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Encryption Of Satellite Phone Cracked
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Experts are aware that some government and clandestine agencies are able to monitor satellite phone network.
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Friday, February 03, 2012:
Satellite phone used by businesses, charities, government agencies and emergencies worldwide can be easily figured out and intercepted, security researchers have warned. German academics have said that anyone with cheap computer equipment and radio could trace calls over an entire continent. Thousands of satellite phone users are thought to be affected.
“We were able to completely reverse engineer the encryption algorithms employed,” said Benedikt Driessen and Ralf Hund of Ruhr University Bochum as they announced their report, "Don't Trust Satellite Phones".
According to The Telegraph, the encryption algorithms are known as GMR-1 and GMR-2, and are standards used across satellite phone operators, including Inmarsat and Thuraya, the leading providers. Their technology is widely used in the Middle East and Africa, including in some military applications.
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Driessen told The Telegraph that the equipment and software needed to intercept and decrypt satellite phone calls from hundreds of thousands of users would cost as little as $2,000. His demonstration system takes up to half an hour to decipher a call, but a more powerful computer would allow eavesdropping in real time, he said.
The researchers are hopeful to ask the standard setting organisation, ETSI, to create strong algorithms. Driessen said that the major problems with GMR-1 and GMR-2 was that their details were kept secret so security experts cannot test them. He further said, “They are now disclosing the encryption algorithms rather than keeping them secret, so they can be tested. This did not happen with satellite phones.”
And as a result, an extra layer of cipher software in their satellite phones is being deployed by sensitive organisations. Experts are aware that some government and clandestine agencies are able to monitor satellite phone network.
Bjoern Rupp, chief executive of GSMK Crytophone said, "Many government agencies, including the military, make many of their communications through their own technology. However, they often still rely on satellite phones to communicate with locals, back to HQ or people at home. With this announcement, it has been shown that the satellite handsets’ built-in encryption on these calls is no longer secure, which could pose a considerable threat to the armed forces and civilians alike."
Tahir Zubair, EFYTIMES News Network
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