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If you thought GSM phones were safe from eavesdropping, think again.

German researcher Karsten Nohl told the Chaos Communication Conference in Berlin he’d compiled 2 terabytes worth of data — “cracking tables that can be used as a kind of reverse phone-book to determine the encryption key used to secure a GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) telephone conversation or text message,” says the IDG News Service, going on:

“While Nohl stopped short of releasing a GSM-cracking device — that would be illegal in many countries, including the U.S. — he said he divulged information that has been common knowledge in academic circles and made it ‘practically useable’.”

Working with other experts, he spent five months cracking the algorithm used to encrypt GSM calls, says the BBC, pointing out GSM “is the most popular standard for mobile networks around the world”.

The story has the GSM Association (GSMA) saying Nohl’s work would be “highly illegal” in the UK and many other countries

“This isn’t something that we take lightly at all,” a spokeswoman said iq quouted as stating.

But Nohl “told the BBC that he had consulted with lawyers before publication and believed the work was ‘legal’,” it says.

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