Researchers Prepare Practical Demonstration Of GSM Encryption Cracking Technology
GSM calls can be intercepted and decoded using low-cost hardware and open-source software, researchers sayBy Tim Wilson DarkReading
Two security researchers on Wednesday will demonstrate methods for intercepting and decoding calls and data transmitted over the popular GSM mobile network technology. Security researchers Karsten Nohl and Chris Paget presented their findings in a presentation (WMV video) Monday at the 26th Chaos Communication Congress (CCC) in Berlin. A practical demonstration of the vulnerabilities and potential exploits is scheduled to take place at the conference on Wednesday at 12:00 GMT.
The demonstration is a follow-up to a presentation the two researchers made in August at the Hacking At Random conference, during which they outlined serious flaws in the GSM encryption scheme.
GSM is used in approximately 80 percent of the world's mobile communications systems, and in about 3 billion cell phones across the globe, according to industry estimates. In his CCC presentation yesterday, Nohl pointed out that much data has already been published about GSM's vulnerabilities, but the pair's new research takes it one step further -- by showing how GSM calls can be intercepted and decoded using relatively low-cost ($1500) hardware and open-source software that is readily available on the Web.
"We just wanted to move all of this into the open domain so you can try it at home," Nohl joked.
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