It's Easy to Intercept a GSM Call

It's Easy to Intercept a GSM Call

It seems that GSM phones which are also the ones used by almost everyone can be listened very easy by those who we call hackers. IT security reasearchers say that you only need hardware and free open source tools which cost a few thousand dollars. IT engineer Karsten Nohl said that he had compiled two terabytes worth of data and that the GSM-cracking-device information is known in academic circles.

Law enforcement has access to these IT products, even though intercepting mobile phone calls is illegal and Nohl is sure that criminals have their ways to have get the products too. The problem is the fact that the encryption algorithm used by most carriers is 20 years old which makes it highly vulnerable. By using specialized software and hardware to break the cipher, anyone could crack the GSM encryption and listen to phone calls.