Howto:DECT Security
Lately, a German TV show has raised some concerns with DECT system security.
Here is a statement from our DECT technology partner Polycom.
Applies To
This information applies to
- DECT Radios and Handsets
More Information
Based on a TV broadcast on ZDF German Television, we have recently received a number of questions concerning the security of a DECT solution. The short version is that the TV program shows how a number of highly educated people from a university environment can "tap" a conversation that takes place on DECT technology with a wireless handset.
First and foremost we would like to point out that this study is made of highly educated people from a university environment, who are experts in IT. So it is thus not as simple as it looks in the TV program. At the same time we do recognize that "tapping" of a DECT solution can take place. However, the "tapped" conversations are all residential conversations in which the person, who leads the conversation, is located in a very small geographic area, as a living room for example.
If a similar "tapping" was to be conducted in a business or, for example a hospital, it would be a lot more complicated. It would require that the person who wants to "tap" a conversation has to be in range of the company building with a directional antenna. At the same time, the person would have to know at all times, where the person - whose phone is being "tapped" - is inside the company - otherwise he cannot determine the directional antenna. Since the idea of being wireless is the ability to be mobile, it is very difficult to point the directional antenna at a person inside the company building - imagine a nurse who constantly moves around a hospital. At the same time, every time a person pass a wall of concrete or a metal rack, then the signal will disappear for the person who is trying to "tap" the conversation. Alternatively, a person who wants to tap a conversation should be located inside the company facility. We are, however, convinced that most people would wonder very much if a strange person closely follows one with a computer and a directional antenna!
There are millions of DECT installations worldwide today and so far there has never been a single case concerning "tapping" of a DECT solution reported! The Polycom DECT solutions are probably the most secure wireless solutions on the market and we want to emphasize that the issues raised by the German TV program are theoretically correct but as you can see from the examples above, it will not be an issue for our professional customers. Polycom of course continues to monitor the security developments for the DECT standard through the DECT Forum.