| PhoneCrypt: Basic Vulnerability Found in 12 out of 15 Voice Encryption Products January 27 2010 |
An IT security expert and blogger claims to have successfully intercepted and compromised phone calls made using 12 commercially available mobile voice encryption products. PhoneCrypt from SecurStar was one of only three solutions that successfully blocked the attacks that were made using a simple wiretapping Trojan.
Using a readily available wiretapping utility, costing as little as $100, as well as his own ‘homemade’ Trojan, the blogger – aka Notrax – was able to by-pass the encryption and eavesdrop by capturing conversations from the microphone and speaker in real time. By suppressing any rings, notifications or call logs, these attacks go completely undetected. And while Trojans can be installed manually by someone with access to the phone, they could equally be delivered via email, SMS or a mobile application.
Notrax describes his tests extensively at www.infosecurityguard.com with links to Youtube videos.
While 12 out of the 15 voice encryption products tested fell victim to these attacks, PhoneCrypt was able to block the Trojans. PhoneCrypt uses a filter that detects if any application tries to access a resource or service during a call and shuts it down. The callers are also alerted by a skull and cross-bones that appear on the screen.
“Like most security breaches, Notrax went for the weakest link; he did not attempt to crack the encryption itself, but used simple wiretapping techniques, said Wilfried Hafner, CEO at SecurStar that developed the PhoneCrypt solution. “Unlike most of the vendors investigated, we recognized this potential security gap from the start and designed in measures to deliver complete end-to-end protection against eavesdropping.
PhoneCrypt provides military level voice encryption for all types business, government, law enforcement and personal voice communication over mobile phones, landlines and VoIP. The solution is easy to use across a wide variety of standard handsets including the Apple iPhone.
German-based SecurStar has 10 years experience developing advanced encryption security products, drawing on the experience and skills of some of the world’s leading encryption experts including former hackers. The company sells its PhoneCrypt solutions all over the world through offices in eight countries and a growing network of specialist resellers. |
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