GSM Encryption Cracked

Operators have been relying on the A5/1 encryption to protect the privacy of calls made over GSM networks for a good 21 years, but now it seems that the code has been cracked by a 28-year old German, Karsten Nohl. He has presented the flaws in the existing code, and is hoping that his actions will goad the GSM association into upgrading the current encryption scheme uses. The GSM Association has termed his actions as “illegal”, but the question is, will malicious people be able to take advantage of it with no regard for the law? If so, it might be high time to upgrade the encryption used to the 128-bit A5/3 algorithm, which hasn’t been pushed out well across the industry.