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Phone
GSM
Siemens
R&S
  
TopSec GSM
Encrypted GSM telephone - this page is a stub

TopSec GSM was an encrypted mobile phone for the GSM network, jointly developed in 2001 by Siemens and Rohde & Schwarz (R&S), both based in München (Munich, Germany). The device is based on a standard Siemens S35i GSM mobile phone and features a built-in micro encryption module developed by Rohde & Schwarz SIT GmbH. The device was approved by the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) for conversations up to the level of VS-Vertraulich. 1

The device uses 128-bit end-to-end encryption, and enables secure calls with other TopSec GSM users, as well as users with an ISDN landline on which a Siemens/R&S TopSec 703 unit has been installed. German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder 2 used a TopSec GSM between 2004 and 2005 [1].

Documents released in 2013 by NSA whistle­blower Edward Snowden revealed that Schröder 2 was under NSA surveillance — listed as target number 388 on the National SIGINT Requirement list. It is unclear whether any data was gathered from him and, if so, how it was used by NSA [1]. 		  

The TopSec GSM was succeeded in 2008 by the more secure TopSec Mobile — a stand-alone device that could be linked with a common smartphone via Bluetooth.

  1. VS-VERTRAULICH = Vertrouwliche Verschlusssache — equivalent to CONFIDENTIAL [2].
  2. Gerhard Schröder was the German Chancellor from 1998 to 2005.

Documentation
  1. TopSec GSM — Brochure (English)
    PD 0757.6904.21. August 2001. Versioon 1.00.

  2. Secure communication — protected against data thieves
    Christine Hagn, R&S News 172, 2001/III pp. 49-51.

  3. Members only - confidential telephone and data communication (product family)
    Christine Hagn, R&S News 173, 2002/I pp. 48-51.
References
  1. The TopSec GSM cryptophone used by former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder
    Deutsches Spionagemuseum. Visited 26 September 2021.

  2. Wikipedia (Germany), Geheimhaltungsgrad
    Visited 26 September 2021.
Further information
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© Crypto Museum. Created: Sunday 26 September 2021. Last changed: Sunday, 26 September 2021 - 13:06 CET.
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