GSM call encryption code cracked, posted 23

If there’s one thing that we seem to take for granted with our smartphones, it’s the fact that the only people that get to listen to our conversations are the fuzz and their wiretaps. But that all has the potential to change, at least if you’re on GSM, as the New York Times has noted that industrious German computer engineer Karsten Nohl has deciphered the encryption algorithm used by the 3.5 billion GSM phones in the world. Nohl essentially force fed random strings of numbers to crack open the 21-year-old 64-bit A5/1 encryption algorithm. And he’s published the code online for torrenting fun.

So what does this mean? Two things. One: Having the code alone is not enough to eavesdrop on a specific conversation. Cracking into the algorithm only exposes the streaming torrents of digital data, one still has to be able to pick out the desired call. Of course, there may very well be software to accomplish that task as well. Two: Carriers need to update their encryption algorithms stat. Simply changing to a different 64-bit algorithm won’t stop a similar cracking attempt, as it would be just as vulnerable as the current code. The GSM Association has had a 128-bit A5/3 algorithm available since 2007, but carriers have been slow to implement the more secure code. We hope that’s going to start changing really quickly.

[via: Engadget]