[TheList] NZ Police Network may not be that secure...

Sun Aug 14 16:14:35 AEST 2011

There have been subtle changes to the article.

How it reads now I agree with both perspectives posted since I posted 
the link.

Regards,

Neill.

On 14/08/2011 5:44 p.m., Scanhead wrote:
> The issue is not that the encryption is broken or there is a way to 
> listen in, its that the network is vulnerable to denial of service 
> attacks with very low cost equipment and detecting an attack is difficult.
>
> Looks like they cant fix it without deviating from the P25 standard. 
> This new attack method corrupts data to make decoding impossible and 
> can also be targeted, so attackers could jam just encrypted traffic 
> (and not touch data "in the clear"), a particular radio or the whole 
> network. Also an attacker could force radios to transmit data, 
> potentially identifying covert activities.
>
> Another interesting point made in the research report is that the 
> implementation of the encryption is possibly flawed due to the nature 
> of two-way radio communications.
>
> On Sun, Aug 14, 2011 at 2:17 PM, Neill Ellis <tgsnoopy at gmail.com 
> <mailto:tgsnoopy at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>     LOL...
>
>     I understand the encryption system in this article is the same as
>     the much touted NZ Police system.
>
>     <http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-20090434-281/security-flaw-found-in-feds-digital-radios/>
>
>     Fortunately it is all software upgradable... It will no doubt be
>     upgraded to make it secure again.
>
>     Neill.
>
>
>     On 3/08/2011 7:08 p.m., Steve Austin wrote:
>
>         I forgot to state that this is happening in
>         Christchurch........Other areas not affected....Yet......But
>         tests are happening.
>         The biggest drawback from P25 is the hungry for power
>         repeaters.....Constant 5 amp draw. Not good for remote sites.
>
>         On Wed, Aug 3, 2011 at 7:01 PM, Steve Austin
>         <nzscanners at gmail.com <mailto:nzscanners at gmail.com>
>         <mailto:nzscanners at gmail.com <mailto:nzscanners at gmail.com>>>
>         wrote:
>
>            Maybe some here do not understand P25 and the systems involved.
>            Ambulance are sharing the Police network in a testing
>            phase.......They are on a node of the P25 system.....No problem
>            plenty of space...
>            Its also easier to put a ready to go radio onto the p25
>            system...Its just unfortunate that the test radios happen to be
>            AES/DES 256bit encrypted radios.
>
>
>            Steve
>
>
>            On Wed, Aug 3, 2011 at 6:48 PM, Oliver
>         <nzoliver at hotmail.com <mailto:nzoliver at hotmail.com>
>         <mailto:nzoliver at hotmail.com <mailto:nzoliver at hotmail.com>>>
>         wrote:
>
>                Hi,
>
>                They ARE trialling P25 encrypted. I know this for a
>         fact. You
>                can hear some of the ambos on analogue as not all of
>         them have
>                the new radios. The amount of ambo traffic on the
>         analogue is
>                way down if you have been a long time listener.........
>
>
>
>                --------------------------------------------------
>                From: "Neill Ellis" <tgsnoopy at gmail.com
>         <mailto:tgsnoopy at gmail.com>
>         <mailto:tgsnoopy at gmail.com <mailto:tgsnoopy at gmail.com>>>
>                Sent: Wednesday, August 03, 2011 12:17 PM
>                To: "Grant Carroll" <grant.carroll at xtra.co.nz
>         <mailto:grant.carroll at xtra.co.nz>
>         <mailto:grant.carroll at xtra.co.nz
>         <mailto:grant.carroll at xtra.co.nz>>>; <thelist at radiowiki.org.nz
>         <mailto:thelist at radiowiki.org.nz>
>         <mailto:thelist at radiowiki.org.nz
>         <mailto:thelist at radiowiki.org.nz>>>
>                Subject: Re: [TheList] Christchurch Ambulance now digital
>
>
>                    Hi Grunter,
>
>                    I think you might be on to something. I'm pretty
>         sure the
>                    media would have let us know if Ambo's were
>         trialling or
>                    had gone secure digital.
>
>                    Regards,
>
>                    Neill.
>
>
>                    On 3/08/2011 11:50 a.m., Grant Carroll wrote:
>
>                        Hello,
>                        I am still listening to ambos on the same
>         frequencies
>                        in the ESB band they have been on for ages.
>         This is on
>                        an analogue scanner and my digital scanner with no
>                        "P25" coming up to suggest the transmissions are
>                        digital and obviously if I can hear them on an
>                        analogue scanner they aren't. Am I missing
>         something
>                        here? Are they being simulcast on analogue and new
>                        digital frequencies for now or is their going
>         digital
>                        just a vicious rumour?
>                        Cheers guys.
>                        Grunter1.
>
>
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