Bypassing the Blockage

KOMPAS/HARRY SUSILO

Mobile phones without official guarantees are sold at a cellphone outlet at the Roxy Mas ITC shopping center, Jakarta, Thursday (15/8/2019). Cellphones without warranties have entered Indonesia illegally.

Cellphone technicians seem to have supernatural powers because they have the capability to empower something useless. Armed with a data cable and computer, they have been able to change the international mobile equipment identity (IMEI) numbers.

When met in mid-August, a cellphone technician at one of the outlets at a cellphone trading center in Bandung, West Java, known by the initial K, opened his shop three hours later than other outlets that had opened at 10 a.m. He then took a box containing screws, data cables and other equipment. After that, he held a cellphone belonging to his customer and then busily fixed it.

K was working on the cellphone to anticipate the government’s plan to block illegal cellphones that have no registered IMEI numbers. K uses the IMEI number from an old cellphone that is damaged or is commonly called "IMEI zombie" to replace the IMEI number on a black market cellphone. In other words, the IMEI number of the damaged cellphone is brought to life.

Software

The registered IMEI number is taken from the damaged cellphone that is still kept by K the technician. "We used to call it \'IMEI zombie\'. It’s an IMEI from a cellphone that is already ‘dead’ but has been resurrected and is working," said K.

It didn\'t take long for K. The IMEI of the black market or illegal cellphone has changed and when it is verified, the result is "The IMEI is registered in the Ministry of Industry\'s database".

The technique was previously used by K to repair a consumer phone that was totally dead due to software interruption.

Lots of demands

Besides in Bandung, the "IMEI zombie" technician is also found in the West Jakarta shopping area. One of the cellphone technicians, known by the initials B, claimed to be able to change the IMEI of a cellphone from an unregistered one to an IMEI that was registered in the government or commonly called "shooting" IMEI.

To change this IMEI, B uses software and charges a minimum fee of Rp 150,000. B’s ability is limited to Chinese cellphones manufactured in 2016.

"IMEI zombie" trick was not new, but it had the potential to be a way for businesspeople to get around the government’s policy of blocking the IMEI of black market cellphones.

Since the government plans to get strict on IMEI numbers, a number of consumers and traders have come to K so that their illegal cellphones can be hacked and continue to operate. However, not all demands were taken by K.

K is quite selective in fulfilling the requests to implant "IMEI zombie ". He will not take the order if the customer bluntly says that the cellphone is from the black market and the customer wants to change its IMEI. This was to anticipate if the visitors were undercover police officers. Only a few cellphone technicians can implant "IMEI zombies" such as K and B.

K has never received a formal education in the field of information technology. He mastered the skills through autodidact.

Deputy chairperson of the Indonesia Cellphones Association (APSI), Syaiful Hayat, acknowledged that the "IMEI zombie" trick was not new, but it had the potential to be a way for businesspeople to get around the government’s policy of blocking the IMEI of black market cellphones. Moreover, the government has not prepared anticipatory measures.

Separately, a former telecommunications businessman, Sutikno Teguh, hoped the government could anticipate the methods used to circumvent the illegal cellphone blocking policy.

"Please, in making its policy, the government should also think the way the criminals think. This Sibina system can be hacked. Let’s close the gap," Teguh said.

(BKY/IGA/ILO)