GSM Encryption Hacked

The GSM encryption algorithm A5/1, the code used to secure mobile phone communications, has been cracked by a German cryptographer, Karsten Nohl. Much has been made of this feat, which was done by capturing large amounts of encrypted signals and then subjecting them to a sustained attack (trying one key after another until one eventually worked) enlisting the help of members of the public throughout the world who ‘leant’ him the processing power of their PCs and games consoles! It was estimated that trying to hack the code would have taken over 100,000 years on a single PC – by enlisting a ‘botnet’ of networked public PCs they allegedly managed it in 3 months.