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Police And Military Radios Found Using Easily Cracked Encryption Keys
- Written by Kiara Fabbri Former Tech News Writer
- Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager
High-security police and military radios use an encryption system that may be easier to break than expected, potentially letting attackers listen in or send fake messages.
In a rush? Here are the quick facts:
- Police and military radios use weak 56-bit keys instead of 128-bit.
- Vulnerability allows attackers to send fake or replayed messages.
- Flaw affects TETRA-based radios in Europe, Middle East, and beyond.
WIRED reports that the security firm Midnight Blue found that some radios implementing “end-to-end encryption” (E2EE), endorsed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), compress a secure 128-bit key down to only 56 bits. The reduced key size enables attackers to easily decode communications.
Attackers can exploit a second vulnerability to transmit deceptive messages or duplicate authentic communications, creating confusion among radio users. The TCCA E2EE scheme design flaw impacts all users, according to the researchers, who received confirmation from multiple radio vendors serving law enforcement end users.
The researchers also found a second flaw that lets attackers “send fraudulent messages or replay legitimate ones to spread misinformation or confusion to personnel using the radios,” as reported by WIRED. They say this design flaw affects all users of the TCCA E2EE scheme, and “law enforcement end users” have confirmed the issue exists in radios from multiple vendors.
The TETRA standard-based radios operate as police and military communication tools in Belgium, Serbia, Finland, Saudi Arabia, and Iran, as well as for intelligence agencies and critical infrastructure operators. They are not used by U.S. police, WIRED specifies.
ETSI’s Brian Murgatroyd said the E2EE wasn’t part of the ETSI standard and was created by another industry group, but admitted it “is widely used as far as we can tell,” as reported by WIRED. He added, “The choice of encryption algorithm and key is made between supplier and customer organisation, and ETSI has no input […] nor knowledge of which algorithms and key lengths are in use in any system.”
Researcher Jos Wetzels doubts all governments know if they’re using reduced security. “We consider it highly unlikely non-Western governments are willing to spend literally millions of dollars if they know they’re only getting 56 bits of security,” he said according to WIRED.
The findings will be presented today at the BlackHat security conference in Las Vegas.
Image by Brett Jordan, from Unsplash
Delete Old Emails to Save Water, Environment Agency Tells Brits
- Written by Kiara Fabbri Former Tech News Writer
- Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager
The UK’s Environment Agency urges citizens to combat the severe drought through both traditional and innovative steps, such as discarding old emails and photos.
In a rush? Here are the quick facts:
- UK faces driest six months to July since 1976.
- Environment Agency urges deleting old emails to save water.
- Advice sparks debate over its real water-saving impact.
The Environment Agency says the UK has experienced its driest six months to July since 1976, with the current shortage now classified as a “nationally significant incident,” as reported by The Independent . Five areas are officially in drought, while six others face “prolonged dry weather.”
The National Drought Group (NDG) advises people to follow standard water-saving measures, including taking shorter showers, avoiding watering lawns, storing rainwater, and repairing leaks, while also highlighting the water consumption of digital storage.
Cloud file storage relies on data centres that use massive amounts of water to keep systems cool. A 1-megawatt data centre requires 26 million litres of water annually, according to research conducted at Oxford University.
Helen Wakeham, the Environment Agency’s director of water and NDG chair, said : “The current situation is nationally significant, and we are calling on everyone to play their part and help reduce the pressure on our water environment […] Simple, everyday choices – such as turning off a tap or deleting old emails – also really helps the collective effort to reduce demand and help preserve the health of our rivers and wildlife.”
The advice has sparked debate, as noted by TechSpot . Experts agree that data centre cooling consumes 560 billion litres of water annually, but note that deleting stored files has little immediate impact, as stored data produces minimal heat.
Some suggest the UK could conserve more water by decreasing its reliance on generative AI, as one 400-token AI response allegedly uses 45 ml of water, according to a report .
Training models is energy-intensive, but handling billions of daily queries consumes even more. Exact figures are hard to obtain, as tech companies rarely disclose detailed usage , forcing researchers to rely on estimates.
The issue is not limited to the UK. In the U.S., large data centres also consume millions of gallons of water on hot days to cool servers. Experts warn that such facilities can strain local water supplies, as “these are very hot processors,” requiring substantial cooling, according to Mark Mills of the National Center for Energy Analytics.
Recent research shows that AI data centers consume about 2% of global electricity, and sending one AI-assisted email weekly for a year uses 7.5 kWh, equal to an hour’s power for nine households.
Meanwhile, the Met Office warns dry, settled conditions are likely to continue across much of England.
