Team crack GSM shown that for less than $ 1,000

Can you hear me now? Uh Oh.

Listen talks cell phone has long been considered the domain of law enforcement and of the actors in the films of espionage. Security researchers at the Black Hat 2008 conference in Washington, DC, have presented a new and faster method of eavesdropping that can be built for just $ 1000.

Most GSM (global system for mobile communications) networks using 64-bit A5 / 1 encryption, which has cracked on the theory of approximately ten years. The great advances made by researchers and safety David Hulton “Steve” (who refused to give his surname reporters), however, is in the cost and speed of attempts cracking.

According to security analysts, to $ 1000 GSM snooping station would be able to break the encryption in 30 minutes, and $ 100000 worth of equipment to achieve similar results in 30 seconds. The base technology is the use of field programmable gate arrays to calculate the validity of all the possible keys over 288 quadrillion - for a period of three months, and then use this huge amount of data to decipher GSM communications in the Fly.

The vulnerability of the GSM SIM cards was also raised by Mr Hulton and “Steve” - identification number on the SIM card is transmitted in plain, which could reveal the make and model of phone being used. In connection with the ability to break the encryption, it could be used to promote an “operator-specified application on the card, or use triangulation to determine the location of relationship with the handset connected towers.

Mobile users should not start talking in code still, however, as the technology is still under development and has not yet been proven beyond a proof of concept. GSM Association spokesman David Pringle also stated that the most advanced encryption is being deployed, and that some data from the existing GSM networks and to use an encryption method higher.