Cracking GSM encryption as a web service

Radar reports on a low entry barrier solution for cracking the older GSM encryption that will be available in near-real-time as a web service powered by a 68-FPGA machine. Together with USRP/GNU Radio SDR on a $700 open source HW platform it allows for building relatively inexpensive GSM scanners.

A5/3 is a new ciphering algorithm in 3GPP R6 (128 bit key encryption strength compared to 64 bit for A5/1). It requires new terminals 3GPP R6 and will likely not be supported on the older transceiver hardware platforms out there, since A5/1 and/or A5/2 used to be implemented in hardware in the 1990s. That’s an expensive upgrade for mobile network operators and consumers alike.