A sign of the times? ThreeZee Technology, Inc., a security research firm, has located a bug within the Verizon Wireless Text Messaging system which allows any Tom, Dick or Harry to “easily view mass lists of SMS messages sent to Verizon customers, including the telephone number and the text in the message”. Not just that: Tom (or Dick, or Harry) can then use the bug to intercept messages sent to any such phone, as well as the ability to make numerous charges to the customer’s phone bill. Yikes.
This is bad, of course, but it’s not a feature of SMS per se, more of the website that Verizon set up to allow folk to send SMS messages to Verizon phones. Still, hopefully Verizon will fix it. No sign so far of any mention of the problem on their website.