2 articles about voice crypto phones (posted on the UKcrypto list by
Owen Blacker & crossposted here without permission)
UKcrypto has had some long-running threads on security of mobile phones
(available from the usual archives). The current feeling is that there
isn't long to go before we see phone viruses (the 2.5 generation phones
are scriptable...)
Retyped [by Owen] from London Metro, 2001-06-06, page 9 col 5:
"A new mobile phone is promising military-grade privacy for its users.
The TopSec handset is intended for executives who need to discuss
confidential business matters on the move. The GBP 2 000 device
is the first consumer phone with such a high level of encryption,
according to security experts.
Stefan Boettinger, of manufacturer Rohde & Schwarz, said : "They're
aimed at companies who want to be sure they're not being spied on by
competitors."
The TopSec is based on a conventional handset manufactured by Siemens
and also works as a normal mobile phone. For encrypted calls,
both parties need to have a TopSec handset.
An encryption box for landlines will be available in September.
Meanwhile, mobile phones are being sold from vending machines in a
British consumer trial.
Buyers will be able to insert money or a credit card into a machine
and choose a new handset, costing about GBP 60."
=====================
US embraces secure mobile technology it cannot use
5:31pm on Tuesday 5th June 2001
Geeks with gadgets http://www.silicon.com
Ron Coates
"US customers buy $3,000 phone that will not work. It's a lot
of money for a novelty door stop or paperweight -- though you
could have some GSM bookends for $6,000...
A German company has launched a military-grade secure mobile
in the US -- the one country where it will not yet work,
according to reports.
Rohde & Schwarz, a telecom and testing equipment maker from
Munich gained the rights to the phone, and other encryption
technology, when it took over a division of Siemens at the
beginning of May.
It now says it has sold a few hundred of the modified S35i
Siemens mobile to private and government customers, as well
as 1,500 fixed line models to the German military. Prices of
$3,000 per handset have been quoted.
The TopSec phone uses a combination of 1,024-bit encryption
for authentication and 128-bit encryption for data transfer.
But it operates only on GSM standard networks, which makes it
unusable in the US.
Officials in the parent company could not comment on the US launch."
=====================
