An Inside Look at SecureGSM

[Darius Wey]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.securegsm.com/' target='_blank'>http://www.securegsm.com/</a><br /><br /></div><i>"SecureGSM™ is designed to combat eavesdropping and interception by providing military grade security for your confidential mobile phone conversations and messaging. SecureGSM™ utilises unique world first technology to make true, secure communication available in a software only package, which runs on Microsoft Windows Mobile enabled Communicators and Smartphones without affecting their original functionality. The SecureGSM™ software is built upon our SecuStream™ technology and is a world first product of its type to run natively on Windows Mobile Phone Edition Devices."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/wey-SecureGSM-00.gif" /><br /><br />I recently had the opportunity to interview Roman Korolik, a director of SecureGSM™, and just to clear up any confusion, the company and the product share the same name. To listen to the interview, click on the following link: <b><a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/files/Interview-SecureGSM.mp3">An Interview with Roman Korolik of SecureGSM™</a></b> (4.8MB, MP3)<br /><br />To view screenshots of SecureGSM™, click on any of the following links: <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/wey-SecureGSM-01.jpg">SecureGSM™ on HTC Magician</a>, <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/wey-SecureGSM-02.gif">Dialling Mode</a>, <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/wey-SecureGSM-03.gif">Identity Verification</a>, <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/wey-SecureGSM-04.gif">Incoming Alert</a>, <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/wey-SecureGSM-05.gif">Secure Messaging</a>. SecureGSM™ will be unveiled at CeBIT Australia at Stand 35 of the AIIA Software Showcase on May 26, 2005.

[Tim H]

I confess to not having listened to the interview but I wonder how big the market for this is? Air -interface encryption for both GSM and CDMA is extremely good and as far as I know there has not been a single reported incident of it being compromised outside a lab environment.

Even law enforcement agencies take their interception at the mobile switch exchange, obviously you don't have to follow the person around but also because they don't have the technology to decrypt the air-interface on the fly.

With e-mail, which has no encryption, what proportion of users use encryption like PGP? So in this case with already very high levels of security who wants more? Seems to me it would appeal only to those who are trying to avoid lawful interception of their conversations?

[Janak Parekh]

I guess the market will be specialized to security-related concerns, etc. Government might be a big enough customer.

As for listening, I only listened because I was curious about Darius's voice and accent. :lol:

--janak

[Darius Wey]

I confess to not having listened to the interview but I wonder how big the market for this is? Air -interface encryption for both GSM and CDMA is extremely good and as far as I know there has not been a single reported incident of it being compromised outside a lab environment.

The target market varies considerably - it can range from security agencies and legal firms, right down to corporate businesses, etc.

Keep in mind that this is a software-only solution, and I think one of the things that will make it stand out above other solutions is its ease of setup and low cost. With it, you won't need to worry about setting up specific hardware and what not.

[Darius Wey]

As for listening, I only listened because I was curious about Darius's voice and accent. :lol:

Right. Your best use of 4.8MB all year. :D

[SecureGSM]

I confess to not having listened to the interview but I wonder how big the market for this is? Air -interface encryption for both GSM and CDMA is extremely good and as far as I know there has not been a single reported incident of it being compromised outside a lab environment.

Even law enforcement agencies take their interception at the mobile switch exchange, obviously you don't have to follow the person around but also because they don't have the technology to decrypt the air-interface on the fly.


This is not exactly correct. Air-interface encryption on GSM networks (A5.1, A5.2) has been shown to have many flaws and has been defeated as early as the 1990’s. Furthermore, On-the-fly decryptors are readily available for puchase. They are called "IMSI Catchers" or "GSM Interceptors".

At the same time, given that the GSM channel provides limited protection between the phone and base station, by way of A5.1, A5.2 encryption algorithms, the transmission between base stations is known to be completely unencrypted and so can be intercepted and listened to quite easily.

All yo need to do is a Google search on “"GSM interception (http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&amp;q=GSM+interception&amp;btnG=Google+Search&amp;meta=)", and see how much information is available, from how it is done, to how and where to buy devices. If you do the same search on CDMA interception, you will also find articles on the compromise of CDMA.

In business, where trade secrets are of paramount importance, corporate espionage is rampant.

As far as no reported incidents go, just have a look at this link, this page is full of news stories from major networks relating to eavesdropping:
http://www.tetrascanner.com/gsm-scanners.html