Sources: We Were Pressured to Weaken the Mobile Security in the 80's

Tags: 1980s GSM Global Mobile NSA

Authors: Færaas, Arild

Published: January 2014

URL: https://www.aftenposten.no/article/ap-Olkl.html

Abstract: This article details how the A5/1-encryption standard, used to secure mobile phones, was made intentionally weaker than it could have been. Four men involved with the invention of the encryption standard detailed the political agreements that lead to the standard being weaker than technologically possible, as the encryption standard had been made 54 bit, rather than 128 bit. This encryption standard, they argued, could have at least delayed NSA hacking of the encryption.