Cryptanalysis of the DECT Standard Cipher

Karsten Nohl, Erik Tews, Ralf-Philipp Weinmann

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Academic › peer-review

    13 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    The DECT Standard Cipher (DSC) is a proprietary 64-bit stream cipher based on irregularly clocked LFSRs and a non-linear output combiner. The cipher is meant to provide confidentiality for cordless telephony. This paper illustrates how the DSC was reverse-engineered from a hardware implementation using custom firmware and information on the structure of the cipher gathered from a patent. Beyond disclosing the DSC, the paper proposes a practical attack against DSC that recovers the secret key from 215 keystreams on a standard PC with a success rate of 50% within hours; somewhat faster when a CUDA graphics adapter is available.
    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationFast Software Encryption
    Subtitle of host publication17th International Workshop, FSE 2010, Seoul, Korea, February 7-10, 2010, Revised Selected Papers
    EditorsSeokhie Hong, Tetsu Iwata
    Place of PublicationBerlin
    PublisherSpringer
    Pages1-18
    Number of pages18
    ISBN (Electronic)978-3-642-13858-4
    ISBN (Print)978-3-642-13857-7
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2010
    Event17th International Workshop on Fast Software Encryption, FSE 2010 - Seoul, Korea, Republic of
    Duration: 7 Feb 2010 → 10 Feb 2010
    Conference number: 17

    Publication series

    NameLecture Notes in Computer Science
    PublisherSpringer
    Volume6147
    ISSN (Print)0302-9743
    ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

    Workshop

    Workshop17th International Workshop on Fast Software Encryption, FSE 2010
    Abbreviated titleFSE
    CountryKorea, Republic of
    CitySeoul
    Period7/02/10 → 10/02/10

    Fingerprint

    Cordless telephones
    Firmware
    Computer hardware

    Cite this

    Nohl, K., Tews, E., & Weinmann, R-P. (2010). Cryptanalysis of the DECT Standard Cipher. In S. Hong, & T. Iwata (Eds.), Fast Software Encryption: 17th International Workshop, FSE 2010, Seoul, Korea, February 7-10, 2010, Revised Selected Papers (pp. 1-18). (Lecture Notes in Computer Science; Vol. 6147). Berlin: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-13858-4_1
    Nohl, Karsten ; Tews, Erik ; Weinmann, Ralf-Philipp. / Cryptanalysis of the DECT Standard Cipher. Fast Software Encryption: 17th International Workshop, FSE 2010, Seoul, Korea, February 7-10, 2010, Revised Selected Papers. editor / Seokhie Hong ; Tetsu Iwata. Berlin : Springer, 2010. pp. 1-18 (Lecture Notes in Computer Science).
    @inproceedings{2ded365eb0a04cb4a65a2ddaaf4c7080,
    title = "Cryptanalysis of the DECT Standard Cipher",
    abstract = "The DECT Standard Cipher (DSC) is a proprietary 64-bit stream cipher based on irregularly clocked LFSRs and a non-linear output combiner. The cipher is meant to provide confidentiality for cordless telephony. This paper illustrates how the DSC was reverse-engineered from a hardware implementation using custom firmware and information on the structure of the cipher gathered from a patent. Beyond disclosing the DSC, the paper proposes a practical attack against DSC that recovers the secret key from 215 keystreams on a standard PC with a success rate of 50{\%} within hours; somewhat faster when a CUDA graphics adapter is available.",
    author = "Karsten Nohl and Erik Tews and Ralf-Philipp Weinmann",
    year = "2010",
    doi = "10.1007/978-3-642-13858-4_1",
    language = "English",
    isbn = "978-3-642-13857-7",
    series = "Lecture Notes in Computer Science",
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    Nohl, K, Tews, E & Weinmann, R-P 2010, Cryptanalysis of the DECT Standard Cipher. in S Hong & T Iwata (eds), Fast Software Encryption: 17th International Workshop, FSE 2010, Seoul, Korea, February 7-10, 2010, Revised Selected Papers. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 6147, Springer, Berlin, pp. 1-18, 17th International Workshop on Fast Software Encryption, FSE 2010, Seoul, Korea, Republic of, 7/02/10. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-13858-4_1

    Cryptanalysis of the DECT Standard Cipher. / Nohl, Karsten; Tews, Erik ; Weinmann, Ralf-Philipp.

    Fast Software Encryption: 17th International Workshop, FSE 2010, Seoul, Korea, February 7-10, 2010, Revised Selected Papers. ed. / Seokhie Hong; Tetsu Iwata. Berlin : Springer, 2010. p. 1-18 (Lecture Notes in Computer Science; Vol. 6147).

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Academic › peer-review

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    N2 - The DECT Standard Cipher (DSC) is a proprietary 64-bit stream cipher based on irregularly clocked LFSRs and a non-linear output combiner. The cipher is meant to provide confidentiality for cordless telephony. This paper illustrates how the DSC was reverse-engineered from a hardware implementation using custom firmware and information on the structure of the cipher gathered from a patent. Beyond disclosing the DSC, the paper proposes a practical attack against DSC that recovers the secret key from 215 keystreams on a standard PC with a success rate of 50% within hours; somewhat faster when a CUDA graphics adapter is available.

    AB - The DECT Standard Cipher (DSC) is a proprietary 64-bit stream cipher based on irregularly clocked LFSRs and a non-linear output combiner. The cipher is meant to provide confidentiality for cordless telephony. This paper illustrates how the DSC was reverse-engineered from a hardware implementation using custom firmware and information on the structure of the cipher gathered from a patent. Beyond disclosing the DSC, the paper proposes a practical attack against DSC that recovers the secret key from 215 keystreams on a standard PC with a success rate of 50% within hours; somewhat faster when a CUDA graphics adapter is available.

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    Nohl K, Tews E, Weinmann R-P. Cryptanalysis of the DECT Standard Cipher. In Hong S, Iwata T, editors, Fast Software Encryption: 17th International Workshop, FSE 2010, Seoul, Korea, February 7-10, 2010, Revised Selected Papers. Berlin: Springer. 2010. p. 1-18. (Lecture Notes in Computer Science). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-13858-4_1

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