🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1hoqavINN162@transfer.stratus.com> cme@ellisun.sw.stratus.com (Carl Ellison) writes:
>
>I looked at Motorola's encrypting wireless phone at the store -- heard
>what "encrypted" voice sounds like -- and could recognize the voice,
>so it's not nearly secure enough.  I haven't seen, but have a brochure
>for, VTECH's encrypting wireless phone -- with digital transmission
>between handset and base.  So I called them up and asked what they use
>for encryption.  They refused to tell me....wouldn't even tell me the number
>of bits of key for the algorithm.
>
   This Spring, I was able to have a discussion with a senior executive of 
VTECH, I asked him about the codecs & encryption.  It was a situation where
I had a 'need to know,' & if I recall correctly, he indicated that while the
Tropez was (vo)CODED over to digital, it was NOT encrypted!  This
contradicts information which comes with the Tropez 900s, but such things
don't surprise me any more, after the blatant lies Motorola made about their
speech-inverted 'Secure-Clear' line.
 
  Perhaps the VTECH marketing staff made the typical assumption that 'coded'
is synonomous with 'encrypted' or 'enciphered.'

   I can't see VTECH or any ofthe other developers of 900MHz codec'ed
cordless phones spending too much time on cryptographic protection for these
phones.  For the moment, it would be a lot simpler to intercept the Tropez
conversation via physical tapping, & physical tapping would also defeat any
crypto on the cordless phone RF circuit.   Only the idiots at Motorola's
Consumer Products Division have warranted that their cordless phone is
actually 'secure.'  That's pretty pathetic, since they use analog
voice-inversion when there are a variety of digital codec'ed,
direct-sequence spread-spectrum cordless phones out on the market!


>Does anyone out there know details of VTECH's encryption?  At the
>price they're asking ($350), they can afford to do at least 1 round of
>DES-CBC, but I'm sure they don't.  If they did, they would have told
>me.
>
>-- 
>-- <<Disclaimer: All opinions expressed are my own, of course.>>
>-- Carl Ellison						cme@sw.stratus.com
>-- Stratus Computer Inc.	M3-2-BKW		TEL: (508)460-2783
>-- 55 Fairbanks Boulevard ; Marlborough MA 01752-1298	FAX: (508)624-7488


-- 
 Tim Tyler      Internet: tim@ais.org  MCI Mail: 442-5735 
P.O. Box 443    C$erve: 72571,1005  DDN: Tyler@Dockmaster.ncsc.mil
Ypsilanti MI    Packet: KA8VIR @KA8UNZ.#SEMI.MI.USA.NA
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