Uk Vodafone Break In causes outage  - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Sionyn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2011, 12:09:17 pm
content: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12595681

author: Sionyn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2011, 08:08:11 pm
content: they stole a gsm core network subswitchdumb crims what hell are they going to do with it.

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2011, 08:41:43 pm
content: sell it as crap metal.

author: ecowarrior
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2011, 09:00:29 pm
content: Quote from: Mechatrommer on February 28, 2011, 08:41:43 pmI'm sure it's not THAT bad

author: Sionyn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2011, 11:44:30 pm
content: indeed we all know how stupidly secret the gsm industry isyou know that now a5/1 is crackedthey claim frequency hopping is their main security

author: tom66
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 01, 2011, 12:08:50 am
content: Quote from: ecowarrior on February 28, 2011, 09:00:29 pmLocal school had a copper pipe stolen by thieves. That was bad enough, but they cut a water pipe - which basically flooded the block entirely, causing thousands in water damage. Idiots. Copper has really got expensive.

author: Chasm
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 01, 2011, 03:25:43 am
content: Quote from: Sionyn on February 28, 2011, 11:44:30 pmThat claim has been a dead horse for a while. There are some 27C3 videos telling you everything you'lleverwant to know about "security" in the mobile telephone industry.

author: the_raptor
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 01, 2011, 08:57:24 am
content: Confidential information shouldn't be going out over public networks in the clear anyway.Wasn't it the Greeks who found out someone had hacked into the system used for wiretaps and was intercepting politicians cell calls?Never trust eqiupment you don't own and understand.

author: scrat
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 01, 2011, 10:27:58 am
content: Quote from: the_raptor on March 01, 2011, 08:57:24 amIn Italy something similar happened too, even for more stupid things (as it seems, but who knows?): a football team president paid an agency for intercepting phone calls and data, collecting huge files. Although there are some agencies that make illegal interceptations on their own, in that case the main telephone company (Telecom Italia) was involved!

author: Chasm
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 01, 2011, 08:33:14 pm
content: You were able to buy the necessary hardware to sniff and decode the *whole* GSM traffic at a given location for about 50k.This is btw. not how or where "legal interception" happens.Now you can buy and modify hardware to sniff and decode one connection for less than $50.An old cellphone, different firmware, and a laptop to remote control it.That easy.Quote from: the_raptor on March 01, 2011, 08:57:24 am

author: the_raptor
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 02, 2011, 11:02:43 am
content: Quote from: Chasm on March 01, 2011, 08:33:14 pmYou are forgetting that with POTS you could intercept calls with a piece of wire and a headset. And the older cell technology was trivial to intercept as well. And if we go back further it was the post office steaming open letters to make sure you weren't talking to commies.The only reason the average person has privacy is because generally no one is interested in them enough to break it.P.S. The average person is quite happy to connect to "free Wi-Fi" and have all their packets sniffed, or turn all their documents and emails over to Google/Facebook. They aren't going to care that some neckbeard can intercept their cell calls.

author: Chasm
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 03, 2011, 08:47:31 pm
content: That's true, bugging analog telephone lines was and still is dead simple.But other technologies are not that much more difficult today.ISDN needs some decoding, there is an AVR project for it, using an ATMega8.DECT is a bit more complex because of the RF equipment needed. OTOH the encryption is fundamentally broken and no challenge at all.GSM is more of a hassle because you still have to break encryption. The news is that you can do it for the price of a 8(?) year old handset. The distances are small, but there is a hardware mod (changing the input filter) that extends the range up to 100m distance.The biggest problem so to speak in Germany is that the providers do not employ all methods to make such code-breaking more difficult. Some of the status messages consist of 90%(?) predetermined content. Btw., this content is /padding/ and could be random. Knowing the content of most of the message makes is much more simpler to break the code than it already is. That codes are /not/ changed as often as they could makes it still easier for an attacker. There is no reason not to change the temporary key after each SMS or call. It is after all temporary.And no, I don't do this stuff other than tying to keep somewhat informed.Correct implementation of crypto will be one of the biggest challenges of tomorrow after all. Not only in the classical sense but everywhere where sensitive data is handled. Just look at Sony and the PS3, or the many questions how to protect designs from the copy houses in china.Putting everything under an open license is after all not mainstream so far.Free Wifi... Yeah, a real bugger for those who have any clue.That is probably the point where I would use a VPN tunnel to a system I control to keep my passwords out of the hands of phishers.There were some real "nice" man in the middle attack routers showcased years back which ended the need for sniffing and decrypting all traffic to get passwords. Old tech.

author: Sionyn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 03, 2011, 09:35:27 pm
content: shhhhhthe timsi is meant to be secrets