Information Risk Blog

The algorithm that prevents the interception of radio signals between cell phone and operators’ base stations was cracked by a cryptographer -

The channel-hopping crack comes as the collective is completing the compilation of a rainbow table that allows them to decrypt calls as they happen. The table works because GSM encryption uses A5/1, a decades-old algorithm with known weaknesses. The table – a 2-terabyte list of known results that allows cryptographers to deduce the unique key that encrypts a given conversation – was developed by volunteers around the globe using giant clusters of computers and gaming consoles.

This entry was posted on December 30, 2009 at 3:59 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.