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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.

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Paging 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/

Paging 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.

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