcement, and user notification. For more information on consuming and using Appdome Threat-Events™ in the app, see section Using Threat-Events™ to Detect SIM SwapDetect Intelligence and Control in Mobile Apps.

        3. Threat-Events™ ON > In-App Defense

          When this setting is used, Appdome detects and defends against SIM Swap (same as Appdome Enforce) and passes Appdome’s Threat-Event™ attack intelligence to the app’s business logic for processing. For more information on consuming and using Appdome Threat-Events™ in the app, see section Using Threat-Events™ for Detect SIM SwapDetect Intelligence and Control in Mobile Apps.

      4. Configure the User Experience Options for Detect SIM Swap:
        With Threat-Events™ OFF, Appdome provides several user experience options for mobile brands and developers.
        1. App Compromise Notification: Customize the pop-up or toast Appdome uses to notify the user when a threat is present while using the protected mobile app.
        2. Short message Option. This is available for mobile devices that allow a banner notification for security events.
        3. Localized Message Option. Allows Appdome users to support global languages in security notifications.

          Localized Message

          Figure 5: Default User Experience Options for Appdome’s SIM Swap

        4. Detect SIM Swap Threat Code™. Appdome uses AI/ML to generate a unique code each time Detect SIM Swap is triggered by an active threat on the mobile device. Use the code in Appdome Threat Resolution Center™ to help end users identify, find and resolve active threats on the personal mobile devices.
    2. Initiate the build command either by clicking Build My App at the bottom of the Build Workflow (shown in Figure 4) or via your CI/CD as described in Section 2.1.4.
    Congratulations!  The Detect SIM Swap protection is now added to the mobile app
  3. Certify the Detect SIM Swap feature in Mobile Apps

    After building Detect SIM Swap, Appdome generates a Certified Secure™ certificate to guarantee that the Detect SIM Swap protection has been added and is protecting the app. To verify that the Detect SIM Swap protection has been added to the mobile app, locate the protection in the Certified Secure™ certificate as shown below: Detect SIM Swap shown in Certificate secure

    Figure 6: Certified Secure™ certificate

    Each Certified Secure™ certificate provides DevOps and DevSecOps organizations the entire workflow summary, audit trail of each build, and proof of protection that Detect SIM Swap has been added to each Mobile app. Certified Secure provides instant and in-line DevSecOps compliance certification that Detect SIM Swap and other mobile app security features are in each build of the mobile app.

Using Threat-Events™ for SIM Swap Intelligence and Control in Mobile Apps

Appdome Threat-Events™ provides consumable in-app mobile app attack intelligence and defense control when SIM Swap is detected. To consume and use Threat-Events™ for SIM Swap in Mobile Apps, use AddObserverForName in Notification Center, and the code samples for Threat-Events™ for SIM Swap shown below.

The specifications and options for Threat-Events™ for SIM Swap are:

Threat-Event™ Elements Detect SIM Swap Method Detail
Appdome Feature Name Detect SIM Swap
Threat-Event Mode
OFF, IN-APP DEFENSE Appdome detects, defends and notifies user (standard OS dialog) using customizable messaging.
ON, IN-APP DETECTION Appdome detects the attack or threat and passes the event in a standard format to the app for processing (app chooses how and when to enforce).
ON, IN-APP DEFENSE Uses Appdome Enforce mode for any attack or threat and passes the event in a standard format to the app for processing (gather intel on attacks and threats without losing any protection).
Certified Secure™ Threat Event Check
Visible in ThreatScope™
Developer Parameters for Detecting SIM Swap Threat-Event™
Threat-Event NAME SimStateInfo
Threat-Event DATA reasonData
Threat-Event CODE reasonCode
Threat-Event REF 6801
Threat-Event SCORE
currentThreatEventScore Current Threat-Event score
threatEventsScore Total Threat-events score
Threat-Event Context Keys
message Message displayed for the user on event
failSafeEnforce Timed enforcement against the identified threat
externalID The external ID of the event which can be listened via Threat Events
osVersion OS version of the current device
deviceModel Current device model
deviceManufacturer The manufacturer of the current device
fusedAppToken The task ID of the Appdome fusion of the currently running app
kernelInfo Info about the kernel: system name, node name, release, version and machine.
carrierPlmn PLMN of the device. Only available for Android devices.
deviceID Current device ID
reasonCode Reason code of the occurred event
buildDate Appdome fusion date of the current application
devicePlatform OS name of the current device
carrierName Carrier name of the current device. Only available for Android.
updatedOSVersion Is the OS version up to date
deviceBrand Brand of the device
deviceBoard Board of the device
buildUser Build user
buildHost Build host
sdkVersion Sdk version
timeZone Time zone
deviceFaceDown Is the device face down
locationLong Location longitude conditioned by location permission
locationLat Location latitude conditioned by location permission
locationState Location state conditioned by location permission
wifiSsid Wifi SSID
wifiSsidPermissionStatus Wifi SSID permission status
threatCode The last six characters of the threat code specify the OS, allowing the Threat Resolution Center to address the attack on the affected device.

