New Intercept article based on Snowden release shows that cell phone communication protection by encryption between your device and the cell network has been compromised for years.
Just like I tell people, email is like a postcard; cell phones are glorified
walkie-talkies. The days that you had a single circuit from your phone to
your caller's is long gone with land lines, why would you expect it with
cell phones? And considering the usage of cell phones for ALL sorts of
activities, the desire to be able to listen in would be great.
Our "adversaries" already knew we listen to their cell phones; thus the word
codes and burn phones, and the TLAs are applauded for their technical
wizardry. Why is anyone surprised they can listen in to cell phones in
other parts of the globe?
This just illustrates Snowden's comments to Schneier about having the keys
to decyrpt traffic in real time instead of having to crack keys on an
individual basis.
Stingrays, SIM keys, .... why in the world would anyone think a radio is secure communications without real effort?
More and Link below. Good article with excellent explanations.
Ridge