Following a recent crack of the simpler A5/1 standard, researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science say they have cracked the A5/3 security cipher (nicknamed Kasumi) by using what’s known as a “sandwich” attack. The group accomplished its goal by creating a distinguishing trait for the key and using just four related keys to determine the key for Kasumi itself.

While breaking the security takes time, the approach theoretically leaves GSM more directly exposed to call interceptions and other threats. Most cellular carriers still use the lower-grade GSM quality (A5/1) as their base calling technology, but 3G/UMTS (the upgrade to GSM) uses Kasumi and is potentially exposed as well.

More information:- http://www.emergentchaos.com/archives/2010/01/another_week_another_gsm.html

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