French gendarmes bust network of 'cellphone hackers'

Police in France have busted what's been described as a "mobile phone hacking ring" and arrested nine people, according to Reuters. Apparently the criminal enterprise, which has been operating for five years, purchased SIM card unlock codes from phone company employees and retailers at €3 ($4) a pop, which it then sold on the Internet for €30 ($40). According to investigators, one of the employees made something like €25,000 ($33,685) a month from the scheme, which all told cost mobile operators anywhere from about €500,000 ($667,200) to several million per month. Among the affected providers were Bouygues Telecom, Orange, and SFR, the latter of which prompted the investigation last year. A brother and sister arrested in the city of Rennes are suspected to be at the head of the ring.