All cops are broadcasting: Breaking TETRA after decades in the shadows

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Presented at OrangeCon 2024 by

Wouter Bokslag

This talk will present details of the TETRA:BURST vulnerabilities - the result of the first public in-depth security analysis of TETRA (Terrestrial Trunked Radio). This European standard for trunked radio is used globally by government agencies, police, military, and critical infrastructure, for applications ranging from voice communications to SCADA telecontrol of energy distribution, oil rigs and train safety systems. Authentication and encryption within TETRA are handled by proprietary cryptographic cipher-suites, which had previously remained secret for over two decades through the use of restrictive NDAs. Last year, we presented the result of a two-year research project, and disclosed both open-source implementations of the secret primitives as well as a first public security assessment of the technology. Several critical vulnerabilities were identified, including a deliberate backdoor.