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TechRadar
TechRadar
Efosa Udinmwen

'Beyond the financial risk, there are real public safety implications': Hackers crawled Canadian streets with SMS blasters, attacking every target in sight — causing 13 million network disruptions and hacking thousands of devices

Text messaging equipment found in Ruichen Xiong’s car, a student from China who was arrested in London in June 2025. .
  • Fake mobile towers forced phones to disconnect from legitimate networks nearby
  • Millions of disruptions revealed how easily cellular connections can be manipulated
  • Attackers reached thousands of devices simultaneously without telecom infrastructure

Authorities in Canada have disclosed details of a mobile cyber operation that relied on SMS blasters mounted inside vehicles moving through urban areas.

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