3 ms·
How much CPU does it require, realistically, to implement an asymmetric + XOR cipher? Each pager would have a key pair provisioned by the provider. The provider
by grishka 6y ago
How much CPU does it require, realistically, to implement an asymmetric + XOR cipher? Each pager would have a key pair provisioned by the provider. The provider would generate a unique key for each message and then use the pager's public key to encrypt that and send it along with the XOR-ed message. I'd bet you could decrypt that on a weak-ass microcontroller.
- ac29 6y agoPaging never really passed 1980s technology. Sure, its easy enough to en/decrypt short messages now with nearly zero battery use, but it was probably deemed unnecessary at the time. edit: looks like someone bolted AES onto FLEX: https://americanmessaging.net/elite/ https://americanmessaging.net/elite/
- rfdave 6y agoPaging was also highly interested in making sure every bit that went over the air generated revenue, so adding bits to provide security was a hard sell. FLEX and ReFLEX are 90's technology.