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1990s and 2000s Phones Were Backdoored
posted by dennisn on July 17th, 2021 at 12:10AM

Researchers from several universities in Europe found that the encryption algorithm GEA-1, which was used in cellphones when the industry adopted GPRS standards in 2G networks, was intentionally designed to include a weakness that cryptography experts say was a backdoor. The researchers said they obtained the two encryption algorithms, GEA-1 and GEA-2, which are proprietary and thus not public, "from a source."

A spokesperson for the organization that designed the GEA-1 algorithm said it was introduced because the export regulations at the time did not allow for stronger encryption.

GEA-2 also didn't offer high enough security.

Researchers tested several modern phones to see if they would still support the vulnerable algorithms and "surprisingly" found that they still do. The researchers said that it's the baseband manufacturers who are responsible for implementing standards.

https://www.vice.com/en/ar...erately-weakened
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