Mobile Phone GSM Cracked
It looks like it may be time for a new encryption algorithm for mobile phones as the current one has been cracked. Although the chance of someone decoding your cell conversation and learning that fluffy has fleas is remote at best, the longer the encryption is compromised, the greater the odds that someone may indeed be eavesdropping.
A German computer engineer said Monday that he had deciphered and published the secret code used to encrypt most of the worlds digital mobile phone calls, saying it was his attempt to expose weaknesses in the security of global wireless systems.
The action by the encryption expert, Karsten Nohl, aimed to question the effectiveness of the 21-year-old G.S.M. algorithm, a code developed in 1988 and still used to protect the privacy of 80 percent of mobile calls worldwide. (The abbreviation stands for global system for mobile communication.)
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