With Threat-Events™ enabled (turned ON), Mobile developers can get detailed attack intelligence and granular defense control in Mobile applications and create amazing user experiences for all mobile end users when SIM Swap is detected.


The following is a code sample for native Mobile apps, which uses all values in the specification above for Detect SIM Swap:


Important! Replace all placeholder instances of <Context Key> with the specific name of your threat event context key across all language examples. This is crucial to ensure your code functions correctly with the intended event data. For example, The <Context Key> could be the message, externalID, OS Version, reason code, etc.



Using Appdome, there are no development or coding prerequisites to build secured Mobile Apps by using Detect SIM Swap. There is no SDK and no library to code or implement in the app and no gateway to deploy in your network. All protections are built into each app and the resulting app is self-defending and self-protecting.

Releasing and Publishing Mobile Apps with Detect SIM Swap

After successfully securing your app by using Appdome, there are several available options to complete your project, depending on your app lifecycle or workflow. These include:

Related Articles:

How to Prevent Social Engineering Attacks in Android & iOS Apps

How to Prevent Vishing Fraud in Android & iOS Apps

How to Block Remote Desktop Exploits in iOS Apps

How to Block Remote Desktop Exploits in Android Apps

Key Data Fields Explained for SIM and Carrier Queries

Below is an explanation of key data fields that Appdome uses to monitor and manage SIM and carrier-related queries:

Common Fields (iOS and Android):

  • “carrierChangeDetected”: Indicates whether a change in the carrier has been detected. “True” if a change was detected, “False” if no change was detected.
  • “carrierName”: The name of the primary network carrier for the device.
  • “carrierIsoCountryCode”: The ISO country code representing the country of the carrier.
  • “secondaryCarriers”: A comma-separated list of names of secondary carriers detected on the device.
  • “secondaryCarriersCount”: The number of secondary carriers detected, represented as a string.
  • “carrierPlmn”: The Public Land Mobile Network identifier associated with the carrier.

iOS-Specific Fields:

  • “simAllowsVoip” indicates whether the SIM card allows VoIP services. “True” indicates allowed, and “False” indicates not allowed. Common examples of VoIP apps include Skype, WhatsApp, Viber, Google Hangouts, Facebook Messenger, etc.

Android-Specific Fields:

  • “simSubscriptionId”: Identifier associated with the mobile subscription linked to the SIM.
  • “simPhoneNumber”: The phone number associated with the SIM.
  • “simState”: Describes the current state of the SIM card, with values such as:
    “ABSENT” No SIM card is present (more info).
    “READY” SIM card is ready for use (more info).
    “NOT_READY” SIM card is present but not ready for use (more info).
    SIM_STATE_UNKNOWN signifies that the SIM is in transition between states (more info)
  • “permissionState” indicates whether the mobile app user has granted, denied, or not requested permission for the SIM Swap detection to run on their device.

FAQ

    1. Question: In the case of an actual SIM swap, how does Appdome perform the detection?
      We are checking to see if the SIM state has changed. In case of a SIM swap, the provider is expected to cancel the current SIM card. This will trigger a change in the SIM state, and a dev event will be sent to the app if it is running.
    2. Do we support virtual and physical SIM Cards?
      Yes, we support both. 
    3. Do we support multiple SIMs?
      Yes, we support multiple SIMs. When multiple SIM cards are present, Appdome identifies the SIM designated for calls or SMS as the primary SIM. The name of the carrier for the secondary SIM is listed under “secondaryCarriers” (separated by commas), and the “secondaryCarriersCount” indicates the total number of secondary SIM cards.
    4. Will Appdome detect if I change my SIM card?
      Yes, Appdome will detect any change made to the SIM state.
    5. What actions should the app take following a detection?
      Following detection, the app processes the event and the unique “deviceID” that Appdome provides. This information, combined with user data such as the account ID, helps in assessing the risk of a potential SIM swap attack.

How Do I Learn More?

If you have any questions, please send them our way at support.appdome.com or via the chat window on the Appdome platform.

Thank you!

Thanks for visiting Appdome! Our mission is to secure every app on the planet by making mobile app security easy. We hope we’re living up to the mission with your project.

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