New ‘Kraken’ GSM-cracking software is released

“The GSM technology used by the majority of the world’s mobile
phones will get some scrutiny at next week’s Black Hat security
conference, and what the security researchers there have to say
isn’t pretty.

“On Friday, an open source effort to develop GSM-cracking
software released software that cracks the A5/1 encryption
algorithm used by some GSM networks. Called Kraken, this software
uses new, very efficient, encryption cracking tables that allow it
to break A5/1 encryption much faster than before.

“The software is key step toward eavesdropping on mobile phone
conversations over GSM networks. Since GSM networks are the
backbone of 3G, they also provide attackers with an avenue into the
new generation of handsets.”

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