AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, Feb. 20, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A publication reported yesterday that in 2010 and 2011, a joint unit composed of operatives from the British GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters) and the American NSA (National Security Agency) hacked SIM card encryption keys engraved in Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 - GTO) and possibly other SIM vendors' cards. The publication indicates the target was not Gemalto per se - it was an attempt to try and cast the widest net possible to reach as many mobile phones as possible, with the aim to monitor mobile communications without mobile network operators and users consent. We cannot at this early stage verify the findings of the publication and had no prior knowledge that these agencies were conducting this operation.
Gemalto, the world leader in digital security, is especially vigilant against malicious hackers, and has detected, logged and mitigated many types of attempts over the years. At present we cannot prove a link between those past attempts and what was reported yesterday.
We take this publication very seriously and will devote all resources necessary to fully investigate and understand the scope of such sophisticated techniques.
There have been many reported state sponsored attacks as of late, that all have gained attention both in the media and amongst businesses, this truly emphasizes how serious cyber security is in this day and age.
| Investor Relations | Corporate Communication | Media Relations Agency |
| Gabriel Rangoni | Isabelle Marand | Suzanne Bakker |
| M.: +33 6 1426 6956 | M.: +33 6 1489 1817 | M. : +31 6 1136 8659 |
| gabriel.rangoni@gemalto.com | isabelle.marand@gemalto.com | suzanne.bakker@citigateff.nl |
| John Lineberger M.:+33 6 1243 6304 john.lineberger@gemalto.com | Edi Cohen M. : +31 6 2151 7820 edi.cohen@citigateff.nl |
About Gemalto
Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO) is the world leader in digital security with 2013 annual revenues of €2.4 billion and more than 12,000 employees operating out of 85 offices and 25 research and software development centers, located in 44 countries.
We are at the heart of the rapidly evolving digital society. Billions of people worldwide increasingly want the freedom to communicate, travel, shop, bank, entertain and work - anytime, everywhere - in ways that are enjoyable and safe. Gemalto delivers on their expanding needs for personal mobile services, payment security, authenticated cloud access, identity and privacy protection, eHealthcare and eGovernment efficiency, convenient ticketing and dependable machine-to-machine (M2M) applications. We develop secure embedded software and secure products which we design and personalize. Our platforms and services manage these products, the confidential data they contain and the trusted end-user services made possible.
Our innovations enable our clients to offer trusted and convenient digital services to billions of individuals. Gemalto thrives with the growing number of people using its solutions to interact with the digital and wireless world.
For more information visit
www.gemalto.com, www.justaskgemalto.com, blog.gemalto.com , or follow @gemalto on Twitter.
Press release (PDF) http://hugin.info/159293/R/1896041/672609.pdf
HUG#1896041
