African Astronautics, a local surveillance and security technology company, has signed a deal to distribute Cellcrypt Mobile in SA, in an effort improve security in voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP).
According to Etienne Louw, director of African Astronautics, VOIP is increasing in popularity and hackers have latched onto this, targeting 2.5G and up. Corporate espionage is another security challenge as sensitive business information is transferred between mobile phones.
Louw says to curb security breaches, UK-based Cellcrypt has developed real-time encryption with security levels specified by the US government. It operates on all major wireless networks including 2G (GPRS/EDGE), 3G, WiFi and satellite.
The Cellcrypt solution is aimed at governments, military and large financial institutions dealing with confidential information. It is able to encrypt PBX, fixed-line-to-mobile, mobile-to-mobile, mobile-to-fixed, or fixed-to-fixed line.
Louw says: “This is the first solution that provides encrypted voice calls over satellites using commercial off-the-shelf smartphones. It provides a convenient and cost-effective mechanism for people to make secure calls from locations where they have no cellular coverage or simply cannot rely on it.”
Cheaper calls
According to Louw, the encrypted mobile phone can be used to make secure cheaper VOIP calls over cellular and WiFi networks. The solution can be used anywhere, even when there is no cellular or WiFi network coverage.
He says it also works via global satellite operator Inmarsat's mobile broadband services, particularly its land-based Broadband Global Area Network, where it adds security to the mobile device.
“Another advantage,” says Louw, “is the cost savings on international mobile roaming calls. I have used the software in Spain, France, Lesotho and Nigeria to make secure calls to my partners in SA and Switzerland. All that was needed was to purchase local SIM cards with some data credits and I could talk securely, mobile-to-mobile, for the equivalent of around 30 cents per minute.”
Currently, Cellcrypt Mobile can be used on most Symbian Nokia cellphones and on the BlackBerry Bold.
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