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3G crypto a go-go

Check out the latest algorithms

We came across an interesting web page today, full of details on the new 3G encryption algorithms.

A researcher at AT&T Labs thought it would be a good idea if information about the new encryption algorithms or development processes was available to anyone who wanted it. So, he collated as much as he could find, and posted it here.

The new security protocols are based on the bits that worked well in GSM, with new stuff drafted in to fill the gaps.

"In the last few years," Janos Csirik writes, "GSM took a lot of flak for their approach to crypto algorithm design, which relied on keeping the algorithms secret. In fact, their various algorithms have been broken." Although he acknowledges that this is a point of contention, by no means resolved.

The folks at 3G, on the other hand, are disseminating material as widely as possible - for peer review and proper implementation, counting on the algorithm to withstand the inevitable pounding it will get from interested observers. And this open approach is winning approval from the crypto community.

Interesting stuff, with loads of links. It has the lowdown on the 3GPP - the 3G Partnership Project - and its organisational structure, as well as links to all the techie stuff we know you like so much.

It would get a big "Register Recommends" sticker stuck on it, except that we don't have any. ®

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