[2529] in cryptography@c2.net mail archive
Re: TIME Magazine on GSM cell phone crack
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Greg Rose)
Thu Apr 16 17:58:16 1998
To: Mike Rosing <cryptech@Mcs.Net>
Cc: cryptography@c2.net
In-reply-to: Your message of Wed, 15 Apr 1998 09:24:17 EST.
<Pine.BSF.3.95.980415091058.2701A-100000@Jupiter.Mcs.Net>
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1998 09:04:55 +1000
From: Greg Rose <ggr@qualcomm.com>
Mike Rosing writes:
>I was told by the guys who'd been building cell phones for a few decades
>that they warned the upper management types to build in fraud detection
>and some level of crypto at the beginning. But the cost of doing it then
>was considered too high, and the managers figured that the technology was
>so complex that nobody would figure it out (they were spending millions
>developing it, to crack it should take millions too eh?) To retro fit
>everything now would cost *way* too much, so the best that they can hope
>for is that PCS or CDMA or TDMA will have the right stuff built in.
PCS isn't really a different system, it is just a
different frequency range (1.9GHz)... you still
have GSM-PCS or CDMA-PCS (or TDMA? I don't know.)
These systems do have something built in, and as
of today it is thought to be sufficiently strong,
although when the privacy is overhauled later this
year the authentication will probably be
strengthened at the same time. (I am on the TIA
committee which does this stuff. There will be no
secret development process this time.)
The same IS-41 authentication can be, and is,
built into many analog phones, but the AMPS
service providers are slow to actually turn it
on, fearing disruption for customers with old
phones.
(BTW, both kinds (GSM and IS-41 (North American)
(How many parens can I nest?)) have mechanisms which
allow MSC (Mobile Station Controller) level
authentication after an initial exchange with the
home system; the mechanisms are quite different
though, and outside the scope of this discussion
and my available typing time.)
Greg.
Greg Rose INTERNET: ggr@qualcomm.com
QUALCOMM Australia VOICE: +61-2-9181 4851 FAX: +61-2-9181 5470
Suite 410, Birkenhead Point http://people.qualcomm.com/ggr/
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