Crypto crack makes satellite phones vulnerable to eavesdropping

[Dermot7]

Cryptographers have cracked the encryption schemes used in a variety of satellite phones, a feat that makes it possible for attackers to surreptitiously monitor data received by vulnerable devices.

The research team, from the Ruhr University Bochum in Germany, is among the first to analyze the secret encryption algorithms implemented by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute. After reverse engineering phones that use the GMR-1 and GMR-2 standards, the team discovered serious cryptographic weaknesses that allow attackers using a modest PC running open-source software to recover protected communications in less than an hour.

http://arstechnica.com/business/news...esdropping.ars

edit: added 2nd link : http://cryptanalysis.eu/blog/2012/02...e-been-broken/