It is hard to imagine reality today without mobile phones. These small devices have become an inseparable part of many spheres of our life, including the professional one. More and more often, conversations with business partners, clients or colleagues are held at a distance. It is very convenient, but also dangerous – the competition never sleeps. How to protect yourself against eavesdropping on phone calls and intercepting text messages? The answer to this question is quite simple: communicators that provide encryption of telephone conversations and encryption phones.
Phone calls encryption in the past
The art of encrypting remote conversations is quite old. Already during World War II, the first encryption system called SIGSALY was created. The gigantic size apparatus was developed by Bell Telephone Laboratories under the supervision of A.B. Clark and the eminent mathematician Alan Turing. The US Army immediately expressed interest in the project, and as a result a copy of the SIGSALY was placed in the Allied equipment. The first use of the apparatus was on July 15, 1943, when a test interview took place between London and the Pentagon.
SIGSALY recorded sound waves at a speed of twenty thousand times per second, writing them down in coded binary digits. Thus, the transmission was virtually indecipherable for the Germans who managed to intercept the signal. The sound emitted by SIGSALY resembled the buzzing of an insect, which gave the equipment code name – Green Hornet.
Due to its high efficiency, SIGSALY was used for conversations between people from the highest levels of government. Encryption of telephone calls was also used by e.g. Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt. The success of the invention has caused a keen interest in the technology of coding communication at a distance. After the end of World War II, the American security unit NSA (National Secure Agency) developed a series of STU I, STU II and STU III encryption telephones.
Not only Americans saw the potential in call encryption technology. In 1989, the Irish company Intrepid created a secure phone called Milcode, offering encryption of telephone calls at quite good level. The encryption algorithms were more advanced and stood out from previous competition models. Milcode used key exchange technology through the Diffie-Hellman algorithm. The set of keys exchanged between the recipient and the sender was generated anew during each subsequent call, which ensured a high level of call security. The phone could encrypt not only voice calls but also fax messages.
Message encryption – When is it useful?
In the past, encryption telephones were used almost exclusively by the army, secret services and top-level political decision makers. The situation changed with the increasing popularity of mobile phones. These devices quickly became the main tool in many professional areas – they are regularly used by bankers, sales representatives, press spokesmen, stock brokers and business owners of various levels.
Important matters are discussed during phone calls, e.g. products to be offered, the companys strategy for the coming months, new business partners and prices of the services offered – these and much more data are potentially valuable prey for a dishonest competitor.
Eavesdropping and data theft is not only the domain of competition in the professional field. Also, special services use this method during operational activities. In reality this is not such a rare phenomenon. In 2017, the officers obtained a permit to establish 9725 wiretaps, which is why it is so important not to underestimate the phenomenon and to obtain encryption telephones. Although this method is aimed mainly to fight against organized crime, many citizens fear abuse of power in this area. Doubts were raised, for example, by the fact that CBA purchased the Pegasus software, which would potentially allow access to the users phone.
Theoretically, calls made by the mobile phones should be safe – all data transmitted via the GSM network is automatically encrypted with the A5 algorithm. Unfortunately, it is easy to break even when using much less complex programs than the aforementioned Pegasus. Thats why professional encryption telephones using methods other than standard software solutions appeared on the commercial market. Hardware encryption is currently the best method of securing calls made in the GSM network.
Encryption of telephone calls is a topic that has gained great popularity in recent years, also in Poland. One of the main reasons for this is the growing interest in spy technologies – only in the first quarter of 2016, sales of detective devices and accessories (including wiretaps) increased by 350% compared to last year. Obtaining an encryption telephone is therefore one of the forms of protection against an attempted surveillance.
The best encrypted phones
The offer of encryption phones is not very wide, at least when it comes to the most effective solutions. If you want the best results, there is a choice between the Enigma E2 and the latest solution on the market – RAW Secure Phone and RAW communicator. First, lets take a look at Enigma.
Enigma encryption phone – A reliable solution
Enigma E2 encrypted cell phone is a classic solution, used for years in the business, private and political spheres. The encryption phone uses an advanced two-step encryption process based on authentication and conversation encryption. During authentication, a certificate encrypted with the RSA algorithm is generated. It is one of the strongest security measures in the world that makes it practically impossible to surveillance and intercept calls even with the use of the most modern devices and programs.
After the call is authenticated, the signal is encrypted with the AES 256-bit algorithm, which then goes to the cellular network. To further increase the level of security, the phone has no technology and applications that require a permanent Internet connection – this prevents any attempts of network surveillance.
Despite the advanced solutions, Enigma E2 is easy to use and does not differ much from standard mobile phones in this respect. A certain limitation of the functionality of this phone is the fact that encrypted phone calls can only take place between the owners of two models of this phone – calling the user of any other phone is done via a standard connection. The Enigma E2 encryption phone is a great solution that is very popular over the years.
RAW messenger – Phone call encryption
Each technology must develop to meet the expectations of customers. For this reason, Detective Store has introduced a RAW encryption communicator and a RAW Secure Phone to its offer. Both products offer state-of-the-art solutions in the field of call encryption.
RAW communicator for safe conversations uses the end-2-end encryption method, which guarantees total security of voice calls, file sending, and text and multimedia messages. Callers only use one secure channel, each time receiving a different set of keys for subsequent calls. The cryptographic module uses advanced primitives such as Curve25519, XSalsa20, Poly1305, Blake2 ensuring the highest level of protection.
In addition, the communicator has a number of useful functionalities such as a private address book, text messages with the self-erasing mechanism and an extensive BARK module that detects all kinds of threats to the operating system.
Unlike Enigma, the communicator allows you to safely use Wi-Fi by generating a random MAC number each time. The application works with smartphones with the Android and iOS operating systems. Therefore, it is a very flexible solution that turns your private or business phone into a modern tool that allows you to encrypt phone calls.
RAW secure phone – Modern privacy protection
At first glance, the RAW Secure Phone encryption phone looks like an ordinary, modern smartphone. And indeed – its functionalities are in no way inferior to the top models available on the market. So it fits perfectly in the hand of every businessman. However, the most important functionalities of this phone are hidden from the eyes of outsiders – it ensures high security thanks to the advanced mechanism of encryption of telephone calls. In addition to the RAW messenger installed, the encryption phone has a modified operating system with its own ROM. As a result, all installed applications and stored data (photos, documents, correspondence history) are completely safe against surveillance and intrusion attempts.
An additional level of protection is guaranteed by a cyber shield that protects the system against 0-day attacks. The combination of the capabilities of the RAW communicator and modern technological solutions of the smartphone result in the best tool available on the market, allowing for the encryption of telephone calls. By using it, you can be sure that the content of all your conversations will remain between you and your interlocutor.