Company Makes Inconspicuous Secure Cellphone

dponce80 writes "With concerns over privacy at an all-time high, it's refreshing to hear that Swiss company VectroTel is making a secure mobile phone. The X8 encrypts secure calls (the unit is also able to make regular calls) with a virtually unbreakable 128-bit key, itself generated through a Diffie-Hellman exchange. While transmission does get somewhat delayed, communication is secure."

Comments

Are people really this paranoid?

[Viol8]

I can see this being useful for governments (and probably
criminals) but is the average man in the street really paranoid
enough to want one? GSM is already encrypted - albeit weakly - but
well enough to stop some telecoms script kiddy hearing what you're
saying , and if you want to stop the government listening in to
your conversations then you're out of luck anyway , since they'll
just bug you some other way.

So whats the point?

Re:Are people really this paranoid?

[Viol8]

What is it with the adolescent moderators? Anyone who dares disagree
slightly with the line taken by the article gets modded as a troll??
Wtf is going on here??! How excatly was I trolling you amateur hour
moron moderator?

Cryptography?

[VincenzoRomano]

I assume cryptography is to be used only between the mobile station and the base station.
All the rest of the conversation path would be in clear.
If this is not the case and if I were some terrorist, I'd like to have one of those phones and service!