Cheap GSM Eavesdropping a Reality

Posted by Soulskill on Friday December 31, 2010 @05:26AM from the poking-holes-in-the-ether dept.

Techmeology writes "GSM eavesdropping has been demonstrated at the Chaos Computer Club Congress in Berlin using a €10 Motorola phone and open source GSM firmware. Karsten Nohl and Sylvain Munaut replaced the firmware on the phone, enabling them to process all the data it received. They used already available rainbow tables to decrypt data being sent to and from other mobile phones. They have no plans to release the hack publicly, however they expect others to successfully attempt the hack. Mr. Nohl said the objective was to raise awareness of GSM's insecurity."

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Re:I don't care... by tunapez · 2010-12-31 07:14 · Score: 4, Insightful

Actually, they just need to promise to deliver one in a week...
Third bullet from the bottom.

In this day and age of fear, a kid with an undetonated firecracker, a chip on his shoulder and a lighter could easily be labeled a 'terrorist threat'. Which any lawyer worth his/her salt, or golfs with the judge, could qualify as an 'emergency'. Getting around to sending the letter ex post facto? I'm sure it will be a top priority for the listeners already listening.

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Imagination drew in bold strokes, instantly serving hopes and fears, while knowledge advanced by slow increments...