Motorola XTS 5000

[ElroyJetson]

I've got some P25 radios for sale....not soliciting, this is just background info. A guy responds to the listing and asks if I can provide the encryption key....LOL.

115,792,089,237,316,195,423,570,985,008,687,907,853,269,984,665,640,564,039,457,584,007,913,129,639,936.


That's how many possible encryption keys there are for AES-256. Pick one , maybe you'll get lucky!

Obviously that's not the type of yutz I want to sell a radio to.

 

[JethrowJohnson]

I've got some P25 radios for sale....not soliciting, this is just background info. A guy responds to the listing and asks if I can provide the encryption key....LOL.

115,792,089,237,316,195,423,570,985,008,687,907,853,269,984,665,640,564,039,457,584,007,913,129,639,936.


That's how many possible encryption keys there are for AES-256. Pick one , maybe you'll get lucky!

Obviously that's not the type of yutz I want to sell a radio to.

Isn't each encryption key algorithm different, or do they all use those same keys?

 

[KevinC]

Isn't each encryption key algorithm different, or do they all use those same keys?

Let’s think about this. If everyone uses the same key variable as the one posted on a worldwide forum how secure would that be? Not being rude, just trying to get your brain thinking.

 

[JethrowJohnson]

Let’s think about this. If everyone uses the same key variable as the one posted on a worldwide forum how secure would that be? Not being rude, just trying to get your brain thinking.

That's what I figured, but the way he said it almost sounded like that's how all AES256 systems work. Thanks for the clarification. 👍

 

[ElroyJetson]

Each different encryption algorithm of course has its own set of possible keys. Assume that they are not interchangeable between algorithms and you'll be right nearly all the time. There may be some that actually might be able to use the same key sequence, but I'm not even quite sure about that. I don't have much experience with encryption, personally. Haven't had the need.

The number I posted is not a key, it is the number of possible keys for the AES-256 algorithm.

 

[jbella]

But! I would wager that for ADP, if you used 000 as the number and 0123456789 as they key, that would be at least a couple keys somewhere.

 

[ElroyJetson]

I have no doubt that somewhere out there, some really lazy department radio manager decided that their AES key should be 10101010101010~10.

Or 12345678901234567890~0

 

[kayn1n32008]

Isn't each encryption key algorithm different, or do they all use those same keys?

There are 3 major encryption algorithms used on LMR systems today. AES256, DES AND RC4.

A system admin that properly manages encryption uses randomly generated keys. These keys are securely stored in either a KVL or a KMF. Statistically, if a random key is generated, the odds of someone else generating the exact same key is as close to zero as you can get.

 

[kayn1n32008]

That's what I figured, but the way he said it almost sounded like that's how all AES256 systems work. Thanks for the clarification. 👍

Additionally, a system admin that takes voice security seriously, will use multiple keys and change those keys regularly using OTAR(Over The Air Rekey). This way, unless a radio is intentionally wiped of its keys, it can be securely rekeyed any time.

They also do not use a single CKR(Common Key Reference).

 

[kayn1n32008]

But! I would wager that for ADP, if you used 000 as the number and 0123456789 as they key, that would be at least a couple keys somewhere.

never played wit hADP, but I believe the lowest CKR is 1.

 

[jbella]

Fat thumbs, yes.