[FYI] GSM mobile security is cracked

[Horns@t-online.de (Axel H. Horns)]

http://technology.news.com.au/techno/4221778.htm

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  GSM mobile security is cracked
  By DAN TEBBUTT

  22jun99

  DIGITAL mobile phone users could soon face the threat of
  eavesdropping, following a breakthrough reverse engineering effort
  in the United States. 

  Three California researchers say they have cloned the secret
  encryption method used to secure Global System for Mobile (GSM)
  communications. 

  Research leader Marc Briceno predicted unscrambling software could
  appear before the end of the year, following academic papers
  studying possible faults in the A5/1 over-the-air voice privacy
  algorithm. 

  This standard is used in nearly all digital mobile phones in
  Australia. 

  Inherent flaws in the security technology suggested special cracking
  hardware devices could unscramble GSM conversations within seconds,
  according to Mr Briceno, director of the US-based Smartcard
  Developers Association. 

  [...]

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Patentanwalt (German Patent Attorney) Dipl.-Phys. Axel H. Horns
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