Ride the Lightning
Cybersecurity and Future of Law Practice Blog
by Sharon D. Nelson Esq., President of Sensei Enterprises, Inc.
Encryption on Android Phones Cracked/NSA Chief Asks Hackers for Help
August 1, 2012
On Saturday, I received a note from Andrew Hoog, the CIO of viaForensics, who wrote to let me know that researcher Thomas Cannon would announce at the DefCon conference that the company had cracked the fairly weak encryption on Android phones using a brute force attack. He also said that the company would release a free utility at https://santoku-linux.com/. So if your Android phone is lost or stolen, it is vulnerable.
Forbes reported on that story and others from Defcon. You can also view Cannon's presentation here. Way over my head, but fascinating stuff. The Forbes story is a nice recap and features National Security Agency chief and general Keith Alexander out of uniform (in a tee shirt) at Defcon asking hackers to help secure the infrastructure of the U.S. There was even a job recruitment website set up for the conference. Honestly, it is a curious world in which we live.
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