Security News > 2023 > July > Backdoor in TETRA Police Radios

Seems that there is a deliberate backdoor in the twenty-year-old TErrestrial Trunked RAdio standard used by police forces around the world.

TETRA has been used in products, including radios, sold by Motorola, Airbus, and more.

In order to then access the cryptographic component of the radio itself, Wetzels said the team found a vulnerability in an interface of the radio.

Most interestingly is the researchers' findings of what they describe as the backdoor in TEA1.

Ordinarily, radios using TEA1 used a key of 80-bits.

Specifically on the researchers' claims of a backdoor in TEA1, Boyer added "At this time, we would like to point out that the research findings do not relate to any backdoors. The TETRA security standards have been specified together with national security agencies and are designed for and subject to export control regulations which determine the strength of the encryption."

News URL

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2023/07/backdoor-in-tetra-police-radios.html