GSM A5/1 Encryption cracked.

George Bagropoulos — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 14:03:25 +0000

Ellinor Millshas an interesting interview with German security expert Karsten Nohl, who showed at the Chaos Communication Congress how easy is to eavesdrop GSM calls. Nohl says that GSM’s A5/1 encryption function uses a 64-bit key that is too short to withstand the computing power available today. When the algorithm was designed 20 years ago when CPU [central processing unit] cycles and storage were much more expensive, it must have seemed a lot more secure. However, the A5/1 function should have been replaced years ago when researchers first discussed practical attacks.

Is there hope? Yes, but not for the time beeing. The GSM opearators have to switch to A5/3. A much stronger algorithm which for the time beeing is secure.

My comment: Do not say things over your mobile phone that you do not want someone to hear.

Quantum Cryptography Cracked

George Bagropoulos — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 18:23:00 +0000

Quantum cryptography was thought to be much more secure than all classical cryptography schemes.
This extremely interesting presentation shows a successful attack of an existing quantum key distribution system exploiting a photon detector vulnerability which is probably present in all existing devices. Without Alice and Bob losing their faith in their secure communication, the group recorded 100% of the supposedly secret key.

I have a great interest in quantum cryptography. The above presentation proves another technological assumption wrong.

Cracked – Tales from the bits

GSM A5/1 Encryption cracked.

Quantum Cryptography Cracked