It's nice to see someone 'discovering' what Lucky Green already figured-out years ago. I wonder if they'll cut him a check.
-JD, II Also sprach R. A. Hettinga aka [EMAIL PROTECTED] on 07.9.03 14:32 : > <http://www.israel21c.org/bin/en.jsp?enPage=BlankPage&enDisplay=view&enDispWha > t=object&enDispWho=Articles%5El496&enZone=Technology&enVersion=0&> > > > Israel21c > > Code breakers crack GSM cellphone encryption > By ISRAEL21c staffšššSeptember 07, 2003 > > > > The faults discovered in the 850 million cellphones could be used by > thieves or eavesdroppers to listen in on calls, steal calls and even to > impersonate phone owners. > > > Company develops unbreakable data encryption code > > š > > Israeli counter-terrorism experts teams up with U.S. cyber-security firm > > š > > > Technion > > š > š > > Experts at the Technion in Haifa who specialize in cryptography have > discovered that mobile phone calls made on the popular GSM network are > vulnerable to break-ins. The faults discovered in the 850 million > cellphones could be used by thieves or eavesdroppers to listen in on calls, > steal calls and even to impersonate phone owners. > > The team of researchers in Haifa, including Professor Eli Biham and > doctoral students Elad Barkan and Natan Keller, presented their findings at > the Crypto 2003 conference held two weeks ago at the University of > California, Santa Barbara. > > The 450 participants, many of whom are leaders in encryption research, > 'were shocked and astounded' by their revelation that most cellphones are > susceptible to misuse. 'They were very interested in our work and > congratulatory,' Biham said. > > If the cellphone companies in 197 countries want to correct the code errors > that expose them to trickery and abuse, they will have to call in each > customer to make a change in the cellphone's programming, or replace all of > the cellular phones used by their subscribers. > > Biham, Barkan, and Keller's discovery involved a basic flaw in the > encryption system of the GSM (global system for mobile communications) > network, which is used by 71 percent of all cellphones. > > "Elad discovered a serious flaw in the network's security system," > explained Biham. "He found that the GSM network does not work in the proper > order: First, it inflates the information passing through it in order to > correct for interference and noise and only then encrypts it." > > At first,"I told him (Barkan) that it was impossible," Biham told > Reuters--------------------------------------------------------------------- The Cryptography Mailing List Unsubscribe by sending "unsubscribe cryptography" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]