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.

GSM Mind control

George Bagropoulos — Thu, 08 May 2008 17:12:00 +0000

I was very much interested in reading – at ScientificAmerican.com (May 7,2008) – two different studies confirming that the use of mobile phones affect our brain waves. The study by the Brain Science Institute, Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia showed that, when a cell phone was transmitting, it boosts the alpha waves (8-12 Hz). The other research by the Loughborough University Sleep Research Centre in England showed that a cell phone, when transmitting, dampened the delta brain waves (1-4 Hz) for nearly one hour after the phone was shut off. The test subjects had been sleep-deprived the night before. They could not fall asleep for nearly one hour after the phone had been operating without their knowledge. (More on the actual article can be found at http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=mind-control-by-cell)
These findings, in my opinion, are astonishing. I kept wondering how much the electromagnetic waves were affecting our health and our mental status. Our problem with the cell phones is that we carry them all the time around and we can no more function without them.

GSM – Tales from the bits

GSM A5/1 Encryption cracked.

GSM Mind control