.... not really that "newsworthy" (it's actually be cracked a few years back). If you want to eavesdrop in on a GSM call, you still need a few thousand $'s worth of gear you won't find at Walmart and someone who knows how to use it. It's alot easier to listen in on a cordless phone, land-line or wifi calls,...they can be done for much less and there's "how to's" all over the internet. ...and of course if you are actually worried about this, switch your phone to 3G (UMTS) and look out your window and see if the German guy in the van across the street with the rack of electroic gear starts cursing and pounding his fists, because he hasn't cracked the security alogrithem for UMTS yet BBC News - Secret mobile phone codes cracked
That's not surprising. The encryption on GSM and CDMA is just not that great. Don't expect your conversations to be exceptionally private. And if you are doing data consider using HTTPS/SSH/SFTP.
Wirelessly posted (Opera/9.80 (J2ME/MIDP; Opera Mini/4.2.14912/1280; U; en) Presto/2.2.0) Actually they aren't too bad. I think it's funny when people call into my work (they have to give a lot of sensitive personal info like date of birth, social security, mothers maiden name etc and sometimes more) they get all worried if they are calling in on a cell phone and I have to try hard not to laugh. I'm like...do you have reason to believe a very well trained and financed criminal has taken the time to try and hear you? Is there a guy with a little satellite sonar dish pointed at you or someone standing next to you with their ear cupped? And don't you think that if they have the ability time and money to do this that there are MUCH easier ways of obtaining that info? Haha. But yeah it's probably not a good idea to do that in public loud and clear though. Or if you work and are talking about a sensitive (national security related) issue. THEN you might have a problem. But even then if someone is doing that, odds are they already know your ssn, dob, etc. Although definately about the https thing you are just asking for id theft without it. Anyway doesn't the nature of cdma (and umts) calls give them a slight security advantage due to the spreading and the fact that it gets gathered back at the phone itself?
